The Guardian's review of Cathy, Eilidh Loan's new play at the Traverse theatre in Edinburgh, praises Elaine C Smith's central performance as ideally suited to the writer-director's grief-tinged family comedy. Loan, who previously wrote the acclaimed male-focused comedy Moorcroft, drew on her grandmother for this story, and it was that relative who insisted Smith play the title character. The reviewer finds Smith's portrayal of a newly widowed, working-class woman sliding towards depression note-perfect, praising her delivery of Loan's sharp, acerbic jokes.

The play is set in the aftermath of the funeral of Cathy's husband of 50 years, Tommy, and explores the family's mixed reactions to grief with gallows humour. The cast includes Michele Gallagher as Cathy's daughter Flo, Alan Orr as Flo's Protestant husband Colin, and Chloe Hodgson as the pregnant Amy, with Sally Reid as fellow mourner Lizzie, while Kenny Miller's set moves between Cathy's front room and a charity shop. The reviewer judges the piece snappily written but dramatically slight, since little is genuinely at stake beyond the family's relations, though it ends on a touching note; Cathy runs at the Traverse theatre until 30 August.