“Bawheid” Wahid (Eklovey Kashyap) has a face like a “melted welly”. For despite hailing from the best wee country in the world which prides itself on offering a warm hand of friendship to a’body – encapsulated in the inclusive lyric from the opening number “There’s nothing ah won’t do if ah ken you” – he is forever being teased, ostracised and made to feel like a “martian” at school on account of the fact his parents hail from Pakistan and his physical appearance is the polar opposite of Oor Wullie (Martin Quinn).

An annual of whom is presented to Wahid by a twinkly-eyed librarian by the name of Dudley (George Drennan) who assures him that a swatch of a batch of stories about “Scotland’s favourite son” would soon convert his gurn to a grin.

But, Auchenshoogle, we have a problem: Wahid doesn’t understand the lingo. Och as in loch! Thankfully, a surprise visit from the time and space-travelling Wullie, closely followed by his pals Soapy Soutar, Fat Boab, Wee Eck and Primrose, boosts his vocabulary and spirits as they enlist him in a quest to retrieve Wullie’s beloved bucket from the malevolent mitts of Basher McKenzie (Leanne Traynor). A misunderstood loner who like Wahid only wants to be part of a gang.

After warming the cockles of Dundonian audiences over the festive period, Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie’s musical adaptation of Dudley D Watkins’ comic strip, which first featured in a Sunday Post supplement way back in 1936, kicked off its two-month-long Scottish tour at the Theatre Royal Glasgow in exuberant style.

Despite the fact the first half is rather dry; some of the scene changes of Kenneth Macleod’s dour set are offy shoogly; and many of the musical numbers – though upbeat, comical and character-driven – are far from memorable and lack theatrical oomph.

Thankfully, the second half is a hoot. Particularly the inspired casting of Ann Louise Ross as the deep-voiced PC Murdoch whose gentle message to follow your heart rather that the path in front of you is central to director Andrew Panton’s fast-paced and tightly-choreographed production for Dundee Rep and Selladoor.

And Martin Quinn nails Oor Wullie to a tee. A tee-hee! Dangling his arms in mock strop when “Mr and Mrs Wullie” banish him to his room. Winning over the audience with a cheeky smile and cocky wink as he breaks the fourth wall to comment on the action and the theatrical conventions at play (most notably his charming ditty to his pet mouse Jeemy). And tugging our heartstrings with just the right mix of poignancy and wit as he parts company with Eklovey Kashyap’s earnest but amiable Wahib in the spirit of Auld Lang Syne. Reminding us that the world really is a “muckle, magical place”.

Peter Callaghan
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