Review: COMMON TONGUE, Paisley Arts Centre

Bonnie has a lot to say, but she just doesn’t quite know what until the words come out of her mouth. As the granddaughter of an aspiring poet, she’s fascinated with words, language, and the way people communicate. But she’s been told that the way she speaks isn’t “proper”- what’s proper? 

Bonnie lives with her beloved Papa, with whom she’s very close. She’s incredibly proud of him, and when asked to do a solo talk about her hero in school, there’s only one person she wants to speak about. She knows that their lives are different to some of her classmates, she’s never been to Orlando and she knows the other children aren’t impressed with her stories of day trips to Millport. 

Olivia Caw gives a mighty performance as Bonnie. In this whirlwind 75-minute piece of theatre, Caw barely pauses for breath and her delivery is the perfect blend of heartfelt and humorous. Thanks to Caw’s performance, Bonnie is a hugely likeable character that is easy to connect to and relate with. Your heart sinks when she visits a boyfriend’s house and learns it’s a “shoes off” home where she has to try and hide the hole in her socks. 

Bonnie’s world starts to expand when she goes to university to study English. She moves from her small town of Paisley to super posh St Andrews. She mocks her flatmates for their middle-class accents but bristles when criticised for her own turn of phrase. She travels abroad for a year and finds herself having to change how she speaks in order to be understood. 

Fraser Scott’s writing is sharp, witty, and fiercely Scottish. It’s a passionate celebration of the Scots language and a look at the prejudice that it faces. A great script is elevated to something really special with such an engaging performer as Olivia Caw, resulting in a wonderful piece of theatre.

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