The Steamie

Set in the 1950s, this play by Tony Roper takes place in the local “steamie” on Hogmanay and contains the best of Glasgow and West of Scotland humour and pathos as it was then and probably is still. The story, being relatively local to the area in which the theatre group performs, gave the cast and production team a golden opportunity to create the atmosphere of a Glasgow steamie and tell the story in the dialect in which it is written with none of the “one-liners” being lost on an appreciative audience. The four regulars at the Steamie were well chosen members of the group and personified the various “types” one might have seen at the Steamie fifty or more years ago. Gail Reid took the role of Dolly to whom the others look up and the scene in Act 2 when she takes a “bath” in the sink was discreetly executed to much hilarity. Magrit, played by Jean Logue, was more than a match for Andy, the Supervisor of the steamie (played by Roy McGregor) and although we never saw Magrit’s husband, we could well understand why he liked to be at Parkhead on Saturdays. Shona Paterson as Doreen was clearly in awe of her seniors but being of the younger generation, she still had aspirations. Margaret Taylor gave a studied portrayal of Mrs Culfeathers with her hard life looking after an ailing husband with no nearby family to help her - quite a philosopher. The chat of the women is well written in a genre that some people may struggle with nowadays and there were numerous references of a purely local nature, such as the comical scene involving a discussion on “Galloway’s mince". The play is of an era that is passing or may well have passed, but the playwright and the cast are still with us in spirit and we benefit from their combined efforts and skills.

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