Cathy review – snappy comedy with a perfect role for Elaine C Smith

Traverse theatre, Edinburgh
Writer-director Eilidh Loan takes inspiration from her grandmother for this portrait of grief and religion

Eilidh Loan marked her arrival as a playwright with Moorcroft, a tremendous male-centred comedy inspired by her father’s amateur football team. Now she has moved up a generation to write a female-centred family comedy inspired by her grandmother.

It was the older woman who stipulated that her character – the Cathy of the title – should be played by Elaine C Smith, a decision so spot on it suggests that she missed her calling as a casting director. It’s hard to imagine an actor who could better embody Loan’s vision of a newly widowed working-class woman whose grief is veering towards depression. She lands Loan’s jokes – acerbic and sharp – with battle-hardened precision.

At Traverse theatre, Edinburgh, until 30 August

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