FringeReview Scotland 2026
We’re All Right
Tideline Runners
Genre: Comedy, New Writing
Venue: Duns Volunteer Hall
Festival: FringeReview Scotland
Low Down
We’re All Right is a blend of domestic chaos with bigger, sometimes darker themes, performed as part of the DunsPlayFest by Tideline Runners Theatre. It’s a worryingly believable wacky story of impending doom delivered in three distinct but linked acts – The Blatant Manifesto, All Lazarus Like and Ding-Dong! Intrigued? Read on……..
Review
We’re All Right (or ‘An Investigation into the Inner Workings of the Newly Global Inquisition by Oswald Knowles’) is the latest work from Berwick-upon-Tweed based RJ Flynn, whose reputation for blending domestic chaos with bigger, sometimes darker, themes is once again front and centre of this ninety minute piece of full on apocalypse focused, anarchic comedy.
Performed as part of the DunsPlayFest by Tideline Runners Theatre, the worryingly believable wacky story of impending doom comes in three distinct but linked chunks, the genesis of which came during lockdown (remember that – it was six years ago).
Act 1 is entitled The Blatant Manifesto and centres on Job Newly as he starts a global movement (the aforementioned Newly Global Inquisition) from the confines of a newly refurbished village hall. Act 2 (All Lazarus Like) sees the family of a recently deceased man gathering to formally mourn his passing, only to find themselves preparing to witness a miracle. Or not. Finally, Act 3 (Ding-Dong!) focuses on a primary school teacher with a tendency towards spectacular nervous breakdowns trying to broker agreement on the cast for the upcoming nativity play. And all before before the impending Armageddon in the form of an onrushing comet obliterates the planet, including his school, St Mungos Primary School for the Extraordinarily Privileged.
Well, if that synopsis doesn’t give you a clue to the off the scale absurdist, surrealist nature of this intriguing piece of theatre, nothing will. Think of it as a fast-paced satirical take on QAnon, the US based, far-right, unfounded conspiracy theory and political movement formed in 2017.
Framed as a mockumentary by the fictional documentarian Oswald Knowles (played with panache by the urbane John McEwen), we get underway with Job Newly, our cult starter (the definitely unhinged Mark Pentecost), warning the bemused audience that we’re being fed a diet of lies thinly disguised as an addictive jelly. Or something like that. The bizarreness level is heightened by the unscheduled early arrival of Hannah (the wonderfully scatty Di Renner), who is expecting the village hall to be ready for her rockabilly zumba class. Cue one of the strangest exchanges ever witnessed as Mr Newly seeks to double the membership of his cult. Without success.
Acts 2 and 3 see the zany-o-meter ramped up to warp factor 11 as NGI tries to spread its wings and convince the world that the end is nigh. Probably. Well, maybe. In about seven minutes. Or so. And everything comes together in one of the more bizarre denouements you’ll see, delivered in song (with varying degrees of tunelessness) as the ten strong cast whirl and twirl to Flynn’s coup de grace of a techno-beat finale.
The script showcases Flynn’s expansive, imaginative lexicon to a tee, containing allegories (simple and deep, deep, deep), metaphors, similes and epigrams aplenty, the latter of which flash by in an instant, resurfacing in your mind some time later allowing you to enjoy a repeat performance.
And each member of Flynn’s cast works their proverbial socks to deliver this wacky piece of entertainment. In addition to those already name-checked, there were stand-out performances from the manic David Simpson as our nerve-strained primary school teacher and the superb Carl Laidlaw as Nancy Howarth, the fully qualified healer capable of raising the dead. But maybe Rob Flynn as Ned Wincey (newly deceased due to heart failure) had the best part, spending Act 2 and a bit of Act 3 as the dead body, rising only to shine in that rousing denouement. Set, sound and lighting provided support throughout.
We’re All Right is a very good show for those who are prepared to turn up their suspension-of-disbelief to beyond maximum on the way in and ride with what unravels before them, as the packed and appreciative Duns audience opted to do. However, if that’s not your bag, maybe play it safe and tune into The Archers, that antithesis to Armageddon.
