You Fancy Yourself

Maja Ardal’s You Fancy Yourself paints a vivid picture of post-war Edinburgh

IT IS 1950s Edinburgh and a little Icelandic girl comes to live in a city which she perceives as having no colour and being full of chimneys like smoking dragons.

Writer and performer Maja Ardal, who has just turned 60, creates one of the most convincing portrayals of a young child I have ever seen on stage. She plays Elsa, a loving and open child, who loves stories, has a fanciful imagination but who desperately wants to be accepted by her peers. The performer, who now lives in Canada, based the work on her own experiences and creates a wonderfully evocative picture of childhood, friendships, family and playground politics.

The story is also about a search for national identity. As Elsa grows up, she throws off her Icelandic identity and becomes more Scottish. She learns about Burns and the history of Scotland, she absorbs the middle-class Edinburgh yearning for education and culture. But she also begins to understand the tribalism lurking under the surface of Scottish life, and begins to understand the resentments which have been passed down through history.

Although Elsa loses her native language, she retains a deep, unconscious connection with the folklore and superstitions of the land of her birth. And she realises that sometimes a yearning for acceptance can be a negative thing. Growing older, Elsa learns that loyalty is sometimes more important than fitting in.

Ardal creates a vivid picture of post-war Edinburgh and an utterly convincing portrayal of the child at the centre of the play. Her story is not just that of a child caught between two nations, but also a detailed portrait of Scotland with all its poetry, culture and conflict.

Ardal has not tried to create an idealised view of childhood – Elsa is innocent but no angel – and nor has she tried to gloss over the complexities of Scottish culture.

In creating this portrait of the nation through the eyes of a child, she poses some very grown-up questions about the importance of finding a balance between individuality and the need to belong.

Until 30 August. Tomorrow 4:45pm