Which of the Seven Deadly Sins are we? Could it be all of them?

I thought Imogen Stirling’s recent appearance at Eden Court Theatre in Love the Sinner was wonderful. The Vanishing Point production is a 70-minute series of dramatic poems performed by the author and accompanied by a soundscape of live electronic music. The show immerses us in the Friday night lives of seven contemporary characters in a dystopic Scottish city strongly resembling Glasgow, a city divided by inequality and injustice.

Imogen Stirling compassionately breathes life into those old stereotypes, the Seven Deadly Sins - Greed, Pride, Sloth, Gluttony, Wrath, Lust and Envy. They are unhappy, wounded, self-destructive, alone. Envy, for instance, though projecting a false perfection on social media, is empty and dissatisfied.

Gluttony is ‘desperate for acceptance’ and ‘sick with lust for an unattainable life’. The seven have vague collective memories of something better, of a communality centred on the shipyards of a Clyde-built past. We are these characters, the poet indicates.

Their story is our story. • • • Throughout the 70 minutes there’s a sense of impending doom. Persistent rain; city buildings decaying with dampness; the angry river rising, a symbol of judgement or cleansing, or inner dread.

But there is redemption. One character finds her eyes opened to the threat, and is energised by the empowerment she has been seeking, that ‘primal ancient thing’. ‘It’s there in this city’s sense of community, but more.

.. It’s transcendence of all.