The final show in the main auditorium of Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s ‘Out in the Hills’ LGBTQIA+ festival weekend was a staged reading of Noel Coward’s Me and the Girls, starring Alan Cumming as the ageing and dying cabaret artist, George Banks, looking back over his life and loves. This was one of only a couple of shows which ran for 90 minutes—most were 60 minutes, including Q&As where pertinent. So writes Sass MacDonald for theQR.co.uk…
A Raw and Nostalgic Coward
You think you know what you’re getting with Noel Coward—mainly comedies of manners. This is somewhat different: much more raw and nostalgic. Coward wrote this as a short story in 1964, in later life, and it has been turned into a musical and adapted for the stage before. This production was a new adaptation by Neil Bartlett, with cast members skilfully reminded of their dual roles by the excellent narrator who, along with the pianist, joined Cumming and the five other actors on stage.
It was staged as a read-through, but there were simple props and musical numbers. I loved the courage of Matron/Mavis to ask for a re-start of one of the musical numbers with a quick and witty ‘Well, it is meant to be a read-through’. Brilliant.
Cumming Steals the Show
The five cast members other than Cumming were not credited in any of the literature available, and I suspect the packed auditorium was there mainly to see Cumming. As you’d expect, he played the part perfectly and really, really stole the show. Not to the detriment of the other cast members, except that he just really shone and inhabited the role so completely. I know he played the part a few years ago, but this was a new version done differently.
You think you know what you’re getting with Noel Coward—mainly comedies of manners. This is somewhat different…
The story shows us an ailing old man, remembering past love and a faltering career, but one who can still flirt with the handsome young male orderly who bed-baths him each morning. There is a very touching scene between them when the orderly tells George about the plans he has for a day out with another young man, but even more moving is the scene in which the orderly prepares George for his imminent death.
A Standing Ovation
The work began with George looking out of his hospital bedroom window towards the hills outside. There are, of course, no windows in the auditorium in Pitlochry, but the theatre is nestled in the hills of Perthshire. Very fitting.
I suspect the packed auditorium was there mainly to see Cumming. As you’d expect, he played the part perfectly and really, really stole the show.
I personally found the 90 minutes a wee bit too long for this format, but would have happily watched and listened to Cumming for at least that long. No disrespect to the other cast members intended at all, but, for me, it was the character of George Banks who was so fascinating, and Cumming played him perfectly. He was happy, he was sad, he was angry, he was waspish. He played a man losing his grip on the world so tenderly and believably that I was reduced to tears. And his singing at the end was heart-rending and beautiful.
No wonder there was a standing ovation. This man is so versatile and gifted, and I loved his new look ‘sans moustache’.
Sorry, Alan—just my preference!
Featured Image: David Rankine, Alan Cumming in Me and the Girls credit Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
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