Six and a Tanner

After a successful run at A Play, a Pie and a Pint at Glasgow’s Oran Mor and an extensive tour of Scotland, David Hayman brings Rony Bridges‘ autobiographical Six and a Tanner to the Edinburgh Fringe.

Standing over the coffin of his abusive father, a Springburn man recounts the heartaches of his childhood, laying his father’s imposing leather belt before him and telling the story of the man who both made and wronged him.  

What opens as a personal exorcism of childhood demons develops into a funny and captivating seance of the loves and loathes of the character’s life, offering a nostalgic yet bitter look at old Glasgow, its people and its romanticised decay.

David Hayman proves himself to be one of Scotland’s finest actors. His voice, gruff and full of the private memories of a neglectful childhood, fills the Assembly Room’s ballroom like the most potent incense, dramatic in its effect and at times breathtaking. His emotional intensity is rapturous and his handling of the gallows humour both poignant and affecting.

Sylvia Plath gave to the arts poetic patricide; Rony Bridges has achieved something similar in Six and a Tanner. Emotionally powerful and outstandingly acted, this a truly unmissable performance.

– by Scott Purvis