Tony Roper’s Scottish staple The Steamie is a particularly historic watch as its 40th anniversary arrives, and with it his final run of the show. Thick with Glaswegian wit, it is centered around a 1950s public wash house driven by working women in conversation with a changing world, underscored through night-time gossip.
Unbeknownst to me — and all the more interesting — is that the play received much initial criticism. Simply put, The Steamie is a play of conversations. It follows the gossip of a group of women over two hours — which, it was argued, did not contain a ‘meaningful’ plot trajectory true to traditional theatre. Perhaps a play set so canonically on the cusp of impending modernisation has more meaning to a modern, ‘post-wash house’ audience. In some ways it seems the further we are from the struggle, the more we recognise its significance. It is a warm two hours of nostalgia and promise.
The musical numbers refute this proclaimed meaninglessness, with dynamic solos that cast a girlish and dreamy quality onto our dry-mouthed characters. Speech to song is not necessarily smooth in transition, with garish fluorescent colour reflecting the tattered (and ‘tatty’-obsessed) convincing workhouse stage. Yet this is not ineffective. Louise McCarthy as the upbeat Dolly delivers a convincing solo of ‘Unheard Cries’ that is almost alien in comparison to the charming forthcoming banter. The contrast frames the famous second act with a disarmingly melancholic and soulful undercurrent.
The musicality of the young and idealistic Doreen (Eden Barrie) is particularly enjoyable, in a radical acceptance of the future and rapt by a new house in Drumchapel. It highlights a moment in history where this was a newly realised dream. Lesley Mackie delivers a prolific contrasting Mrs. Culfeathers, reflecting the intergenerationality of the cast. Her grievance of communitarian ethic — with working hands increasingly succeeded by machines — offers the other side of the debate, and is underscored through thrilling monologues perhaps even more powerful than the music.
It is hard to assess the relationship between isolationism and progression. I do not believe The Steamie necessarily seeks out one answer to this, but it is certainly a worthy watch in an age anticipating the impending effect of AI, working from home, and, simply, the phone. “Every generation is told the future is arriving, whether they are ready or not. But progress has a cost if it teaches us to stop listening.”
Image by Christopher Bowen, provided to The Student for press use.
