★★★★✰
Elfie Picket’s Ane City follows Tay, a third-year English literature student at Glasgow University, who has returned to her home town of Dundee for the summer. After a surprise night out organised by her childhood best friend Sam and her little sister doesn’t go as planned, Tay finds herself on a personal journey of discovery as she travels through the streets of Dundee. Performed and written by Taylor Dyson, and featuring music and direction from Calum Kelly, the show was performed at Dundee Rep for one night only following successful runs at the 2019 Prague Fringe Festival and Edinburgh Fringe.
The show packs in plenty of references to issues facing students. It soon becomes apparent that Tay’s dream life in Glasgow’s West End, far away from the deprived area where she grew up, isn’t all it seems. She finds it hard to fit in with her peers, whose backgrounds differ from her own, and she struggles with her classes. After an underwhelming welcome back from her family, she soon realises that things at home have also changed. Tay’s relationships with Sam and her sister, which were once strong, have become fractured due to the distance between them, and she is jealous of their newfound bond. During their night out, Tay is unable to keep up with the gossip, and she realises how lonely she feels, despite being surrounded with people who she once considered friends.
Dyson is a remarkable storyteller, and she has a knack of bringing each character to life. From the opinionated taxi driver who picks her up from the train station, to her eccentric ex-boyfriend Stuart and his “pic-n-mix” gang of friends, each character truly feels unique. While some scenes may not be to everyone’s taste, such as the later ones where she hallucinates after taking a dubious purple pill proffered by Stuart, her performance is extremely polished, and she frequently has the audience in stitches. These humorous scenes are interspersed with poignant poems that reinforce the complex and often conflicting emotions that Tay feels about topics such as being a woman, and her own identity.
As a Dundonian who used to study in Glasgow, lots of the show resonated with me, but Dyson does a superb job of capturing the feeling of returning to a rapidly changing city that doesn’t quite feel like home. Jam-packed with humour, honesty and Dundee culture, Ane City is bound to resonate with Dundonians and students alike.
Words by Ellen Leslie
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