Ned Campbell takes us back to the rave culture of the 1990s in Kieran Hurley’s powerful monologue, originally performed with the accompaniment of DJ Johnny Whoop and now with Tom Snell in that role.
It tells the story of the working-class teenager Johnno McCreadie, living with his mother in Scotland where “even the rain has given up the ghost.” But then comes the chance of going to a rave with his mate Spanner in a car driven by a lad from England.
The lad mentions that the rave scene isn't quite as easy as it used to be courtesy of government persecution in the form of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which made it illegal for people to gather in a public space to hear "amplified music which is wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats".
None of that worries Johnno, who is already excited by the event, takes a pill Spanner gives him and is soon dancing and hugging other dancers.
Meanwhile, the policeman Robert is imagining a conversation with his father, a former worker at the Ravenscraig steel mill in Motherwell, demolished by the “scorched earth” assault of Thatcher. His dad, one of the casualties of the closures, wishes he had supported the miners' strike.
Sent to disperse and arrest those at the rave, Robert batters Johnno to the ground before carting him off to a police cell.
It's an atmospheric story with Ned Campbell bringing the various characters brilliantly to life against the repetitive beats of Tom Snell’s soundscape.