0:00:05 > 0:00:08LIZ LOCHHEAD: Imagine, 300 and something plays
0:00:08 > 0:00:14which did not exist before they premiered at 1pm at Oran Mor.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16OK, flashback. A decade ago...
0:00:16 > 0:00:20- PETER MULLAN:- A Play, a Pie and a Pint...the lunch time theatre at
0:00:20 > 0:00:24Oran Mor in Glasgow's West End owes its success to
0:00:24 > 0:00:27theatre producer David MacLennan's passion and drive.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32He's a producer extraordinaire, you can't say more than that.
0:00:32 > 0:00:33You think...!
0:00:33 > 0:00:35You could come in any day of the week.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37You're getting 200 to 300 people
0:00:37 > 0:00:39sitting in that theatre every lunch-time.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41It has to be the most successful theatre in Scotland.
0:00:43 > 0:00:472014 is a big year for us.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50It's our 10th birthday.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53In the autumn, we will do our 21st season.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58Ten years! Ten years...I'm not surprised it's been successful.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Bring up on the stage...
0:01:00 > 0:01:04David is one of Scotland's most gifted and experienced producers
0:01:04 > 0:01:07working tirelessly for Scottish theatre for over 40 years.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19I've always been known as a man who enjoyed a dram!
0:01:19 > 0:01:21But, on this occasion, if my voice
0:01:21 > 0:01:23is a little slurred
0:01:23 > 0:01:25it has nothing to do with that.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29I've been diagnosed recently with motor neurone disease,
0:01:29 > 0:01:33and I am stone-cold sober!
0:01:33 > 0:01:35But, this week, I'm particularly pleased
0:01:35 > 0:01:38to welcome you to Mortal Memories, by Liz Lochhead.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39CHEERING
0:01:39 > 0:01:42I've always felt that theatre...
0:01:42 > 0:01:46and the arts in general, are part of life.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49They're not something special that should be locked away
0:01:49 > 0:01:54in a private place, that they should be concerned with humanity,
0:01:54 > 0:01:59and that is my purpose in making theatre,
0:01:59 > 0:02:04to tackle issues that concern people deeply...
0:02:04 > 0:02:08as well as occasionally being naughty and just giving them
0:02:08 > 0:02:09a damn good laugh.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11I'll do it later this afternoon. Is that cool?
0:02:13 > 0:02:15It all began with a chance meeting
0:02:15 > 0:02:19in Glasgow's Byres Road with entrepreneur Colin Beattie,
0:02:19 > 0:02:21who was transforming an old church into an arts venue.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26And I said to him, without really thinking,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29"How would you like a lunch-time theatre, Colin?"
0:02:29 > 0:02:31And he said, "Yes, I would."
0:02:31 > 0:02:33INDISTINCT DIALOGUE
0:02:33 > 0:02:37COLIN: 'I was very confident if there were anyone going to take forward
0:02:37 > 0:02:40'a new concept in theatre, it would be David.'
0:02:41 > 0:02:46There's an old world breeding in David that comes from
0:02:46 > 0:02:49a responsibility to all.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53And I think that comes through in his work,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57I think it comes through in his whole philosophy towards life.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01'And the only disagreement we had, Colin and I, was I said,'
0:03:01 > 0:03:04"I would like to do this thing called...
0:03:04 > 0:03:07"A Pie, A Pint and A Play."
0:03:07 > 0:03:10And he said, "No, it's called A Play, A Pie and A Pint."
0:03:10 > 0:03:13He put the play first.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16..to welcome you to Astonishing Archie by Billy Paterson.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18APPLAUSE
0:03:18 > 0:03:20'And shortly before we opened...'
0:03:20 > 0:03:22I was getting nervous.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26We were doing 12 plays each for a week and I said,
0:03:26 > 0:03:31"Colin, I think I can guarantee you
0:03:31 > 0:03:33"that these will be good plays
0:03:33 > 0:03:35"and they will be professionally produced,
0:03:35 > 0:03:41"but the one thing I can't guarantee is that you'll get an audience."
0:03:41 > 0:03:44And Colin said, "Oh, no, no, I know that,
0:03:44 > 0:03:46"but you will after the fifth season."
