Fringe 2025 – Wellpark Wanderer ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Edinburgh Reporter

a day ago

It is often said that Scottish performers are hard to find in the Festival and Fringe. Writing in 1976, the historian Owen Dudley Edwards suggested that 'there is little of Edinburgh, and even less of Scotland in the Festival'.
Many see the Festival and Fringe as something imposed from outside on the people of Edinburgh. Such narratives persist. It's also widely argued that working class voices are marginalised within the Fringe. Especially, in the sphere of comedy, the Fringe is often seen as London-centric and dominated by middle class voices and perspectives. There are, fortunately, exceptions.
In Wellpark Wanderer, Oliver Robertson, provided a very Scottish and distinctively working class aspect to the Fringe. His elegiac take on the East End of Glasgow was well-performed and engaging. His language was both poetic and urgent. In truth, though its themes of the dislocating effects of urban change would resonate with many, it's not the type of show that is likely to attract massive audiences. But it is the type of show that adds richness to the Fringe.
I was the first member of the audience to make my way in and for a few minutes I wondered if I would be the only one. That's never a comfortable position to be in so for a few seconds I considered looking for another show (the classy Markus Birdman was performing next door). I'm glad I didn't. What makes the Fringe is finding hidden gems such as Wellpark Wanderer. Though there were only four in the audience, this was also the number when I saw Rob Auton about a decade ago in the very same room (Banshee Labyrinth's– Banqueting Hall). Auton has since gone on to become a Fringe star.
An internal monologue
Robertson's narrative focused on his wanderings in Glasgow's streets, especially in the East End, where he grew up. This section of Glasgow has long been the unfashionable and overlooked area of the city, really featuring in tourist guides, or the work of influencers. Visitors are generally pointed towards the West End and, more recently, the Southside. This is changing and some of the tensions inherent in this evolution ran through the show.
Robertson's show was simple and low tech. He's switched between delivering his poetic text live and recordings of his readings. These switches gave the performance a nice variety – and also a sense of Robertson conversing with himself. A sense of internal monologue with Robertson, the Wanderer, trying to make sense of what he witnessed and experienced on the East End streets. His character of the Wanderer was more of an active participant in what was happening rather than the more disconnected flaneur, found in many works of psychography.
The Worst Street in Scotland
His lyrical and poetic musings on the changing character of the East Ending in Glasgow connected to a number of widely held concerns. In short, fears of whether gentrification will erase the local character of a place. Robertson's particular focus was on Duke Street, Britain's longest street, running from Glasgow city centre through the heart of Glasgow's East End. It was the character of the street and its inhabitants that was the heart of the show.
Prominent in the show was the sense of pride about the area in which you were brought up in. As a result, you take it personally when it gets criticised. So, Robertson was annoyed when he saw Duke Street described as the worst Street in Scotland, in terms of boarded up shops etc. The state of our high streets has become a huge theme of political debate, with some seeing their 'derelict' state as evidence of a wider social decline. In retrospect, we may look back on our current era as one of transition but, right now, the narrative of perpetual decline is widely held. This was an example of Robertson's ability to connect to themes of significance beyond his local area.
Robertson's sense of hurt when his local area was criticised in the press, is combined with a sense of concern about the gentrification of the area. For instance Dennistoun has recently been dubbed one of Scotland's coolest urban areas. This is bringing new groups to the place and pushing up prices and the emergence of new blocks of flats. This adds to the sense of social erasure. As Robertson noted, such social erasure has been happening for some time. His concerns were expressed in the 1960s folk song about Glasgow slums, They're Pulling Doon the Buildin' Next Tae Oors by Adam McNaughtan. Robertson's words contain a similar sense of regret about some of the changes taking place.
Only stories are left
One of his most powerful sections was about the impact of the building of the M8 through Glasgow. This was a 'scar' which had 'severed the heart of the city', destroying a number of communities. In these areas (such as Anderston) 'only stories are left'. Robertson argued that without this destruction, Glasgow could have been a UNESCO Heritage site to rival Edinburgh. Certainly, even with this destruction, Glasgow is packed with fantastic architecture (the work of Alexander 'Greek' Thomson and others).
Robertson argued that a motorway would never have been sliced through a middle class area, such as Hyndland in the West. When he visits such 'untouched' places, he feels he is in 'alien' territory. The sense of a city with vast disparities (manifested in the very different life expectancies in different areas of the city) was a theme that, like the M8 runs through Glasgow, ran through the performance.
Alien territory
There was also the sense that, for Robertson, being in Edinburgh was also uncomfortable; that this too was alien territory. Certainly, voices such as Robertson's are rarely found on the Edinburgh Fringe. It's a credit to PBH's Free Fringe that they provide access for such powerful voices. In his 'bucket speech', Robertson lavished praise on the Free Fringe, without whom he would be able to perform the show. Robertson's show is perhaps too niche to reach large audiences, but those who have seen it will surely leave with a really rich picture of the East End of Glasgow, well beyond the stereotypes that linger. I'm sure we will be hearing much more from Roberson in the years to come; on stage and in print.
Note: Wellpark Wanderer's Fringe run is now over.
You can follow Oliver Robertson at: https://www.instagram.com/oliverhrobertson/?hl=en
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