The Long Drop review – Denise Mina’s whisky-soaked tale of triple murder is horribly gripping
Citizens theatre, GlasgowThe novel is adapted with equal parts wit and horror to capture the depravity of a notorious crime in GlasgowOn the bare brick wall backing Jen McGinley’s set...
By Mark Fisher · The Guardian Culture
Citizens theatre, Glasgow The novel is adapted with equal parts wit and horror to capture the depravity of a notorious crime in Glasgow On the bare brick wall backing Jen McGinley’s set – half courtroom, half saloon – there is a faded poster of The Searchers, John Ford’s 1956 western . The whisky-swilling hard men who haunt the clubs and dives of The Long Drop may well see themselves as cowboys. They are double dealers and grandstanders, full of bluff and bluster; sometimes cosplay baddies, acting as tough as John Wayne; other times, they are the real thing, meting out beatings and sociopathic violence. But this is not Monument Valley. Rather, it is the same Gorbals streets outside the theatre where, in a different time, one of Glasgow’s most notorious crimes played out. Adapted with equal parts wit and horror by Linda McLean from the true-life crime novel by Denise Mina , it is the unravelling story of a triple murder. Continue reading...