theatreSCOTLAND

24 May 2011 The Guardian

King of Scotland

By Iain Heggie. A Glasgow Actors review.

TOMMY McMillan is "as thick as shite, an ugly wee bastard and as common as muck". He is also 28 years unemployed, which makes him an ideal candidate for a job with the department of social inclusion. What better poster boy for a progressive government ministry than a man plucked from the ranks of the long-term unemployed? Thus in Iain Heggie's free reworking of Gogol's Diary of a Madman, McMillan becomes a satirical thorn in the side of an establishment that likes the platitudinous headlines about social cohesion rather more than the reality of mixing with the lower orders.

17 May 2011 Northings

King of Scotland

By Iain Heggie. A Glasgow Actors review.

AT the box office, the assistant asks a couple buying tickets how they heard about the show. They say it was the poster of Jonathan Watson outside. No doubt they wonÕt be the only people lured into Iain Heggie's play by the big picture of the star of Only an Excuse pasted at the front of the theatre. And no doubt they arrive ready for a good night out.

theatreSCOTLAND © Mark Fisher 2011