25978_original
This is a review from the Fest 2007 archive

A Walk in the Park

4 stars

Unashamedly embracing the Scots language, the melancholia of an old man is vibrantly captured

By Michael Collins | Published 13 August 2007

A Walk in the Park is one of the recent highlights from Glasgow venue Oran Mor’s unsurprisingly successful 'A Play, a Pie and a Pint' series, dedicated to showing the best of Scottish playwriting. The tale of an aging melancholic man and his interaction with the Glaswegian environment, A Walk in the Park is a play of admirable simplicity, blending a dark and tragic life with the Scots' stoic belief in the relief offered by comedy.

As our protagonist takes a wander, the park’s bustling animal and human activity leads him to consider his own life of loss. Self-admittedly an alcoholic, prone to anthropomorphism and bitterly reflective, his encounters with wildlife, a young girl and (not surprisingly for a Glaswegian park) a bottle of Buckfast, generate a series of comic and tragic conversations.

A Walk in the Park, if a bit on the tragic-romantic side, manages to bring depth to a seemingly simple concept. The life of an old man and a Glaswegian park is made vibrant through the unashamed embrace of the Scots language, broken only by the New York accent of a grey squirrel. Excellently performed by a cast of four, A Walk in the Park showcases the vibrancy of Scottish playwriting.
← Back to 2007

Comments (0)

  • There are no comments yet. Why not post one?
  • Click here to add a comment »
    Leave a comment on this article