The Rise and Fall of Little Voice

Elaine C Smith and Andy Gray return to the work of Jim Cartright following their 2006 tour of Two, this time tackling the Lancashire playwright’s best-known work.

In many ways the story of a pure-hearted singer exploited by those around her is a perfect vehicle for the pair, who play Little Voice’s obnoxious mother and her sleazy self-appointed agent respectively.

Smith’s Mari is gloriously brash, vulgar and obnoxious – everything the character should be. She fires off lines like ‘Up yours, arse-face’ like a woman with no ‘off’ switch – damaged, frustrated and perhaps slightly manic.

The first half rattles along to the sound of her deluded, bullying prattling, but the play’s final showdown lacks the light and shade that’s necessary for her character’s humanity to be glimpsed.

Debbie Saloman, making her Scottish debut, is strong in the demanding title role, allowing LV’s bubbling resentment to shine through in her silent gestures and eventually unleashing a ferocious torrent of song in the production’s most powerful moment. When performing as Little Voice the act, she’s almost unrecognisable as LV the shy, grief-stricken girl.

Set and costumes by Annette Gillies effectively convey both class and stagnation, without locating the action in the past. However, the inclusion of two entrances cause problems with sight lines and the set’s crucial transformation is inexplicably half-hearted.

This Little Voice certainly makes the audience laugh (and occasionally snort), but if it is also to make then cry director Michael Harrison must re-assess its pivotal scene, in which Smith must have the confidence to slow down, turn down the volume, and lay bare her character’s soul.

A version of this review first appeared in The Herald.