The Groggy Squirrel

How do you pay homage to your mother, who died 25 years ago? Well, if you’re Janey Godley, you write a show in which you share moments of your life with the audience so as to keep the memories that you treasure alive.

The show starts with Janey greeting the audience as they arrive as though we were all family members arriving for a barbecue, and thus allowed to hear the stories she will be telling. We are than taken on a journey to meet Janey’s mum, who lived above a pub in Glasgow in the 1960’s, didn’t care about appearances or domesticity and lived a hard life before meeting with a tragic end. Janey tells us of her (Janey’s) youth, what was expected of children in those days and how this has changed since, not to mention all the fabulous games available to children during the holidays in Glasgow.

Janey doesn’t give a sob story and try to paint her mum as a saint. She starts by telling us how mad her mum was and some of the beliefs she had (especially being Protestant), and she also tells us about her husband (also slightly individual) and daughter (just messy). There are a lot of personal stories about life in the Godley household and this can change depending on the night (as Janey advised us). It doesn’t really matter what the stories are as Janey is an accomplished storyteller and the audience sat enthralled as Janey alternated between hilarious anecdotes and heartbreaking personal tales. We had to open the doors of the room as there was no air and Janey almost fainted at one point. Some audience members also availed themselves of the chance to grab a little fresh air during the show.

So in conclusion this is a very personal tale about Janey Godley and her relationship with her mother, how her mother helped shape her and show her that ironing the handkerchiefs is a pointless exercise (although as Janey admitted, having a husband who is slightly OCD means he does all the housework for her), cleanliness is not next to Godleyness (sorry, couldn’t resist that one) and there is more to being a woman than being a housemaid. There is also some excellent advice about communication between couples dispensed. This is a first class show and it is selling out fast so get your tickets now. One of the top shows at this years festival.

Visit the Fringe Website for booking details.