0:03:48 > 0:03:50In the beginning, he would come in,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53help set up the trestle tables, bring in all the chairs.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57He was casting it, he was reading endless plays,
0:03:57 > 0:04:02contacting writers. He would be writing up people's autobiographies,
0:04:02 > 0:04:04printing them out on the computer
0:04:04 > 0:04:06so that they were ready for a Monday morning.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09So, it was everything. He was a one-man band.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13# We're off on the aff...
0:04:13 > 0:04:15- # Off on the... # - Now, at Oran Mor, you can
0:04:15 > 0:04:17see a play 42 weeks in the year.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21- There are 32 new commissions... - Superb!
0:04:21 > 0:04:23..four commissions to cut down classics
0:04:23 > 0:04:25and a summer and winter panto.
0:04:25 > 0:04:26Well done!
0:04:26 > 0:04:28We're a very small team,
0:04:28 > 0:04:32so, all the money we have goes on stage.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35We don't have offices full of people,
0:04:35 > 0:04:41but I am hugely assisted by my co-producer, Susie Armitage,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45and by my associate producer, Sarah MacFarlane.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50David is the most fantastic man to work with.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54He is just a man of such amazing energy and enthusiasm.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56We've got a good working relationship,
0:04:56 > 0:04:57so when we're reading scripts and things,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00there'll be ones that I champion and ones that he champions,
0:05:00 > 0:05:02but we're never that divergent.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Casting is very important.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12We like to have a balance of the well-known, even the starry,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16so at one extreme we might have Robbie Coltrane performing,
0:05:16 > 0:05:18or David Hayman.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22At the other extreme, people fresh out of drama school.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26In the second season, Robbie Coltrane,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29best known as Hagrid in the Harry Potter films,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31appeared in The Brother's Suit,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34written by Peter McDougall and directed by David.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39He had not performed on stage for 15 years.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41I remember, you know, saying to you.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44I said, "My God! 500 Glaswegians
0:05:44 > 0:05:47"sitting drinking and having their dinner! You know, it's
0:05:47 > 0:05:51"going to be like one of those Frank Sinatra concerts where all you can
0:05:51 > 0:05:55"hear is the knives and forks clattering at The Sands."
0:05:55 > 0:05:59But it was extraordinary.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04Glasgow audiences are known for being tough, but fair, I would say.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08As soon as the play started and David would stand up and say,
0:06:08 > 0:06:10"Right, here's the play going now."
0:06:10 > 0:06:13And that was it. Total silence.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Theatre's an extravagance, and you've got to be able to
0:06:16 > 0:06:20catch the people on your lines, because there's no tricks.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23And when Robbie stands up there, you're utterly...
0:06:23 > 0:06:26you've heard it many times before, but you're utterly naked.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29I actually had a bit of a panic attack.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31I just thought, "I'm never going to learn this,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33"it's so...such a short time,"
0:06:33 > 0:06:35and David was wonderful.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38He was fantastically encouraging. He said, "Yes, you'll do it,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41"yes, you'll do it. Yes, we'll do it."
0:06:41 > 0:06:43You will be absolutely fine on the night,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46- and we were, bizarrely, weren't we?- Oh, yeah.
0:06:46 > 0:06:47CHEERING
0:06:47 > 0:06:49In its ten-year history,
0:06:49 > 0:06:53David has won numerous awards for A Play, A Pie and A Pint.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58The lovely thing about this award is it's actually an award to
0:06:58 > 0:07:01the whole theatre community of Scotland.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03It's your award. Well done.
0:07:03 > 0:07:04LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:07:04 > 0:07:08But his love affair with theatre first began when he was a young boy.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13When I was about 14,
0:07:13 > 0:07:18I went to see Joan Littlewood's production of Oh, What A Lovely War.
0:07:18 > 0:07:24And that just blew my mind, because suddenly here was Peter Pan,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27the five-past eight show variety
0:07:27 > 0:07:31with a tremendous political message
0:07:31 > 0:07:36about the crass stupidity of the ruling classes
0:07:36 > 0:07:38during the First World War,
0:07:38 > 0:07:42and I came reeling out of that theatre thinking,
0:07:42 > 0:07:45"Yeah, this is something I'd love to be involved in."
