Kier McAllister's new play Hindsight examines the butterfly effect of our life choices, not only on ourselves but on those we love. On the eve of proposing to his girlfriend, student Rob (James Kirk) is busy making some duck spring rolls for a romantic dinner for two. However, when the doorbell rings it isn't his girlfriend Nicky, but a balaclava-clad man who knows an awful lot more than he should do about Rob. Confronted by first one, then two older versions of himself (Raymond Mearns and Paul Sneddon), Rob has to come to terms with the consequences of what he is about to do.
This one hour play is split in tone and pace into two halves. The first slowly builds the premise on which the piece hangs but it is let down by the rhythm of the dialogue which feels strained and unnatural at times. The second then ramps up the action by adding more complications and convolutions on top. There are glimmers of lyrical dialogue in parts and some interesting points made, there are also some subtle and clever jokes too, but they are almost all lost in between the rapid fire delivery and bits of unnecessarily crude dialogue that seem to be trying hard to shock - but merely jars. To its credit, the writing does however reflect the Scottish male psyche well. The set too is inventive, Rob's flat being cleverly realised on the tiny stage.
The actors cope well with what they've been given: Kirk is thoroughly believable as 22 year old, prospect free Rob and Mearns' delivery of the warp speed dialogue deserves credit. Sneddon too, when he appears, is a welcome addition as the oldest future Rob, providing the voice of reason in the piece and a refreshing change of pace and tone.
This is an interesting premise and the quality of the actors and creative team is in no doubt. However, there's a nagging feeling of something missing about the whole piece, the dialogue needs to be more naturalistic to be believable and a less cluttered plot might have erased any doubts.
