The Bridge
The Bridge
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Mary Brennan
Like Davy, we know. We know that this woman, sitting alone on a bench, is waiting until darkness sends everyone home and the bridge she's on can become the means to her end. Writer and director Donna Franceschild knows that we'll suss the situation within the opening sentences of this two-hander - and that we'll join up the dots scattered through subsequent exchanges, gathering as we go that Davy and the name-less woman both have untold troubles and past griefs.
Not everything stays untold, however. The garrulous Davy (Iain Robertson) has a tendency to say "I'll tell you a story...", before launching into some bruising anecdote from his schooldays, or an episode from his supposedly happy marriage, now over. The woman (Eilidh McCormick) isn't fooled by any of his gambits - but then he isn't buying into any of her excuses as to why she's here without a handbag or anything else that would identify her after death.
He keeps up the chat, the questions, the wheedling. She re-buffs every offer of help: a taxi? a wee shared curry from the nearby restaurant? his phone? Robertson's affability never flags but the woman resolutely keeps this shabby-crumpled Good Samaritan at arms-length, emotionally as well as physically. Franceschild's script is a sweetly crafted mix of pawky, rueful humour and genuinely affecting pain and despair, where the spectre of dramatic cliche is kicked into touch by her writing and by two unstinting heart-and-soul performances from Robertson and McCormick. Real people do mess up, real life can take vulnerable individuals to the edge - these truths are treated here with an insight and respect that understands such mental anguish. The kindness of strangers can be the bridge back to life.
Sponsored by Heineken
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article