Review: Tron Theatre Studio3 - Alright Sunshine, Fleg and Fruitcake

Name: Studio3 - Alright Sunshine, Fleg & Fruitcake
Brand: Glasgow Tron Theatre
Rating: 4 (1 reviews)

Lisa in the theatre
7 days ago
5 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

Tron Theatre Company have produced a mini-rep season of 3 original plays showcasing some of the brilliant new work coming out of Scottish Theatre today. All three of the plays - Alright Sunshine by Isla Cowan, Fleg by Meghan Tyler and Fruitcake by Frances Poet - were originally commissioned by A Play, A Pie and A Pint and have now been given new life at the Tron.

Staged at Glasgow Tron Theatre during April and May 2025, the plays are available as individual shows or can be combined into 3-play event days.

I chose to do them as a three-show day and this gave me an added appreciation at just how fast and skillfully the backstage teams turn around the sets between the shows in the Changing House studio theatre.

It also left me stunned at the talent and range that the company of 3 actors - who play all of the wildly different characters in the 3 plays - have. To remember the lines for one play is inconceivable to me, so to do it for 3 in a single day requires a superhuman. Take a bow Dani Heron.

Each of the plays individually are superb; I can see why Tron Artistic Director Jemima Levick has chosen these three as her first mini-rep season. The plays are all completely different; They have nothing to link them thematically other than they are one hour long, fringe-theatre style shows. But yet they sit so well together bonded by a singular artistic team and incredible cast.

Reviews of the individual plays are below:

Alright Sunshine by Isla Cowan
Fleg by Meghan Tyler
Fruitcake by Frances Poet

Dani Heron in Alright Sunshine by Isla Cowan. Photo credit: Eoin Carey

Alright Sunshine by Isla Cowan | Directed by Debbie Hannan ★★★★☆

Alright Sunshine is a monologue that sees female police officer PC Nicky McCreadie (Dani Heron) describe her days patrolling the Edinburgh Meadows. Heron draws the audience in for a chatty, good-natured heart-to-heart as she describes the ebb and flow of the people who frequent the large grassy space in the middle of Edinburgh: The gentle dog walkers, the joggers, the gangs and the underlying threat of late night violence.

Isla Cowan's play takes a dramatic shift in tone as we follow McCreadie as she responds to a mass brawl on the Meadows. In doing so she explores the challenges of being a female police officer, a daughter, a girlfriend - just a lassie. It's a stunning exploration of gender and the balance of power.

Director Debbie Hannan builds the tension to an explosive finale. It's remarkable that a monologue with simple (but gorgeous) staging and barely any props such as this can be so tense. But there is an outstanding performance from Dani Heron at the core of this play that will surely see her nominated come Awards season.

Heron stands alone, in the middle of a stage, captivating and devastating an audience for an entire hour. She left me breathless.

Jo Freer and Kevin Lennon in Fleg by Meghan Tyler. Photo credit: Eoin Carey

Fleg by Meghan Tyler | Directed by Dominic Hill ★★★★☆

East Belfast, 2022. The Queen has died and one council worker (Dani Heron) has been tasked with lowering all the union flegs to half mast. There are a lot of them! A local unionist couple, Bobby (Kevin Lennon) and Caroline (Jo Freer) are deeply patriotic and truly devastated to learn of Her Majesty's passing. They take exception to someone touching the fleg that proudly hangs outside their house.

It's difficult to explain the importance of the fleg (the Northern Irish pronunciation of 'flag') in this show without adding spoilers. And trust me - you want to see this play without any preconceived notions as to what it's about. But I will say that writer Meghan Tyler has taken the often thrown-about term 'flag shagger' and gone to town with it. My face hurt from laughing! And cringing.

Fleg is absurdly brilliant. The characters are all larger than life, and the quick-fire humour is sharp. The jokes are all delivered with deadpan sincerity by an unrecognisable Jo Freer and a fantastically deranged Kevin Lennon. I can't get enough of these wonderful characters.

Kenny Miller's set and costumes are superbly ostentatious and then some. How many union flags and how much leopard print can you fit on a stage? Yes.

Out of the three, this is the play that had the most enthusiastic reaction from the audience at Studio3. It's impossible not to be horrified and stunned by the actions of the characters in this play... but it may be uncomfortably close to the truth and tragic in its portrayal too. I often wondered if I should be laughing.

Underneath the bright visuals and wild hilarity, there are many thought-provoking themes from extremism, to infidelity, religion and gender politics at play. Overall though, Fleg is just maniacally entertaining. Oh and it's offensive to almost everyone. Genius!

Kevin Lennon and Jo Freer in Fruitcake by Frances Poet. Photo credit: Eoin Carey

Fruitcake by Frances Poet | Directed by Jemima Levick ★★★★☆

Fruitcake was staged at A Play, A Pie and A Pint under the title The Prognostications of Mikey Noyce.

Mikey Noyce (Kevin Lennon) has been hiding in his home since the pandemic; he's had some scary visions and he's beginning to think that he may be a modern day Nostradamus. His friendship with Holly (Jo Freer) has fallen away over the years, but now he needs her help to stop a terrible catastrophe.

Fruitcake is one of those plays that gradually reveals how clever it is. Mikey's poems, visions and ramblings are nonsense of course - Holly tries to get him some urgent mental health assistance rather than take his pleas seriously. But as the intricacies of Frances Poet's story become clear and it loops back to some throwaway phrases and props seen earlier, we realise just how shrewd the whole setup is. Fruitcake is such a well constructed play that it leaves the audience smiling with the impact of every reveal.

There are moments of humour, moments of contemplation, and as with the other two plays, accomplished performances from the cast, who are unrecognizable from their characters in the previous hour.

Set in the confined space of Mikey's midden of a flat, Jemima Levick's direction sees what could have been a claustrophobic, static, two-hander instead become an urgent, riveting showdown between two old friends.

Studio3 is on at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow from Sat 26 April - Sat 17 May 2025. For more information contact the Tron Box office: 0141 552 4267 / www.tron.co.uk

Fruitcake will also be touring to Glasgow community centres during May 2025 More info here