The Lord moves in mysterious ways in this rapid fire play

The Herald Scotland

04-07-2025

Theatre 118, Glasgow
Everyone has their crosses to bear in Chris Patrick's new play, in which a couple of believers meet in the sort of outdoor venue where decidedly unchristian things might happen in order to curry favour with the big guy upstairs. Our hapless pair aim to do this by way of hammer, nails, some handy DIY and a lot of faith to muffle the screams. When an angel finally does turn up to show them the way, rather than some beatific saviour bathed in a holy glow, this winged wonder is a grumpy naysayer who keeps his halo in his briefcase and is in permanent dispute with his boss.
The Lord moves in mysterious ways in Colin McGowan's rapid-fire production that sees Patrick's stream of one liners go beyond what initially looks like an extended routine into a scabrous comic look at the painful extremes of blind faith. Erin Scanlan's naive disciple makes a kooky comic foil to Ross Flynn's self appointed right hand man of God, played by Flynn as a kind of ecclesiastical middle manager. McGowan himself plays Angie the Angel as the sort of fly patter merchant with an attitude problem not seen since Peter Cook played the devil in his and Dudley Moore's groovy swinging sixties take on Faust in Bedazzled.
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Patrick's play forms the first edition of Play of the Week, a new venture set up by the recently formed Theatre 118, who have found a home in a former office block on Osborne Street in Glasgow's city centre. This is at the behest of Outer Spaces, the innovative organisation set up to fill empty shops and offices with artistic life as makeshift studios, galleries and venues. This has enabled Theatre 118 to tap into a necessary need for cheap grassroots theatre spaces in which artists can experiment without financial risk.
With a background in scratch nights, play readings and other self generated developmental initiatives, Theatre 118's move into full productions looks promising. As the Play of the Week name suggests, this inaugural season of four short plays running each Thursday to Saturday showcases work that once upon a time might have ended up on TV. This follows in a tradition forged by the likes of A Play, a Pie and a Pint's lunchtime theatre institution in that it works from the ground up. The unseen saviour in Patrick's play might not approve, but the resurrection of grassroots Scottish theatre might just start here. Hallelujah to that.