0:07:47 > 0:07:50David achieved his ambition and was in at the beginning
0:07:50 > 0:07:53of the political touring theatre company 7:84,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57formed in 1971 by John McGrath, his brother-in-law.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00APPLAUSE AND DRUM ROLL
0:08:00 > 0:08:02CHEERING
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. HE SPEAKS GAELIC
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Welcome to the 7:84 Theatre Company's production of
0:08:08 > 0:08:10The Cheviot, The Stag and the Black, Black Oil.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15It was really a ground-breaker in many ways,
0:08:15 > 0:08:19because it embraced the communities it was talking about
0:08:19 > 0:08:22by going to the village hall.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26# Than less than the pleasures
0:08:26 > 0:08:29# And what's left behind. #
0:08:29 > 0:08:34My sister, Liz, learned to play the accordion in six weeks flat.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36I tried to learn the bass,
0:08:36 > 0:08:41but I was sacked after two days because I was bloody hopeless.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45Now, it is being done by outside capital with the connivance of
0:08:45 > 0:08:47the local ruling class in central government.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50They all became family. There were the MacLennans and then
0:08:50 > 0:08:53there were the rest of us. So, when people just asked us
0:08:53 > 0:08:55what the politics of 7:84 was,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58we always said it was Marxist-MacLennanist.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02At the time we kept that quiet, but now we can say it out loud.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04..surprised and disorganised and compliant.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07I always think of David as
0:09:07 > 0:09:11that kind of rock, the physical rock.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13He was a stage manager.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16He put up our lights, what little there were at that time.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20He did the sound and he made sure that the van was loaded.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22You just knew you were in good hands with Dave.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27After five years with 7:84,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30David and fellow thespian Dave Anderson formed
0:09:30 > 0:09:33their own touring theatre company, Wildcat.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40Dave was a rock 'n' roll musician and we just hit it off immediately.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44He's always been the one to say, "I'm going to do this. Are you in?"
0:09:44 > 0:09:47That's how it works. I just go, "Aye...
0:09:47 > 0:09:48"Aye, all right."
0:09:48 > 0:09:53And find that I'm a founder member, you know, by kind of default.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57We seemed to have the same kind of political attitudes.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01He didn't seem to like the bullshit of most theatre.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04We saw eye-to-eye, you know, we kind of liked each other.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06You know what's wrang wi' us?
0:10:07 > 0:10:09Nae money.
0:10:09 > 0:10:10Nae work...
0:10:10 > 0:10:13After 20 successful years...
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Wildcat lost its funding from the Scottish Arts Council.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20It hit us both pretty hard, but, for him,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24it was 20 years of bloody hard work.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26And the feet were cawed from him.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28David was shattered.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31He had built Wildcat up.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34They were touring, he was, you know,
0:10:34 > 0:10:38living his dream of taking theatre out to the people.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42And then, suddenly, he kind of...
0:10:42 > 0:10:45reforms himself when he comes up with A Play, A Pie and A Pint.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49Lunch-time theatre has existed all over the world for a long time.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53What's different about this is, you come along, you get your play,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56you get a pie, and you get a pint or another kind of drink.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00That's a lovely carrot to tease people with.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02He's a genius.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05It's absolutely extraordinary. It gives a platform to
0:11:05 > 0:11:10young directors, new writers, young actors, and designers.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14It is great for the community, it now has a worldwide reputation
0:11:14 > 0:11:19and to play on that stage is one of the most exciting...
0:11:19 > 0:11:22..golden spaces ever, because it's so intimate.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Shall we pick up from, "Now, let's get back to the matter in hand,"
0:11:29 > 0:11:30shall we go from there?
0:11:31 > 0:11:35Now, let's get back to the matter in hand, Miss Matheson.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37And what is the matter in hand?
0:11:37 > 0:11:41Your involvement with Vita Sackville-West.
0:11:41 > 0:11:46I think when you read plays, two things can strike you very quickly.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50One is, this is a distinctive voice,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52and the other thing that can strike you very quickly is
0:11:52 > 0:11:55the quality of the dialogue.
