Ciara

From August 2013

We've been here before at the Traverse - Good With People, A Slow Air, Be Near Me, And No More Shall We Part - grim Scottish stuff drifting nowhere slowly. But I like grim Scottish stuff drifting nowhere.

And in fairness to David Harrower his latest play, Ciara, doesn't score very high on the grim-omter: one drug related death, one stabbing, two illicit sexual encounters and one kidnapping. Set in Glasgow naturellement. All of this presented by Blythe Duff whose performances at the Trav over the last few years have just got better and better, so far removed from her character DI Jackie Reid out of Taggart it's hard to credit. On the most minimal of sets she tells the story of her art gallery set against the background of crime and gang warfare - her father's "legacy" to his beloved daughter Ciara. And the play doesn't drift too much either - there is a conclusion of sorts.

70 minutes is a long time for one person to speak. 70 minutes is a long time to listen to one person speak. But time flies in the company of Ciara and this is a mesmerising performance.

Ciara, Traverse, until 25th August