Venue (): Traverse Theatre
Category: Theatre
Times: times vary
Dates: -Aug 30th
Stars: *****
Reviewed by Mary Woodward
Archie Campbell was a life-long and inveterate gambler. When he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given a month to live, he bet that he would survive another month and did. He then decided, this being 1998, that he would make it to the millennium
His grandson, Gary McNair, is a brilliant writer and a master storyteller, bringing his Grandad unforgettably to life, reflecting with wicked accuracy the gallows humour of his Gorbals home, recounting the riveting stories his Grandad told him and the times they shared. He tells us of his own, under-age, introduction to gambling on the football results, and how his Grandad taught him the best bit of betting the feeling that you might be going to win and that you want to make it last as long as possible before the reality of not having won kicks in. As Gary grows older, he starts to question the veracity of what his Grandad tells him, finding that other peoples versions of his stories are not the same. And then there is the cancer diagnosis and the final bets
This is a masterly performance. We are engaged from Garys first words: we laugh, we cry, we are held spellbound as we wait with bated breath to find out whether or not Archie wins his last great bet. There is much to think about how much of what we remember is real, and how much of it do we choose to remember as if it were real? Gary finally realises that what his Grandad wanted above all was to be remembered and in this show he has created a lasting memorial to him.
SG Fringe 