Review: Making Way at A Play, A Pie and A Pint | A modern vampire myth

Lisa in the theatre

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New comedy drama Making Way is at A Play, A Pie and A Pint in Glasgow until Saturday 14 November and then transfers to Newcastle and Edinburgh. Read my review of this thought-provoking, dark comedy below.

Making Way ★★★☆☆

Review: 11 November 2026 | Òran Mór, Glasgow

The penultimate show of A Play, A Pie and A Pint's 2026 autumn season is a first-time co-production between the Glasgow-based lunchtime theatre producer, Edinburgh's Assembly Theatre and Northern Stage in Newcastle.

Glasgow writer John Maley's Making Way is a one-man, contemporary vampire story set in a near future where the elderly inject themselves with the blood of younger generations.

Maley's dark comedy drama has a compelling premise. Narrated by an unnamed man dressed in a cheap, fancy-dress cape and bloodied makeup, the man (Stevie Raine) is on his way to a film screening of Dracula at Kelvingrove Art Museum in Glasgow with a bunch of other freshly rejuvenated pensioners.

He's all cheeky grin, witty remarks and boundless energy as he explains that 70-somethings like him can now buy blood transfusions that restore their minds and bodies, and rid them of the physical aches and pains of ageing. Head to a back-street clinic in Edinburgh, or any other town, and it seems you can now buy the fountain of youth.

Although our narrator reaps the benefits of the procedure and has become addicted to how it makes him feel, it does come with a stigma. Not all of his friends or family agree with him using the service. Furthermore, while some young folks sell their blood, or become "donors" out of financial necessity, others are fed up with the oldies taking up room in the job market, filling the nightclub floors and hogging the housing stock. Nothing is passed on anymore. They protest in the streets, hold up banners and plead for the elderly parasites to make way for them.

It's a dystopian, dark and funny tale that hooks you from the start. If buying immortality was an option, who among us could resist?

Directed by Lesley Hart, Making Way stars the brilliant Stevie Raine, who bounces around the stage excited to share his cautionary tale with us. Raine is generous with his eye contact, and patient with his storytelling, so this feels more like an intimate chat with a pal than a formal piece of theatre. It's a pleasure to hear the beautiful, melodic North East England accent on our Glasgow stage, and when Raine does venture into a Scottish accent, it's very impressive indeed.

While Maley's book is compelling and Raine works hard to engage the audience, the production sometimes lacks atmosphere. Making Way is entertaining and fun on the surface but unsettling underneath. It feels like a missed opportunity not to lean into that darkness further. Adding more sensory details such as a denser soundscape could have really elevated the tension and pulled the audience deeper into the horrifying near-future world.

Ultimately, Making Way is anchored by strong, thoughtful writing that lingers long after our modern vampire takes his final bow. It succeeds in posing fascinating, complex questions about morality that make this show well worth seeing. ★★★☆☆

Making Way is at Òran Mór, Glasgow until Saturday 14 November and then it transfers to Newcastle and Edinburgh. Find the full dates and venues listing below

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