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Fergus Morgan - A History of Scottish Drama in Six Plays

Scottish theatre has eight million stories. Some of them can be heard in A History of Scottish Drama in Six Plays, theatre critic Fergus Morgan’s boldly named six-part podcast that starts this week. Developed from a bursary from the Scottish Society of Playwrights’ SSP @50 Fellowship Awards, Morgan’s take comes from a desire to discover for himself the sometimes lost history of the world he is now steeped in as The Stage’s Scottish theatre critic.

 ‘The idea,’ says Morgan, ‘was to tell a history, not the history. Obviously you can't tell a definitive history when there are so many different strands to each story, but I wanted to try and tell a hopefully fairly comprehensive history of Scottish drama, principally from the point of view of playwrights, but weaving in all sorts of things along the way.’

 

To this end, Morgan bookends his series with A Satire Of The Three Estates (1540) - or Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie Estaites if you will - and Black Watch (2006), and it’s not difficult to spot stylistic links between Sir David Lyndsay’s medieval morality  romp and Gregory Burke’s game-changing look at army life on the frontline. 

 

Inbetween come four very different twentieth century works. The second episode focuses on Ena Lamont’s Stewart’s Men Should Weep (1947), the third on John McGrath’s The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black, Black Oil (1973), the fourth on Losing Venice (1985) by Jo Clifford, and the fifth on Passing Places (1997), by Stephen Greenhorn. 

A bonus seventh episode recorded live at the Traverse Theatre launch of the series may bring Morgan’s list up to date, as well as perhaps bringing in some of the names not on it. 

 

‘When I moved here in 2019 I didn’t know anything about Scottish theatre, to be honest,’ Morgan admits, ‘but I don't think I was alone in that. I think half the people working in Scottish theatre don't know its history. And if you don’t know about the things that have been tried in the past and the mistakes that have been made, and the achievements that have been realised, then how are you ever going to develop as a culture? And I think Scottish theatre could do with a bit of bit of development today. If people were more aware of this stuff, they would have shoulders to stand on.’ (Neil Cooper)

 

A History of Scottish Drama in Six Plays launches at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 28th October, 6.30pm-9pm. Episodes will be released weekly from 28th October.


The List, December 2024

 

ends

 

 

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