Highland heists and Big Country songs: Restless Natives hits the stage

The National

04-05-2025

In the movie – which boasts music by ­Scottish rock band Big Country and a ­screenplay by ­Ninian Dunnett – the pair take to a ­reconditioned Suzuki motorcycle in pursuit of tourist buses and the riches contained therein.
Now – as Restless Natives celebrates its 40th anniversary and Perth Theatre and Concert Hall mark 125 years of arts provision in the Fair City – the cult film has been adapted as a new stage musical.
Created by Perth Theatre and no fewer than three co-producers, the show will tour to ­Stirling, Aberdeen, Inverness and Glasgow ­following its stint in Perth.
READ MORE: Ex-Scottish LibDem minister faces probe over lobbying and 'verbal attack' claims
As an adaptation, this theatrical apple hasn't fallen very far from the cinematic tree.
This is hardly surprising given that it is ­directed by Hoffman himself with lyrics by ­Dunnett. ­Indeed Hoffman and Dunnett ­contribute to the book, alongside Andy Paterson, while composer Tim Sutton has written a score that, needless to say, has songs by Big Country woven through it.
We first meet Ronnie (Kyle Gardiner) and Will (Finlay McKillop) in the Edinburgh joke shop where Ronnie works. There it is that the duo are inspired to take up highway robbery wearing their soon-to-be-iconic clown and ­wolfman masks.
From there, the play captures the film's sense of a 1980s Scotland in which these imaginative, young criminals capture the hearts of many of their country folk – and, even, those of some of the tourists whose cash and valuables they're stealing.
For sure, Will has procured the affections of Margot, a patriotic bus tour guide whose father just happens to be chief of Lothian and Borders Police.
(Image: MIHAELA BODLOVIC)
The production is blessed with an ­ excellent cast across the board, from young stars like the ever-impressive Kirsty MacLaren (­Margot) to more experienced hands such as Sarah ­Galbraith (Texan cop Bender), Alan McHugh (Scottish police chief Baird) and Harry Ward (Will's dad and lunatic ­criminal Nigel).
Translating a road movie to the stage is a tricky proposition, not least because the play can't rely on the energy that the film ­generates in its motorbike scenes. Consequently, this stage adaptation does stutter occasionally as it makes gear changes.
Moreover, with so many scene changes – ­between urban and rural, indoors and outdoors – too much is asked of designer Becky Minto's set, which collides the joke shop with Highland road signs.
Nonetheless, the show succeeds in evoking the times, the humour and, of course, the music of the movie.
As it takes off around the country, it will, one suspects, prove to be an imperfect crowd-pleaser.
At Perth Theatre until May 10, then touring until June 28: perththeatreandconcerthall.com