Review: Oor Wullie – Dundee Rep

The first iteration of Dundee Rep’s Oor Wullie musical took the stage back in 2019. The show’s creative team, headed by Noisemaker’s Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie and Director Andrew Panton, have returned for a second crack at Auchenshoogle’s favourite son with change on their minds.

This Oor Wullie is a more polished affair than its predecessor, and more tightly plotted. The opening number, ‘I’m Going Home’ is a big, cheery, uplifting affair well suited to passengers embarking from King’s Cross on a train bound for distant Dundee. Accompanied by Musical Director Shonagh Murray’s thumping recording, and with the arches of Kenneth MacLeod’s Loony Tunes-esque set bearing station names in iconic yellow dots, there’s no doubting this musical’s ambitions.

The spotlight soon falls on 13-year-old Nilo (RoMaya Jey), journeying north to spend Christmas with her dad – reluctantly. Where the 2019 musical featured a young Asian facing alienation through casual racism, Nilo is dealing with frustration and impotence stemming from a broken home, and an estrangement from Dundee produced by long absence.

“…there’s no doubting this musical’s ambitions.”

Thus when Wullie (Kyle Gardiner) crashes out of his world and into hers, the change he catalyses is a more standard coming-of-age story. It’s more amenable to a cheery, uplifting adventure, though with less nuanced cultural insight. The script remains strong nevertheless, packed with crazy capers, lively banter, and memorable characters.

**Kyle Gardiner** & **RoMaya Jey** make a fine double act – photo by **Tommy Ga-Ken Wan**

At the centre of everything is Gardiner’s ball of spiky-haired energy. ‘Over-dramatic 10-year-old optimistic anarchist’ is a tricky ask for any actor, but he nails it with a blend of elastic-faced expressions and chirrupy patter. With the knack for making an audience laugh without saying a word, it’s hard to imagine a better actor for the role.

He and Jey have a lively chemistry to boot. It enlivens their odd-buddy relationship and enhances many of the show’s funniest lines and scenes. Wullie’s calamitous arrival in her bedroom – via the pages of a discarded annual – sets a high bar, rich with cheekily handled culture clashes from broad Dundonian vs English to Wullie vs an Amazon Alexa.

It’s not long before two become more, when Wullie’s pals: Boab, Wee Eck, and Soapy Soutar – Elliot McLean, Grant McIntyre, and Bailey Newsome, fall out of a cupboard in Nilo’s family clothes shop. McIntyre and Newsome reprise their 2019 roles in style – they are superb castings – whilst recent drama school graduate McLean nabs some of the biggest laughs through a mix of solid timing and likeable daftness.

**Production shots of ‘Oor Wullie – click to enlarge and for details.**

With Nilo’s overprotective dad, Daniyal (Taqi Nazeer) in tow, Team Wullie is soon hitting up such glamorous locations as Baldovie Recycling Centre and Bell Street Police Station, where they find Wullie’s sort of girlfriend Primrose (Beth Robb Adams) trapped in an evidence room – but not the missing bucket. Life only gets a bit more complex when Wullie’s auld nemesis PC Murdoch (Antony Strachan) cycles into Dundee seeking the missing boys.

“At the centre of everything is Gardiner’s ball of spiky-haired energy. ‘Over-dramatic 10-year-old optimistic anarchist’ is a tricky ask for any actor, but he nails it with a blend of elastic-faced expressions and chirrupy patter.”

Making things worse, it’s not long before the squad runs head first into Auchhenshoogle’s premier bully, Basher McKenzie (Mairi Barclay) with her own nefarious designs on the bucket. A flame-haired psycho armed with a bin-lorry and a villainous laugh, she’s a threat to life, happiness and buckets alike. Her infinite supply of Dundonian insults new and old never fails to raise a chuckle.

Barclay’s ferocity in the role exhibits the same utter commitment as the rest of the line-up to their characters. I’m not sure the show is as funny as the 2019 outing, but it’s a good deal more spectacular from the gorgeously tailored costuming, to the bells and whistles set pieces, and Lewis den Hertog’s charmingly animated intros to both acts, wryly narrated by Ann Louise Ross. On stage, the ever-splendid Ross wears many hats, including the mysterious Ms. Watkins, with her own interest in Willy’s absent pale.

The big numbers are also far better produced, not least Wullie’s heartfelt ‘Help Ma Boab’ and the laugh-out-loud parody ‘Ho You, Wulli Wullie Wagon’. If I’m less fond of the comedically reworked ‘Two Roads’ – a gospel-infused number which was easily the best in the 2019 show – then the triumphant staging of ‘Scottish and Mare’ is apt compensation. The show may not demand the most stellar vocal talent, but a tuneful cast still carries off every song with real aplomb.

There’s a sense of this Oor Wullie setting sights on a bright future, and Adam Gibson’s crystal clear sound design will certainly help if it takes to the touring circuit.

Ultimately it’s grand to see Oor Wullie back on stage, and new life injected into a show I enjoyed so much before the pandemic closed the doors to theatres worldwide. Is it better than before? Honestly, I don’t know, and it doesn’t really matter. This is a show to crease your face with a smile from start to finish, laced with thigh-slapping tunes, and enough warm-hearted, barmy adventure to keep young and old entertained this Christmas.

All Images: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan