Theatre

Glimmer

Tramway, Glasgow

Mary Brennan

FOUR STARS

The Reid sisters, Rosie and Megan, have now spent twenty-two Christmasses together. Close-knit as toddlers ?? cue a slide-show as winsome evidence ?? and close-knit today as, in their jim-jams, they ditch privacy, bin embarrassment and use their relationship to remind us of what??s truly special at Christmas-time. Rosie was already on the scene when Megan was born but if that one year and two days makes Rosie the Big Sister, Megan??s loftier height makes her the Bigger Sister. As a nip comes into the air of affectionate sibling banter, you realise that such things might seem childish but they can still matter when you??re grown up (and falling out!). Christmas matters to both of them, of course. Just differently. Rosie bounds about, like a gleeful puppy playing fetch, in a cash??n??carry warehouse of Yuletide tat. The living room set is soon awash with tacky tinsel kitsch. Megan has not joined in any of this.

??Are you feeling it yet??? becomes Rosie??s eager mantra. Megan??s low-key ??not really?? translates as ??get off my case.?? Rosie goes into over-drive, we go into into fits of laughter, Megan genuinely can??t be bothered with any of it ?? we laugh even more, because on-stage, as in life, they are a tremendous double act. Then something snaps, and it??s not another cracker. Home truths come spilling out, and beyond Megan??s list of petty irritations, it??s her tone of voice that really cuts into Rosie. We??ve all been there, been hurt or impulsively hurtful and it??s this degree of honesty that edges Glimmer ?? like so many other Glas(s) Performance productions ?? into a profoundly moving slice of real life drama. Don??t worry: the singing, dancing, joshing Reid sisters will be spending Christmas together again ?? you can feel it!