Review: Members Only | A Play, A Pie and A Pint, Glasgow

Name: Members Only
Brand: A Play, A Pie and A Pint
Rating: 3 (1 reviews)

Lisa in the theatre
11 hours ago
3 min read

Members Only, by River City's Marc Pye and Gayle Telfer Stevens, premiers as part of A Play, A Pie and Pint's spring season Òran Mór, Glasgow, before touring to Stranraer, Dumfries and Moffat as part of this year’s Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival. Read my review below.

Members Only ★★★☆☆

Review: 19 May 2026 | Òran Mór, Glasgow

Best pals Linda (Sandra McNeeley) and Angie (Julie Duncanson) love a night at the Bingo. They're such good friends that they always split any winnings, no matter how big - or is usually the case - how small. Their daughters Amy (Eimi Quinn) and Stacey (Taya Sian) think that the Bingo is for "old biddies." That is, until they hear about the upcoming "national" game with a forty-thousand-pound prize.

Influencer Stacey wants the money for plastic surgery, while Amy dreams of opening a dog grooming salon. But Linda is behind with her mortgage payments and is at risk of losing her house. If anyone needs a windfall, it's her. So when Stacey steals Linda's membership card to gain access to the 'Members Only' bingo club, the group's loyalties and friendships are pushed to the limit.

Noted River City writer Marc Pye has teamed up with Olivier Award-winning actress Gayle Telfer Stevens to pen this new comedy play that gives us a candid insight into the tight friendships that can form (and be lost) over a night at the bingo.

In what is Stevens' playwrighting debut, the pair have stuffed their big-hearted, gallus show full of bingo puns and banter. It's a very Scottish play, with sharp, authentic language and dialogue. The overwhelming money struggles, the strong bonds between the two sets of friends, and the harsh teasing between the mothers and daughters all feels familiar and rings very true. I grew up with a mum who religiously went out to the bingo a few nights a week, despite not having the money to do so. And like the ladies in this play, it was never thought of as gambling. How dare you!

Taya Sian and Eimi Quinn in Members Only at A Play, A Pie and a Pint. Photo credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan — Taya Sian and Eimi Quinn in Members Only. Photo: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

Maureen Carr's accomplished direction has Members Only hurtling along at a pace, with a playful tone that's just right for the lunchtime theatre slot. There's a familiar warmth to each of the characters, and a real chemistry between the cast. Sandra McNeeley, in particular, is rib-ticklingly, deadpan brilliant.

The resolution to the drama does come a little too easily: I don't buy the swift change of heart that befalls one character at the end of the show. But it makes for a heartwarming, satisfying send-off for this short, 50-minute "a play, a pie and a pint" performance.

There's fab, bold lighting from Ana Reid to accentuate this production too, complete with a spinning disco ball that complements Heather Grace Currie's pink and cheerful set. The stage does feel cramped at times, but being able to fit the interior of two houses, a bingo hall, and a four-strong cast onto the teeny Òran Mór basement stage is no mean feat at all.

Members Only isn't that deep, and it isn't going to change your life, but it is good, comical, heartwarming fun. I don't think I've ever seen a play centred around the working-class-women's hobby of "going to the Bingo" before, and it brought so many warm yet painful memories from my childhood hurtling back.

That's the magic of A Play, A Pie and A Pint: It provides a platform and a voice to underrepresented communities and stories in the arts, and it must be protected at all costs.