The Pure, the Dead and the Brilliant

The team behind The Pure, the Dead and the Brilliant are not, according to programme copy, “pretending to be anything other than a partisan company”. It’s refreshing to see "political" theatremakers being so honest and open about the work they make. At the very least, it allows for a humorous layer of knowing irony to be dolloped on the show itself, seeing as we’re in on the joke. Alan Bissett’s pantomimic fable in favour of a "Yes" vote is hardly subtle, but it’s a compelling consideration of national pride.

At Hogmanay, four fairies, Bogle, Selkie, Banshee and Black Donald discuss why they are against independence, laying out their belief that it will make them redundant: as Scottish folklore becomes real, myths will be forgotten. They go out canvassing for the "Vote Naw" campaign, with Donald coming up as the bad guy who is controlling the others for his own gain (nice allegory there). With boos, hisses and the occasional bit of audience interaction, this is all very generalised and broad, but it’s fun all the same.

Nonetheless, it’s difficult to know whether this show would illicit such a positive response if the audience were less sympathetic to the "Yes" campaign. Cheap potshots run the risk of alienating as much as galvanizing, but the energy of the cast is infectious. This is by no means a nuanced, complex piece of art about the forthcoming referendum, but it’s full of national character and progressive spirit.