A delivery driver. A student. A confused elderly lady.
You might not think these three would have much in common. But on a single day in Edinburgh their paths will intersect.
In Athens of the North, writer and solo performer Mark Hannah brings all three characters richly to life; their struggles, their foibles, their small, important, pleasures are laid before us in this accomplished show.
First up is Alan He’s a delivery driver for Sound Asleep, and we first meet him as he studies the menu in a curry house. He’s a typical (aging) lad, full of beer and bravado. His riff on the menu’s ‘a la carte’ section had the audience in fits just two minutes into the show.
Hannah is a remarkably versatile actor; he not only inhabits all three of his characters, but even acts out Alan doing an impression of his annoying teetotal boss Brian. It’s not the same since Brian’s Dad went – back then they used to have fun.
But today Alan is in a hurry. If he doesn’t get to his daughter Erin’s concert at St Giles’ Cathedral there’ll be hell to pay with his ex-partner. So he rushes off to do his last delivery, only to find it brings back childhood memories he’d rather forget. As Alan floors it back to get to the cathedral by 12, the audience holds its breath, and for more reasons than one. We are holding our collective breath as we see the van charging into the crowded Old Town. What happens next?
You’ll need to see the show to find out, but let me tell you your emotions will be pulled in every which way as Hannah threads the past and the present together to reveal the man beneath the macho swagger.
Hannah’s second character isn’t from Edinburgh at all. Liam’s a working class London boy on a scholarship to study Meteorology at university. He’s fascinated by his subject, but when he goes on a last minute holiday to Zante with his friends (cue hilarious description of their ‘budget’ hotel) he’s also fascinated by the Scottish girl he meets there. Meteorological observations, the Beaufort Scale, the humidity; Liam still has time to notice these even as he enjoys their first kiss. When his new love tells him he ‘should see the weather in Edinburgh’ he takes her at her word.
Back in London he takes the train to Waverley on a whim. Hannah gives us a great sketch of a Londoner looking for CockburnStreet and later seeing Stockbridge (‘like Disney!’) for the first time – but although there’s humour, Liam’s impressions of Edinburgh are interspersed with lyrical moments too. He looks up at the castle and imagines his ‘princess’ waiting for him; he watches the Water of Leith,
‘it just flows, no calculation, it just is.’
And on his way to meet his princess, he walks straight into a man running towards St Giles’ Cathedral.
Does Liam disappear into the happy ever after with his dream girl? Or does he end up sitting on the top deck of a bus with a rambling old lady? I’m not saying – but again, Hannah ends the piece on a beautifully optimistic note.
Cameo three isn’t anything like the other two. For this one Hannah needs a handbag, as he morphs into Maureen, an old lady and long time resident of Annandale Street. We first meet Maureen having a crafty fag in her strictly non-smoking care home. She’s chatting with her carer, Ross. She likes him better than her son Peter, who’s sold her flat and put her – quite unnecessarily in her opinion – into West Edinburgh Residential Care.
Hannah creates a convincing study of a woman slowly descending into dementia. Maureen has a mouth like a sewer (she could beat Alan hands down in a swearing match) and some sharp words to say about a lot of things. She reluctantly accepts that she’s been forgetting why she went out shopping, but she still remembers all the boxes from her house sale, and she gives a priceless and instantly recognisable description of the buyer, all set to gentrify her home of sixty years.
It’s easy to imagine this guy’s face when Maureen, in characteristically salty terms, puts him right about his chances of staying very long in her flat.
But Maureen mostly lapses into memories, weaving in and out of reality as she tells us Alec (her deceased husband) will be coming in soon. She sees him at the end of her bed, imagines he’s asking her to go home with him. Soon she’s taken herself to the bus stop – and when, on the top deck, a sad young Londoner asks her if she’s ok, she’s convinced he’s Peter. And no, she’s not pleased to see him.
Although it’s certainly not necessary to know Edinburgh to enjoy this show, some references will particularly hit home with locals. Maureen’s thoughts on the St James’s Shopping Centre raised a lot of laughs with Saturday’s audience, as did Alan’s opinions on a prawn curry. And again, the ending of Maureen’s story is poignant rather than tragic.
As she reaches the last part of her eventful life, she’s happy reliving her memories with Ross. He looks after her (‘better than Peter’!!!)
Athens of the North is a very entertaining show, and one that’s full of humanity. It’s not only the rich and famous who have a story to tell; people are endlessly fascinating, and Mark Hannah brings these three vignettes of ‘ordinary’ people’s lives to the stage with tremendous warmth and skill.
The audience loved the show, and so did I.
Athens of the North is at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street (Venue 30) at 3.15pm every day until 9 August, then on alternate days (starting with 11 August) until 23 August.
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/athens-of-the-north
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