The story of a William Shakespeare classic 'set' in Glasgow

River City writer and actor Linda Duncan McLaughlin has updated this riotous comedy about respect, trust and love and set it in Maryhill, where a perennially skint con-man tries out a romantic fraud on two ultra-smart Wyndford women and ends up getting thoroughly bamboozled himself…

In The Merry Wives of the Wyndford, Linda, Janette Foggo and Giga Gray perform all the parts – with a little help from a wheelie bin – in a rip-roaring riot of a show which is the latest lunchtime offering at Oran Mor’s A Play A Pie and A Pint.

Janette, Linda and Giga play all the parts in the play (Image: Tim Morozzo)

Govanhill-born Janette, an accomplished actor of stage and screen whose diverse career has encompassed Hollywood movies (Loch Ness), British telly favourites (Britannia Hospital) and dazzling stage roles (Men Should Weep, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Steamie and many more) is loving it.

“It is always fascinating to revise a classic from the past and look at it from a completely different point of view,” she says, during a break in rehearsals at the West End theatre.

“The three of us play all the parts, and the focus is on the three central female characters, and what they are doing to some objectionable men.”

She adds, with a smile: “So yes, it is great fun.”

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Janette plays Mags Page, pub landlady and “driving force” behind the women’s plans to thwart the conman at every turn.

“Mags is the engine,” she explains. “Linda’s character, Alice Ford, runs a hair salon, and the action moves between the two locations.”

Glasgow women will recognise Mags and Alice, she adds, firmly.

“Oh yes, we all know women like Mags and Alice,” she says. “Women will recognise these women and will enjoy it, men will recognise these men and think, oh sh**….”

Janette in rehearsal (Image: Tim Morozzo)

Janette has “not done too much Shakespeare” in her career, she says - Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream early on, two plays at Bard in the Botanics including Queen Lear, the great tragedy reimagined from a female point of view and “a funny version of Macbeth” where she played Duncan.

“Shakespeare and the Greeks are the great determinants of what stories we tell about ourselves and in those stories, for 500 years, men have been used to seeing themselves as kings, lovers, vagabonds…” she adds.

“Women don’t have a canon of stories about themselves to tell.

“Linda, Giga and I have been able to plan and plot the representation of our characters, which is something that’s not really been available to women until fairly recently. It is a lot of fun to do.”

Janette jokes she “can’t remember” what inspired her to become an actor.

“I don’t know, it was a really long time ago,” she says, smiling. “And what triggers your interest in something is not always what keeps you doing it. But I came from a family of theatre-goers, I joined a drama group, got a part, and I loved it. It really felt like I was home.”

Janette in rehearsal (Image: Tim Morozzo)

The family moved to Cathcart, and Janette went to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). After spells living and working in London and the Borders, Janette moved back to Glasgow’s Southside.

“I’m a Southside Glasgow girl,” she smiles. “This play is set in Maryhill which feels like miles away – always the case in a city divided by a river.”

The Merry Wives of the Wyndford has been in the works for a while, Janette explains.

“Linda and I have been talking about doing this play for a long time, since long before Covid even, so it’s great to finally be here,” she adds.

“Afterwards, who knows what the future will hold? I just love working. I spend my day with brilliant, talented, interesting people, and that feels like a real privilege.”

The Merry Wives of the Wyndford is at Oran Mor from Monday, May 22 until Saturday, May 27.