The Bookies – Summerhall Cairns Theatre
Treat yourself to a spot of pre-show research but hold on tight. Tapping ‘Bookies’ into any search engine is not an edifying experience. The avalanche of links, options and manoeuvres from betting sites is staggering. Obscene probably a more accurate description.
Originally written as a sitcom pilot one pines to know why this script was never properly picked up, the seams of the subject rich enough to mine for episode after episode… anyway, years after, the writers re-wrote ‘hings as a play and pitched it to Dundee Rep who ran it in May 2022 to some well-deserved acclaim. Mikey Burnett (co-writer with Joe McCann) has worked in such establishments and hails from Edinburgh so ticks all the boxes necessary to fashion a paean to desperate locals, the lines between staff, customers and h...