This show takes you back in time, specifically 30 years ago, for a Scottish theatrical thriller set on the Isle of Skye. As I take my seat, the ambience sets in, melancholic and moody.
Four siblings and their troubled mother leave their lives in Glasgow filled with the harsh reality of losing their father. The horrors of their father’s abrupt end would follow them around the island, in some form or another.
Past, in the Isle of Skye, where it all happened, to present, in which Annie is telling the story years on. Annie reminisces about how she and her brother would talk about these peculiar days on the beach. This drama is well thought out and clear, even when flicking through time.
Dawn Steele and James Robinson flicker between characters, showing the different dynamics between the siblings, dealing with the death of their father at a pivotal age. The relationship between Brawn and Annie is especially complicated, and a power struggle takes place between the two siblings to take on the role of their father. I find myself sympathising with Annie as she tries to hold everyone together, even when her barely younger but much angrier brother tries to take control (which is all the time).
With just a stage, minimal props and thunderous sound effects, this thriller allows you to create the story in your own head with your imagination. Although ghost stories are not anything new, this Scottish thriller is still engaging and powerful, its shocking ending stunned, as not only the characters get caught up in the determination to catch their father.
SKYE: A Thriller 15.00, 26 Summerhall – Techcube, until August 25