0:11:55 > 0:11:56I have a duty of care, do you see?
0:11:58 > 0:11:59Is it...?
0:11:59 > 0:12:06Does it release the narrative in a timely, interesting way?
0:12:06 > 0:12:07It means, Sir John,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10that only you could make snooping a moral imperative.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13I resent that.
0:12:13 > 0:12:14Yes, I'm sure you do.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18As the associate director of the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21We regularly do a season of A Play, A Pie and A Pint
0:12:21 > 0:12:22presented by the Traverse,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24starting over at Oran Mor.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27Cos you seem to have beaten him as soon as you get him
0:12:27 > 0:12:29- on the snooping, snooping, snooping. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32It was great cos you were caught out, and he felt really exposed,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34- didn't he?- Yeah. - Which I thought was really exciting.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37'David sends us some plays, we send David some plays,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40'and we sort of discuss which plays we're going to do
0:12:40 > 0:12:43'and which plays work in the season and, really excitingly,
0:12:43 > 0:12:47'one of the real pearls for me was Love With A Capital 'L' by Tony Cox.'
0:12:47 > 0:12:50- The wrong side of these...- Well, it's her protest, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Her little protest about working for the BBC and beginning to hate it
0:12:54 > 0:12:58and the bureaucracy and the way it's run and being beholden to Reith.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02This is her little "write on only one side of the paper". Shan't!
0:13:02 > 0:13:05I have had other things produced in other medium
0:13:05 > 0:13:08and I've done some radio and I've done a film script recently.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11But I haven't actually had a play produced,
0:13:11 > 0:13:13so it's an enormous thrill for me.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18It isn't an involvement, Sir John, it's a full-blown love affair!
0:13:18 > 0:13:21And with a capital 'L', no doubt.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24- Only on my side, I'm afraid.- Why?
0:13:25 > 0:13:28Her heart, Sir John, belongs to Harold.
0:13:28 > 0:13:33There's almost a sense that her writing about the BBC,
0:13:33 > 0:13:38is even more offensive than her sexuality.
0:13:38 > 0:13:39Yeah, absolutely.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Lessons For Female Revolutionaries: Part Two.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47I believe in breaking down borders
0:13:47 > 0:13:49and getting rid of borders,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52I believe in international solidarity
0:13:52 > 0:13:54and sharing our culture with
0:13:54 > 0:13:58people abroad and enjoying their culture in our country.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05When I turned up in Scotland in 2004 to set up the National Theatre of
0:14:05 > 0:14:09Scotland, David was one of the first people who got in contact with me.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11We talked about how the National Theatre of Scotland
0:14:11 > 0:14:14with our very generous budget, compared to the tiny amount of money
0:14:14 > 0:14:17that David was making A Play, A Pie and A Pint work on,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19how we could come together in some kind of collaboration
0:14:19 > 0:14:22that was meaningful and was genuine and was creative, that would be
0:14:22 > 0:14:25something that neither of the other organisations would be doing
0:14:25 > 0:14:26without the other.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29And, of course, David, in his brilliance, said, "International.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31"I would love that A Play, A Pie and A Pint
0:14:31 > 0:14:35"could be a little bit more international in its approach."
0:14:35 > 0:14:39Even if he did do those things, he didn't mean to hurt anyone!
0:14:39 > 0:14:42And we discovered some fantastic new talent that
0:14:42 > 0:14:45we're still developing, 15 writers that we would otherwise not
0:14:45 > 0:14:50have had a contact with unless David had come up with this amazing plan.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52It's a net that is cast wide.
0:14:52 > 0:14:53Shut up!
0:14:53 > 0:14:57To date, there have been plays from Latin America
0:14:57 > 0:15:00the Arab world, China and the Caribbean.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02I never saw him pray!
0:15:02 > 0:15:03DRUMBEAT
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Believer? But, sir, so many people in my village are believers,
0:15:06 > 0:15:08- but they don't pray. - DRUMBEAT
0:15:08 > 0:15:09I'm sorry! I shut up!
0:15:09 > 0:15:13What's wonderful is that, you know, David doesn't say,
0:15:13 > 0:15:14"OK, we're doing six plays this year,
0:15:14 > 0:15:16"and they're going to be about this."
