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The Holy Terror - One4Review

James Scotland’s Scots two act comedy, adapted from Moliere’s ‘Tartuffe’ is given a splendid treatment by Edinburgh People’s Theatre. The humour is sustained throughout from the opening scene to the closing scene. The play is set in Edinburgh in the 1790’s when the protestant King William has replaced James II. Archibald Ogilvie, a rich merchant, returns after a business trip to London to find his son has run up huge debts in wooing a succession of attractive young women, and his simple minded daughter has fallen in love with an equally simple minded young man. However, Ogilvie has become something of a religious zealot coming under the spell of the sanctimonious minister Isaac Tarland to whom he hands over all his wealth. However, Tarland, despite his self-righteousness has a passion for Ogilvie’s wife. Through subterfuge largely orchestrated by the maid Etta, Tarland eventually gets his comeuppance. All the players in the cast slip into roles their effectively and they combine well together when delivering the punch lines. What is pleasing is the diction is very clear. Strong performances come from Stuart McEwan who looked and sounded like the hypocritical minister Isaac Tarland; Mandy Black as the feisty, quick thinking maid Etta; Iain Fraser as the cantankerous Archibald Ogilvie and Lyzzie Dell as the crabbit Granny Ogilvie. This is a production which is playing well to a Scottish audience who can understand the language and the particularly sarcastic humour which does suit the Scots tongue. ****

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