Theatre review: Thingummy Bob, Edinburgh
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Thingummy Bob | Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh | Rating: ***
In Linda McLean’s Thingummy Bob - gorgeously directed by Maria Oller, with music by Philip Pinsky - the part of Bob, an ageing dementia sufferer living in a care home, is played by Lung Ha’s star John Edgar; and around him circle a fine cast of supporting actors, including Emma McCaffrey as Gemma, the old friend’s daughter who is his only visitor, and a terrific Karen Sutherland as both his niece in faraway Australia, and the thinking hospital security camera that monitors his every move.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Thingummy Bob is a show that finally struggles to find an ending. Bob is still alive, and still experiencing vivid glimpses of his lost past, particularly when an old neighbour hands him a pile of his old 1960s LPs. Yet like his mind, his story tends to run in circles; and the final attempt to give the show an upbeat karaoke conclusion - as Bob, back in the home, joins the rest of the cast in a chorus of Cliff Richard’s The Young Ones - sits uneasily on a story with such a sombre backbeat, albeit one lovingly and impressively explored by an acting company that seems to go from strength to strength.
• Platform, Glasgow, 5-6 November