The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil
The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil

Author: John McGrath

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2014-02-17

Total Pages: 111

ISBN-13: 1472537327

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Strathoykel, Sutherland. "When the Sheriff and his men arrived, the women were on the road and the men behind the walls. The women shouted 'Better to die here than America or the Cape of Good Hope'. The first blow was struck by a woman with a stick. The gentry leant out of their saddles and beat at the women's heads with their crops." (John McGrath)

Writing on sheep
Writing on sheep

Author: William Welstead

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2021-05-25

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1526156563

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Sheep are marginalised in literary criticism and in discussion of pastoral literature. This book brings an animal studies approach to poetry about sheep that allows for the agency of these sentient beings, that have been associated for humans over ten thousand years. This approach highlights the distinction between wild and domesticated species and the moral dilemma between the goals of animal welfare and those of saving species from extinction. Discussion of mostly contemporary poetry follows a new reading of works from the pastoral and georgic canon. Allowing for the sentience and sociality of this species makes it easier to imagine a natureculture within which to make kin across the species boundary. Reading poetry about sheep has the power to make new meanings as we try to adapt to an increasingly complex and problematic environment.

Tales From the Back Green
Tales From the Back Green

Author: Bill Paterson

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Published: 2009-08-06

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 1848945779

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When these captivating Tales from the Back Green were broadcast on BBC Radio they were described by The Herald as 'a vividly engaging portrait of a vanished city' and The Scotsman as 'an engaging series fondly and wittily rendered'. Now published for the first time, actor Bill Paterson's stories brilliantly evoke his 1950s Glasgow boyhood. This is a world of intriguing characters and extraordinary events set against the background of the changes and challenges of the post-war era – the nuclear threat, the fading dominance of the kirk, Rock and Roll, the disappearance of the beloved trams, and why penny whoppers were not worth tuppence. As a young surveyor, Paterson was witness to the dramatic transformation of the city, as austere tenements were swept away to make way for new roads and high-rise blocks. Tales From the Back Green is a brilliant realisation of childhood and youth; of memories Paterson describes as 'suspended in amber like Jurassic Park's mosquito, with its DNA still intact.' He wonders whether our memories change from grey to gold as the years pass - do we naturally recall our childhood as a time of optimism and hope?

Knives in Hens
Knives in Hens

Author: David Harrower

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-10-26

Total Pages: 49

ISBN-13: 135005965X

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'I have no name for the thing which is in my head. It is not envy. It is more than envy. It does not scare me. I must look close enough to look at what it is.' A ploughman and his wife live a simple existence in a pre-industrial time until they, along with the hated local miller, are drawn into a struggle of knowledge, power and attraction. David Harrower's haunting play established him as one of the UK's leading contemporary playwrights. This new edition is published to coincide with the new production of this tense modern classic at the Donmar Warehouse in August 2017, directed by Yaël Farber.

The Politics of Alternative Theatre in Britain, 1968-1990
The Politics of Alternative Theatre in Britain, 1968-1990

Author: Maria DiCenzo

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1996-11-13

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780521554565

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This book examines one of the most influential modern theatre companies, 7:84 (Scotland), under the directorship of John McGrath. 7:84 (Scotland) has been a vital contributor to the place and importance of alternative theatre on the modern British stage. DiCenzo explores the development of this company, the growth of popular theatre in general within the last twenty years and offers a methodology for analysing records and materials found in theatre company archives and illustrates the many issues inherent in running a theatre company, including venues, practitioners and the politics of funding. The book includes valuable primary source material and informative production photographs and company posters.

Yer Granny
Yer Granny

Author: Douglas Maxwell

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2015-05-30

Total Pages: 110

ISBN-13: 1783199229

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Based on La Nona by Roberto Cossa Yer Granny is a riotous new comedy about a diabolical 100-year-old granny who’s literally eating her family out of house and home. She’s already eaten their fish and chip shop into bankruptcy and now she’s working her way through their kitchen cupboards, pushing the Russo family to desperate measures just to survive beyond 1977. As proud head of the family, Cammy is determined that The Minerva Fish Bar will rise again and that family honour will be restored – and all in time for the Queen’s upcoming Jubilee visit. But before Cammy’s dream can come true and before Her Maj can pop in for a chat, a single sausage and a royal seal of approval, the family members must ask themselves how far they will go to solve a problem like Yer Granny.

The Slab Boys Trilogy
The Slab Boys Trilogy

Author: John Byrne

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Published: 2015-04-16

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 0571325785

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Spanning the 1950s to the 70s, the plays capture the rebellious mood of a post-war generation growing up to a backdrop of James Dean, Elvis, sharp-suited glamour, hope and despair. John Byrne takes the slab room he worked in and makes it pure theatre: the scams, the dreams, the aloof but gorgeous girl, the despair of life back home, the obligatory tormenting of the office 'weed', and the mandatory boy chat and pranks all help the day to pass. Phil and Spanky explode onto the stage in a classic vaudeville double-act. Now considered one of Scotland's defining literary works of the twentieth century, the Slab Boys Trilogy premiered at the Traverse back in the late 1970s and early 80s taking Scotland, then Britain, and then Broadway quickly by storm.

Theatre and Politics
Theatre and Politics

Author: Joe Kelleher

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2009-06

Total Pages: 97

ISBN-13: 0230205232

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One of the first titles in this vibrant and eye-catching new series of short, sharp, shots for theatre students.

The Testament of Gideon Mack
The Testament of Gideon Mack

Author: James Robertson

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2008-02-26

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 1101650486

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A critical success on both sides of the Atlantic, this darkly imaginative novel from Scottish author James Robertson takes a tantalizing trip into the spiritual by way of a haunting paranormal mystery. When Reverend Gideon Mack, a good minister despite his atheism, tumbles into a deep ravine called the Black Jaws, he is presumed dead. Three days later, however, he emerges bruised but alive-and insistent that his rescuer was Satan himself. Against the background of an incredulous world, Mack's disturbing odyssey and the tortuous life that led to it create a mesmerizing meditation on faith, mortality, and the power of the unknown.