Review: QUIZ: THE COUGHING MAJOR MILLIONAIRE SCANDAL, King's Theatre Glasgow
Enjoyable, intelligent and introspective
It’s worth coughing up some cash for Daniel Evans’ and Sean Linnen’s Quiz: The Coughing Major Millionaire Scandal at Kings’ Theatre this week.
The piece follows Who Wants to be a Millionaire winner Charles Ingram (Lewis Reeves) who is accused of cheating through strategically-timed coughs from spectating accomplices Diana Ingram (Charley Webb) and Tecwan Whittcok (Marc Antolin). Consistently breaking the fourth wall, opposing lawyers (Leo Wringer and Danielle Henry) slickly guide us through a nonlinear time sequence, exploring different perspectives of the crime. Are they guilty? Well, that’s for the audience to decide. Armed with our own voting devices, we oversee the decision here… or so it seems.
The play is more than a re-telling of the coughing scandal – it takes us back to the invention of the popular millionaire gameshow and the white middle-class fandom it bred. James Graham’s crafty writing feels like a social commentary on the parallels between legal justice and showbiz. Both can be avid manipulators, editing and choosing how people are presented to suit a hidden agenda.
Set designers Ben and Max Ringham reflect this by fusing together a daunting black courtroom with a shiny reality TV set. Tim Reid’s video design showcases a multimedia-in-theatre masterclass – his large projector screens are instrumental to the atmosphere, humour and messages of the play. I’m doubtful about the truthfulness of audience vote results, but perhaps this adds to the message.
Rory Bremmer is Chris Tarrant to a tee - from the sceptical frowns to the cross-armed gestures and falling vocal intonation when pretending contestants have answered incorrectly. Sukh Olja effortlessly switches between numerous roles, providing consistent comic relief by mastering a wide variety of hilarious characters. Mark Benton’s Paddy Spooner, a.k.a. “the quiz show Robin Hood” is a parodically sly yet amusing leader of the all-empowered 'Syndicate'.
I did want more audience voting – it felt like a missed opportunity to only have us vote three times. Overall the play was enjoyable, intelligent and introspective, offering a fresh new perspective on the Ingram case. It wasn't overtly profound, but I can appreciate it as a great piece of theatre.
Quiz: The Coughing Major Millionaire Scandal is at King's Theatre Glasgow until 14 October
Photo Credit: Johan Persson
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