Thrown – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
Set against the backdrop of the obscure art of Backhold wrestling, Glasgow writer Nat McClearly teams up with director and performer Johnny McKnight to create this none-too-subtle play about racism in Scotland today.
Backhold wrestling, a bit like Sumo in a kilt, still thrives at Highland games around Scotland, and as Scotland wrestles with it’s own national identity, this play questions if we really are ready to welcome in outsiders or are we still a colloquial, backward-looking and fundamentally racist nation.
Each of the five characters in this play has their own motivations and stories to tell and demons to deal with: Coach Pamela is military in her instruction, ‘validation comes from within’ yet her own identity fears are just barely hidden and ready to burst out. Imogen, a...