A review of 4PLAY: 4 exciting new plays by 4 Scottish playwrights (Traverse Theatre)

Birdy made her way to the Traverse Theatre for her very first experience of 4PLAY; apparently now a new annual tradition that showcases new plays from Scottish playwrights.

When one gets the offer to attend four new plays in one event, one can’t exactly refuse! I’m new to the concept of 4PLAY (fnarr) and immediately loved the idea, so I was exciting to come along and experience it for myself!

4PLAY took place in the Traverse 2, and I was luckily able to nab myself a front row seat for the show. There was definitely a buzz in the air as everyone got ready to experience some theatrical newness! (We were also asked if we were all ready for some 4PLAY, and the answer was a resounding YES!)

But before I get into the plays themselves, let me go over some of the basics.

What is 4PLAY?

4PLAY serves as a showcase – a bit of an amuse-bouche, as it were – to give us a taste of four full-length plays. Each one lasts between around 10 – 20 minutes, and with minimalist staging, it keeps things agile enough for quick turnarounds, with a 20-minute interval in the middle.

Each play has a very distinctively different vibe and feel, which means that as an audience, you don’t really get bored – and you have no idea what’s coming next. It makes for an exciting evening.

CHIPS by Ruaraidh Murray

We started the evening with CHIPS, written by playwright Ruaraidh Murray – who also has a role as Terry from security. The show begins in darkness, and we see a balaclava-wearing burglar emerge from behind a curtain – followed by another. Heavily pregnant Kaz (Christie Russell-Brown) and her partner-in-crime Wan (Calum Manchip) are on a mission to steal computer chips worth £400 each from Kaz’s place of work (an office), but they’re regretfully caught out by Terry.

It’s an energetic, fun and engaging start to the night, with a bit of physical comedy that works so well despite the lack of any props. It’s snappy, to the point and then things take a turn and you’re left wondering ‘but what happens next?!’. There’s a lot that happens in a relatively short space of time, but the pacing is on point and it’s really well done.

BRACE by Geraldine Lang

After a bit of time for setup, we next find ourselves on a construction site, with apprentices Paul (Jack Elvey) and Lewis (Kieran Lee-Hamilton) for BRACE. The pair have a good bit of bants – mainly about Lewis’s younger brother who likes to eat dirt – whilst they’re setting up the scaffolding, but it’s clear Lewis is not quite following the safety protocols to the letter and they’re both under pressure, with mitigating circumstances at home, too. After an incident occurs, it puts them both in an awkward position.

This feels like such a down-to-earth play that explores themes of working class challenges and hardship. The actors did such a good job of portraying a real-world situation, and feel like you could genuinely be watching this all occur from a site just along the road. There’s a clear direction of where the play is probably going to go next, and there’s trouble brewing which makes you want to know how it all plays out.

Sunday Palms by Sean Langtree

During the 20-minute break, the set was transformed into a flat surrounding, with a sofa, desk, laptop and plant, for Sunday Palms. Brian (Daniel Campbell) walks in to the atmospheric soundtrack of The End by The Doors. He goes about his bits of his regular life, including listening to a voicemail from his confused mother, watching Netflix, and other things – but then the doorbell rings. Who is it? It’s someone from his distant past called Nathan (played by writer Sean Langtree) and the man is a CHARACTER. He’s energetic, but strange, and apparently has a job in the government. You can’t help but wonder what the dude’s story is, and what’s happened to him in all the years Brian has simply been getting on with his life.

For some reason, I found this play to be the most exciting and unpredictable of the night. Langtree’s performance is out of this world, and at times you feel amused, whilst others you feel downright uncomfortable, and a bit nervous. I certainly wouldn’t want him in my house, despite having what he’d probably call a tip-top bathroom! A real standout of the night.

HUNT by Andrea McKenzie

We finished the night with HUNT, which follows two doomsday preppers Joel (Andrea McKenzie) and Mags (Deborah Whyte) who decide to take themselves off-grid after AI has caused a mass extinction event. At first, it seems like the characters just want to craft, but then it all goes totally off the wall, with Mags deciding she wants to take it upon herself to save the human race, and that they must HUNT OR BE HUNTED. It’s a comedy filled with pop culture references and an intense musical number, but I was left wanting when it came to the script, and HUNT definitely could have been more cohesive.

The actors – including playwright McKenzie – put a lot of energy into the performance, and I’m sure with some smoothing out, it’ll make a really decent play. The theme of AI apocalypse is a great one, and it was overall quite fun to watch the characters interact with each other. It also just felt like a lot was squeezed into the time we were given, and maybe I’d have liked it to somehow be less… or more of a subtle tease, maybe.

Overall

I had a really great time at 4PLAY, surrounded by theatre goers – some who had quite clearly been to previous 4PLAY events and knew a bit more about what to expect. It’s officially described as “a precursor to something exciting”, and hopefully the full plays will be coming out soon.

For me, 4PLAY was like a chocolate box treat of an evening, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Each play gave something completely different, and left you wondering what’s going to happen next! It’s a fab way to get some early interest in new plays, so if you ever get the chance to attend 4PLAY, I highly recommend you do!