Decky Does a Bronco
Decky first did a “bronco” ten years ago, and Douglas Maxwell’s play for site-specific specialists Grid Iron became a touring, international success story.
Ben Harrison’s new production kicks off the Traverse festival season in a pleasant little park in New Town. An audience of about 150 sits in a circle on small foldaway chairs around the four swings: it’s 1983, and charismatic Martin McCormick’s David is telling us what happened when he and his mates on the estate were twelve years old….
They “bronco” their swings: work up a violent rhythm, kick the swing over their heads and jump off; it’s a daredevil manoeuvre that stumpy little Decky (Ben Winger) can’t quite manage.
Oddly, the outdoors setting militates against the play’s slide from physical exhilaration into child abuse horror; one or two parents smartly removed their youngsters at this point. Deckyshows his age, but the company is outstanding.