0:15:16 > 0:15:20He says, "Writers, come to me with your ideas."
0:15:20 > 0:15:22You can say to David, "I would like to do a play about this," and
0:15:22 > 0:15:26he remembers that and he says, "Do you want to do that this season?"
0:15:26 > 0:15:28And it kind of gives you a kick in the backside and makes you do it.
0:15:30 > 0:15:35Paddy Cunneen, a great musician, composer,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38director, had never written a play
0:15:38 > 0:15:42and I commissioned his first play, Fleeto.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46He was really encouraging. He said, "Send me something."
0:15:46 > 0:15:48So, I did.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51It was a play about knife crime.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53It was written in iambic pentameter.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55It's very hard...
0:15:55 > 0:15:56It's really uncompromising.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58You didn't know that when you stab someone,
0:15:58 > 0:16:02they look you right in the eye, did you?
0:16:02 > 0:16:04And he was really, really positive and he kept saying to me,
0:16:04 > 0:16:07"Where's the next bit? Where's the next bit? Where's the next bit?"
0:16:07 > 0:16:09Which was fantastic,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11because that's really all the encouragement that you need.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15So mad was I with hunger and with fear, I panned his face full
0:16:15 > 0:16:19whack with knuckle-fist, again, again, again, I hit him hard.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22The way it works at A Play, A Pie and A Pint is he says,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26"You've got a play, come in, do it, here are the resources,
0:16:26 > 0:16:28"and make the play what you can in these circumstances."
0:16:28 > 0:16:30And, because the resources are poor,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34what it really does is it focuses on the play. So, consequently,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37as a training ground for writers, it's fantastic
0:16:37 > 0:16:39because there's no hiding place.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41You have to get your play to work.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44Fleeto has been a huge success.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47It's won awards, been performed in prisons, schools,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50been seen throughout the United Kingdom as well as in
0:16:50 > 0:16:54Milan, Eindhoven and Holland, and as far afield as Adelaide in Australia.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00So, this week, I'm particularly pleased to welcome you
0:17:00 > 0:17:05to The Uglies by Dave Anderson and me.
0:17:05 > 0:17:06CHEERING
0:17:06 > 0:17:10The Panto, The Pie, and The Pint seemed, to me, an obvious winner.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15It's Glasgow and Glasgow is addicted to pantomime.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18Everybody loves it.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20ALL: # We're cacking our drawers
0:17:20 > 0:17:22# Cacking our drawers
0:17:22 > 0:17:26# Cacking our drawers! #
0:17:26 > 0:17:28- Oh, sorry.- ALL: # Don't whistle in the dressing room... #
0:17:28 > 0:17:30Going up on the stage.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34# The scenery will fall
0:17:34 > 0:17:38# And mention not the Scottish Play
0:17:38 > 0:17:41# Or go stand in the hall... #
0:17:41 > 0:17:42Marvellous, marvellous!
0:17:42 > 0:17:47Francis, Julia, you can go and have a large brandy. OK?
0:17:47 > 0:17:49THEY CHEER
0:17:49 > 0:17:54It was a great opportunity to work again closely with Dave Anderson.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57We share a lot of the same daft humour,
0:17:57 > 0:18:02the same thoughts about variety and the fun of it.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05- From bitch!- Is it me that says bitch?
0:18:05 > 0:18:07I did say it. And I did say it.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10- Bitch, cow, hoor, sow... - - Do I say "hoor"?
0:18:10 > 0:18:11No, I say "hoor".
0:18:11 > 0:18:14BOTH: Bitch, cow, hoor, sow...
0:18:14 > 0:18:16A lot of people who collaborate,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18they describe the relationship as like a marriage.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22I don't feel it's like that at all.
0:18:22 > 0:18:23It's much more like...
0:18:25 > 0:18:26..sibling rivalry.
0:18:26 > 0:18:27CHATTERING
0:18:27 > 0:18:30CHEERING
0:18:30 > 0:18:32APPLAUSE
0:18:32 > 0:18:35MUSIC PLAYS
0:18:39 > 0:18:41# Before the lights go up
0:18:41 > 0:18:43# Before the music starts
0:18:43 > 0:18:48# While all the actors think, "We will forget our parts..."
