Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Dear Billy
National Theatre of Scotland.
Genre: Cabaret, Storytelling
Venue: Assembly Rooms Music Room.
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
A tribute to Billy Connelly, with a twist. Curated and performed by Gary McNair, the twist is that the words are from the people of Scotland, those who met him, those who admire him, and those that aren’t too bothered!
Review
Gary McNair is an acclaimed Scottish playwright and performer, and, winner of three Fringe First awards, rightly so. I first encountered his work with A Gambler’s Guide to Dying, a beautiful piece about his Grandad betting on England winning the 1966 World Cup, and having to keep quiet as the whole of Scotland wanted them to lose! With Kieran Hurley he co-authored Square Go, and VL, one of the funniest shows I’ve seen at this year’s Fringe. His play Letters To Morrissey, is probably closer to the template for Dear Billy, being his thoughts and letters to Morrissey and the effect the music has on Gary McNair. Here is another tribute to one of his heroes, but this time it has been compiled after recording interviews with the people of Scotland, gathering their thoughts on Billy and talking to those who met him.
It’s a highly original approach, and McNair makes it quite clear from the outset that this is not a tribute Billy Connelly act, not in the straightforward sense anyway. Inevitably, there will be audience members who expected that they would get a Big Yin concert, and would be disappointed that none of Connelly’s routines are re-enacted in full, although some excellent jokes are recounted. (In fact I did overhear some audience members say so when leaving). But what McNair has created is a show that not only reflects the love and respect for Billy Connolly, but the Scottish nation and nature, not all of his correspondents had a good word to say about him! He changes personality frequently, and every person is given a distinct quality, though sometimes a thick Scottish accent defeated me!
The play is scored beautifully by Simon Liddel and Jill O’Sullivan, and the excellent set by Clare Halleran gives generous nods to the iconography of Connelly, the banana boots and a pair of spectacles in particular, adding to gig feel of the show. And the piece is beautifully structured. People recount their admiration of the man, and a few short interviews get the proceedings underway. However, there is depth from the outset, the abuse that Connelly suffered as a child, (which he has recounted in horrifying detail in his autobiography), are not shied away from. Above all, the atmosphere of being in a pub, of talking about a comedian you admire, is the over riding feeling. But towards the end, we get more depth, and we discover the altruistic side of the man. A “wee nun” recalls the donation that Billy gave her, enabling her to leave her role and set up a charity, changing the lives of thousands of young people, and she finally gets a letter to Billy to tell him what his donation achieved. One correspondent is prevented from committing suicide by hearing Connelly’s routines, and starts laughing. Another recalls how her dying husband was helped though the pain by the humour of Connelly.
Slightly longer than most Fringe shows, the piece would benefit more from being a smaller venues, the Assembly Music Hall is a bit of a barn, and the pub atmosphere is lost a little. However, the show captures the national psyche perfectly, and invites the audience to share and add their memories of Billy to the ongoing development of the piece. Performed with loving energy, McNair also shares his encounter with the great man. Highly entertaining, you will think about the first time you encountered the Big Yin. (Mine are those Parkinson interviews!)
