Who knew that British Imperialism could be so dark and yet so funny.
When the theatre company is called Disaster Plan, it’s going to be a strange old night, and award-winning Julia Taudevin didn’t let the audience at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow down.
Dressed as a tartan clad, posh old trout, Taudevin delivered a one woman satire on good old Blighty and the grotesque absurdity of her imperial self-regard.
So does it work? well it’s certainly a different show and one which has the audience sounding some real belly laughs.
There’s participation too as Taudevin drags poor folk out to help her spread her chat of all things British. Auntie wants to tell everyone about her love for her country, but all the while her body is falling to bits.
The result is 60 minutes of pure daftness, with a social message or two thrown in for good measure. The set sees Auntie surrounded by all her loves of tradition, from a porcelain tea set (complete with Scotland’s Tunnocks teacakes and wafers) to a Punch and Judy couple charting the uneasy union between Scotland and England, the birth of the British Empire and the quirky expansion of the Commonwealth.
It’s all a bit gruesome with lots of body parts falling off or evolving from Taudevin, as she gives entitlement a serious slap.
Performance director Tim Licata ensures that as the show grows, the audience gets drawn in slowly and puppetry effects designer Fergus Dunnet and costume designer and puppetry effects maker, Gretchen Maynard-Hahn have the Punch and Judy take spot on.
The visual world is shaped by set designer Fraser Lappin, lighting guru Emma Jones and sound from Niroshini Thambar and Nik Paget-Tomlinson, gradually creating symbols of war, domination and historical rot.
Disaster Plan made up of Taudevin and fellow collaborator Kieran Hurley came up with the show’s concept through Summerhall Lab and has received theatrical support from the Traverse Theatre, Paisley Arts Centre and an ISAH creative fellowship.
It’s certainly an eye opening show and which gets better as the character gradually declines. Definitely one that has everyone talking on the way out.
Auntie Empire runs at the Tron Theatre until Saturday 14th February 2026, for ticket information check out: www.tron.co.uk.
Author Bio:
Rebecca Hay is an experienced travel writer and member of The British Guild of Travel Writers. Follow her adventures with her family on Twitter and Instagram @emojiadventurer and on Facebook via EmojiAdventurers2.
Photographs courtesy of Brian Hartley
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