Review: TAMÁM SHUD, Oran Mor, Glasgow

Tamám Shud is a new play written by Thomas Jancis and directed by André Agius, it is co-presented with Ayr Gaiety. 

Keene (Stephen Docherty) is an unremarkable man, living in Glasgow with his mother. His main concern seems to be whether he's bought her the right kind of slippers. But Keene is actually far more complex than he first seems, he's a British spy.

Keene is called to Australia when a man is found dead on a beach. He's known as the Somerton man and it is an unsolved true crime case where the unknown victim has ingested poison.

Stephen Docherty gives a good performance as Keene, an ordinary man with an extraordinary job. Amelia Issac Jones and Adam Buksh play a variety of other characters throughout the play. 

It's an interesting concept as they throw up potential theories for how the Somerton man died but it just isn't as gripping as it should be. Some decent performances do salvage the production but it feels like a long hour.

Photo credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

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