The Long Drop review – Denise Mina’s whisky-soaked tale of triple murder is horribly gripping
Citizens theatre, GlasgowThe novel is adapted with equal parts wit and horror to capture the depravity of a notorious crime in GlasgowOn the bare brick wall backing Jen McGinley’s set – half courtroom, half saloon – there is a faded poster of The Searchers, John Ford’s 1956 western. The whisky-swilling hard men who haunt the clubs and dives of The Long Drop may well see themselves as cowboys. They are double dealers and grandstanders, full of bluff and bluster; sometimes cosplay baddies, acting as tough as John Wayne; other times, they are the real thing, meting out beatings and sociopathic violence.But this is not Monument Valley. Rather, it is the same Gorbals streets outside the theatre where, in a different time, one of Glasgow’s most notorious crimes played out. Adapted with equal parts wit and horror by Linda McLean from the true-life crime novel by Denise Mina, it is the unravelling story of a triple murder. Continue reading...
6/12/2026 2:00:41 AM