It has been more than three decades since The High Life – a sublimely silly sitcom about two air stewards and their adventures on “Scotland’s premiere airline” (Scotland’s only airline) – aired on TV.
After just six episodes, creators and stars Forbes Masson and Alan Cumming flew solo for a while, jetting off to Hollywood, London’s West End and everywhere in between.
But when Steve McCracken (Masson) and Sebastian Flight (Cumming), all fake tan, nylon trews and eye-watering innuendo, arrive on the King’s Theatre stage in Glasgow for the opening night of The High Life’s musical revival, what do years and miles matter?
Hee-haw.
The panto-style plot involves – among other things - a proposed takeover of Air Scotia by a shadowy figure keen to “de-scotify” it and rename it Air GB; an adventure on a mysterious island somewhere in the Lower Largo Triangle where time has stood still and the hotel is surely the result of a Brigadoon/League of Gentlemen mash-up; and unrequited love all over the place.
But really, it’s about a changing Scotland and growing old, the competing pain and joy of nostalgia, and - above all else - friendship.
Masson and Cumming have been friends since they met as students in Glasgow. They performed on stage together for the first time here and created their unfailingly hilarious double act Victor and Barry as an affectionate send-up of the city, so it is fitting that Glasgow is where this phenomenally successful tour comes in to land.
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The wave of delight that greets the duo when they arrive on the King’s Theatre stage is quite something to witness, and never has there been a quicker standing ovation when they take their final bows.
Fellow original crew members Siobhan Redmond and Patrick Ryecart, as scary boss Shona Spurtle and delightfully dotty Captain Duff, are magnificent, and there is a strong ensemble complementing the “legacy cast”, but it is when Masson and Cumming are together, trading wit, wisdom and wisecracks, that it’s at its best.
Just a few tickets remain, so if you haven’t got one, be quick.
Go see the show, sing the songs, get the t-shirt and thank Fran and Anna that Masson and Cumming are still here, still at the top of their game, and still bringing us non-stop daftness and joy.
The High Life: The Musical – Still Living It, is at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow until May 23.
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