The boundaries of truth and lies are examined in a new piece of stand up storytelling from emerging Scottish theatre maker Liam Rees.
Over 200 years ago, a Scottish con man going by the name of Gregor MacGregor operated on a grand scale in Britain and beyond to convince gullible folk to part with their siller in the belief of his gross fabrication of a life in a non-existent country named Poyais on the other side of the world. When Liam Rees was working as a tour guide in Edinburgh, the story of this audaciousunpunished criminal caught his imagination and gave wings to his own propensity for mendacity, if not the chiel MacGregor’s wickedness. The result is The Land That Never Was – a meld of truth and what is not so much fiction as bare faced lies.
Before the start of the show, a giant sepia drawing of the fictional country Poyais is projected on a screen at the back of the empty stage that only holds the projector and a slim wooden bench. Throughout the performance, a series of texts – a mix of self -referential statements and spoof ones from the likes of Plato and Socrates – are projected. This element can be a distraction as Rees often speaks while they are being shown so it means a choice of either paying attention to his words or those on the screen. Audiences would also benefit from Rees not walking in front of the projector and blocking said screen.
Rees involves the audience for much of the show with mixed success. While he is confident in speaking to the public, without a sharp sense of reading people he risks allowing over eager participants too much power in what is his show. But that takes experience!
The piece falls somewhere between being stand up, storytelling and theatre, but without enough strength in either camp to make it stand out in any genre. The show induced plenty of laughter but the script sometimes felt like it was going down a rabbit hole of clichéd sound bites disguised as wisdom.
The initial interesting concept that exposed a thoroughly reprehensible and little known criminal who got off (if the pun can be excused) Scot free, lacked the necessary surprise, shock or punch beyond its original premise.
The Scottish premiere of The Land That Never Was has been developed from a Capital Theatre Scratch night in 2023 and follows a performance at Dublin’s Scene + Heard Festival in February 2025. The piece has been developed with support from Vanishing Point, Capital Theatres, Summerhall and National Theatre of Scotland. It previewed at London’s VAULT festival and Camden People’s Theatre in 2024.
This performance was at The Studio at Festival Theatre on Friday 14th March and was followed by an optional Q & A from a representative of the Library of Mistakes.
Further dates: Tron Theatre Glasgow on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd March.
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 