Review: Meme Girls at A Play, A Pie and A Pint
- Lisa in the theatre
- Jun 3
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 5
Meme Girls, written and directed by Andy McGregor, is the latest 'A Play, A Pie and A Pint' production. It's a fantastic new play with music about two friends whose relationship is derailed by the quest for online fame.
Review: Oran Mor, Glasgow | 3 June 2025
Meme Girls, A Play, A Pie and A Pint 2025 ★★★★☆
Jade (Julia Murray) and Clare (Yana Harris) are best friends at school in Largs who dream of becoming successful musicians. Their strategy - of releasing short video snippets of their music online - proves unsuccessful. Then Clare goes viral on Instagram and TikTok for unrelated, drunken antics and the girls clash over the future of their band and their friendship.
Andy McGregor's Meme Girls begins with both girls being interviewed retrospectively for a documentary. They are asked to look back at the events that lead to 'Clare's five minutes of fame.' McGregor's writing and direction here is sublime. We observe both interviews played out simultaneously on stage. The separate yet overlapping audio of this scene is judged beautifully, with both Murray and Harris timing their punchlines for maximum impact. It's an impressive opening.
As the play progresses we are treated to a couple of the girls songs, and as always from Andy McGregor, the musicality is stunning. These original songs are great! Both Murray and Harris are talented singers, and every musical number is strong.
Resident PPP designer Fraser Lappin has outdone himself with the pink sparkly boudoir that serves as the backdrop for the Meme Girls' story. His imaginative, theatrical eye for window dressing is on full display here with an eye-catching array of influencer props. Also of note this week: the stage and cast are all beautifully lit by Ross Nurney. A Play, A Pie and A Pint offers a bargain budget theatre ticket, but this creative team prove that low budget never means low quality. They're magicians.
Andy Mcgregor's Meme Girls is a wonderfully observed study of young female friendship and the lure of online fame. McGregor's knowledge of the influencer lifestyle and TikTok algorithms is impressive!
Meme Girls is not as riotous as some of this writer's other plays; it doesn't shy away from showing the hurt and sadness that pursuing fame at the cost of personal relationships can bring. It's difficult to deliver an impactful play in a 50-minute time slot and although Meme Girls is a sobering watch at times, it's a well-constructed, beautifully performed one. ★★★★☆
Andy McGregor said:
"With Meme Girls, I wanted to explore two things that fascinate me. Firstly, the rise of online influencers – this new breed of celebrity who often don't have the 'traditional' talents we associate with fame, and I'm keen to unpack what captivates us about them.
Secondly, I'm interested in the intensity of friendships and their breakups. Losing a friend can be as devastating as any romantic split, and that sense of loss can linger forever if it's never mended.
“I love making shows at A Play, A Pie and A Pint, and I believe Meme Girls delivers exactly what I enjoy in theatre, and what I know the Òran Mór audience appreciates: fantastically talented performers, a generous dose of laughs, perhaps a few tears, and an intriguing story that, for a wee magical hour, completely absorbs you in a world you never knew existed!”
Meme Girls is at A Play, A Pie and A pint at Oran Mor, Glasgow until Saturday 7 June 2025
Òran Mór, Glasgow, G12 8QX
Mon 2 - Sat 7 June 2025, 1pm
£15 - £19.50 (inc. food and drink)
Tickets: 0141 357 6200 (option 4) or via playpiepint.com
Meme Girls cast
Yana Harris as Clare
Julia Murray as Jade
Meme Girls Creative Team
Writer and Director: Andy McGregor
Assistant Director: Rebecca Hamill
Designer: Fraser Lappin
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