3, 6 & 36
3, 6 & 36
Citizens Theatre, Glasgow
Mary Brennan
A QUICK explanation of the title: the '36' refers to performer Sarah Longfield who is the mother of Oliver (aged 3) and Benjamin (aged 6). Both lads, like Longfield herself, soaked up the summer-long fun that came to Glasgow with the Commonwealth Games 2014 and it's their memories of what they saw, what they did (and who they thought were the absolute stars!) that are the basis of this merrily engaging little show.
At first, when the sofa becomes a convenient screen for video clips - the boys playing Scotch Hoppers during the Merchant City Festival, the boys joining in various activities down at Glasgow Green - it feels like we're watching someone else's family album.
But as the sofa reveals hidden storage units, crammed with props and costuming, this personal aspect broadens out and Longfield's astutely structured production becomes a nicely thoughtful reflection on what the whole Culture 2014/ Commonwealth Games extravaganza amounted to when seen through the eyes of a child. In Oliver and Benjamin, she has the ideal source material and on-stage collaborators for while they stick (mostly!) to her script, their own personalities bubble over, especially in moments of audience participation. Cue a cheeky puppet-play take on the Opening Ceremony where six nattily costumed wooden spoons represent leading personalities - including the Queen, John Barrowman and Rod Stewart - in a wacky popularity poll fronted by the lads themselves. The perils of the 'Jabberymummy' (a creature beyond even Lewis Carroll's imaginings), the Usain Bolt dance, the iconic status of a certain tea-cake suddenly, the nature of the much-debated 'legacy' comes home with a child's smile: Oliver and Benjamin will never forget their Glasgow Games.
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