Written by Raymond Wilson

Directed by Fiona Mackinnon

Tickets from £16.00

Every rock star has a certain want: jewel-encrusted watches, historical artefacts, and less savoury substances. And then there’s Scotland’s own Lewis Capaldi. That loveable scamp, world-class songwriter and vocalist, and renowned for a cracking sense of humour, so what is it that Capaldi wants? Well, it would appear to be an Okapi. 

The immediately engaging thing about Raymond Wilson’s concept for their inaugural A Play, A Pie, and a Pint, is that the idea doesn’t seem that far detached from reality. Though perhaps conservative in direction (it neither goes all out farcical nor too authentic), Lewis Capaldi Goes Tropical is a comedy playing this week at Oran Mor. A three-hander (well, sort of four), set within an airport hotel room, holds its humour in the set-up and interactions between the cast. A show where there’s an undercurrent of drama amidst the comedy, Lewis Capaldi Goes Tropical is an engaging concept, and performed well, but slips on a few loose cocktail spills that could benefit from being tightened. 

Deadbeat dad Jack (called Uncle, given how little he was in his son’s life) is the sort of man who can source things like an Okapi. Especially when it just so happens to be down the Barras. Throwing a goodbye party and a celebration of the money he’s about to pocket, Jack’s hotel room finds itself adorned with inflatable flamingos, bright colours, and a cheese-stick party platter. It’s a garish but effective set from Cathan McRoberts, full of colour masking the isolation of Jack’s life in the airport hotel. 

Jack finds himself in his room with his son, Rob, and Rob’s partner Erin. But Wee Rob sees this as one last test to win back his dad’s affection, doing so through the pair’s long-staying shared passion for music. Armed with his dad’s old CD collection, Rob is blinded by the hopes of a last-minute reconciliation, even if he is roped into another scheme. Erin, meanwhile, isn’t subtle about her disdain for Rob’s dad. Similarly to their hit production, I Hope Your Flowers Bloom, an undercurrent of problematic masculinity rears an uncomfortable head beneath the comedy. And though specific details are unnecessary, the writing and direction of the character’s reactions to one another (particularly that of Lumsden).

Joshua Haynes channels humour in an initially light-hearted role, where audiences can easily empathise with the character – though the more aggressive stance they take later belays Wilson’s clever points in the writing and offers a streak of something more fearful within the once farcical premise. This is where Wilson’s writing is at its best, as is Mackinnon’s direction, utilising the performers to their best in terms of the dramatic, Hayne’s delivering both an emotionally wrought and volatile turn to Wee Rab. Similarly, Lumsden finds a balance in the humour and emotion, chiefly as the role is written with a flair for the comedically aggressive. Gregor Docherty’s Uncle Jack often gets the best lines in the script and offers an effective performance without turning off the audience to the character down to their rougher charm and hapless schemes.

Wilson’s writing and character concepts are strong and the cast is more than capable, but Lewis Capaldi Goes Tropical sits uneasy in being absurd enough to destabilise potential, not enough to maximise the comedy.  

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