THEATRE has long played a cool hand when informing and entertaining audiences of the dark treachery of politics. It’s hard to fault the incisiveness of Frost/Nixon, the weight of Coriolanus. And who can deny the sheer power of the James Plays?

But Hairspray is right up there with them as one of the most provocative pieces of political theatre ever to be unleashed.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking; this Sixties pastiche is a pop fest of cabaret, pantomime and musical hall comedy. And all of that is true. But the poignant storyline is so wonderfully weaved throughout we are almost unaware that what we’re watching is the birth of a social revolution.

While young people twist and shake the tectonic plates are shifting in America for good.

Set in Baltimore, dance-loving teen Tracy Turnblad auditions for a spot on The Corny Collins Show – and wins. She becomes an overnight, but overweight celebrity, a trendsetter in dance, fun and fashion. But Tracy realises there is something seriously wrong; young black people are denied representation on the show. What can she do about it?

Just to make Tracy’s voice all the harder to hear, she is a plus-size young woman who doesn’t have the glamour that would have guaranteed her attention.

And she’s also up against her plus-size mom, who is far from radical. Indeed, Edna Turnblad’s dream is that her daughter follows her into the laundromat business. “Dancing is not your future,” she says to Tracy. “One day, you're going to own Edna's Occidental Laundry.”

“I don't want to be a laundress. I want to be famous.

“ If you want to be famous, learn how to take blood out of car upholstery. That's a skill you can take right to the bank.”

But Tracy persists. She determines to bring racial integration to the show. And to America. And along the way we’re treated to a range of characters that threaten to look like panto villains but never quite make it because there’s a reality to them, we can’t ignore.

Yes, there’s a sentimentality to the book that threatens to soak our eyes, but it doesn’t, because we can understand the intent in showing that young people really are capable of changing the world.

Right now, there are young people in Ukraine and Russia doing exactly that, desperate to fight off the forces of evil and create a new order.

And although Hairspray will guarantee a fun night, one of the best in a theatre, what it always does is provoke and make us realise what we take for granted.

Theatre also reminds that change can come. Sometimes not as quickly as we’d like. And the Putins of this planet believe themselves to be entrenched.

As right-wing TV host Corny Collins boasts, sarcastically; “Gee, Velma, how do you fire Corny Collins from The Corny Collins Show?”

But Velma has the perfect reply and deadpans; “They do it all the time on Lassie.”

Hairspray, The King’s Theatre, Glasgow, March 28-April 2.

Theatre for Ukraine at the Tron

THEATRE isn’t simply about staging and performance, it’s about connecting. Supporting.

There is little doubt that most of us get to see only what goes on when the curtain is lifted. We don’t appreciate, for example, that the West End show The Book of Mormon had to use 13 cover actors on stage recently because of the blight of Covid.

Or indeed, few appreciate the irony the Tron Theatre had to endure, coming back from Covid with fabulous theatre football success story in Moorcroft, only to see it kicked off the park by the virus.

What we don’t appreciate either is the Tron Theatre’s efforts to get 25 actors on stage on March 29 for a staged reading of a Ukrainian play The Grain Store – all the actors will be paid or they will donate their fees to Ukraine – and all box office income going to the main Ukraine appeal.

Artistic Director Andy Arnold says: “It’s a brilliant play and very appropriate for the occasion is essential that we have a full house – not only to raise as much money as we can for the Ukraine but writer Natal’ia Vorozhbit, has sent me a letter to read out on the evening of our reading.

“She and her 11-year-old daughter have had to flee their home. The last paragraph of her letter reads; ‘Russian troops have almost encircled my wonderfully green and beloved Kyiv in order to turn it into ruins. My friends are still there and my relatives, my beautiful apartment, my daughter’s school. Her father, a writer, is also there, defending the city with a weapon in his hands.’

Theatre can make a difference.

Tickets can be bought on the Tron Theatre What’s On webpage.

Also, this week. Daniel Getting Married, by JD Stewart. Daniel is about to marry Zach. Or at least he was until Gabriel walked into the church. Oran Mor, Glasgow, until Saturday.