0:18:48 > 0:18:52Although we're aiming it at adults, it's very childish.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56And it's about us, like, having fun.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58# We're shiteing ourselves
0:18:58 > 0:19:00# Shiteing ourselves
0:19:00 > 0:19:03# Shiteing ourselves...! #
0:19:03 > 0:19:04LAUGHTER
0:19:05 > 0:19:08It seems to me that the audience's critical faculties
0:19:08 > 0:19:10go oot the windae when the put the panto on.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14I don't believe I've had the pleasure.
0:19:14 > 0:19:15Oh, come on!
0:19:17 > 0:19:20You've had the pleasure hunners o' times!
0:19:20 > 0:19:21We've a' seen the pictures!
0:19:21 > 0:19:23LAUGHTER
0:19:23 > 0:19:26I think the great thing is, with the pantomimes,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29they have that Wildcat feel about them.
0:19:29 > 0:19:30..table at ma hoose?
0:19:30 > 0:19:36The music, the songs, the politics, and I think the public love that.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39- Oh, it's a rare night for it, eh? - A rare night for what?
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Oh, come on, we all know you're for looking for a lumber,
0:19:42 > 0:19:43then look nae further,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46I mean, already it's obvious that you're pleased to see me!
0:19:46 > 0:19:48LAUGHTER
0:19:49 > 0:19:51I get to be silly and I get to be two people
0:19:51 > 0:19:54and sing random songs and dance about
0:19:54 > 0:19:57and you can kind of really have a personality, which is nice.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01Cinderella, you shall go to the ball!
0:20:03 > 0:20:05AUDIENCE: Woo!
0:20:06 > 0:20:11The panto is vital to the coffers,
0:20:12 > 0:20:18so much so, that we claim to have discovered, down the Ayrshire coast,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22during the Glasgow Fair, a tradition of Summer Panto.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28I'm not entirely sure if it existed and now we do two a year.
0:20:30 > 0:20:31Ker-ching!
0:20:31 > 0:20:32Windae wipers!
0:20:35 > 0:20:37# We shall not, we shall not be moved... #
0:20:37 > 0:20:38Get your skooshers on.
0:20:40 > 0:20:41# We shall not be moved. #
0:20:41 > 0:20:43Hey!
0:20:43 > 0:20:44APPLAUSE
0:20:49 > 0:20:54Oh, superb! Very, very professional and the satire was really funny.
0:20:54 > 0:20:59I think it's excellent! I have never experienced that, so it's fantastic!
0:20:59 > 0:21:02- Happy? - I don't want to go back to work!
0:21:02 > 0:21:03THEY LAUGH
0:21:03 > 0:21:05# You must remember this...
0:21:07 > 0:21:09# A kiss is just a kiss
0:21:09 > 0:21:10# A sigh is just... #
0:21:10 > 0:21:14But the success of A Play, A Pie and A Pint extends well beyond
0:21:14 > 0:21:16the West End of Glasgow.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18# The fundamental things apply... #
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Morag Fullarton's stage version of Casablanca has gone on to play
0:21:21 > 0:21:24in theatres in Barbados and Paris.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27# And when two lovers kiss... #
0:21:27 > 0:21:29Sam, I thought I told you never to play that.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31Rick!
0:21:31 > 0:21:34There's a sense that exciting things are happening,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37starting in this little corner of Glasgow and growing
0:21:37 > 0:21:41and building into something that's reaching out all over the world.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43WATER SLOSHES AND BIRDS QUACK
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Icelandic writer, Jon Atli Jonasson's play The Deep
0:21:47 > 0:21:49went on to become a film.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Being a fairly established playwright in Iceland,
0:21:57 > 0:22:03and having no difficulty in getting plays I've written staged...
0:22:04 > 0:22:05..this was a bit tricky.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07Nobody wanted to do it.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13After the production here, I got interest from film people and,
0:22:13 > 0:22:15yeah, we made the film.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18I think it's the most expensive film we've ever made in Iceland.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22It got very well received and was short-listed
0:22:22 > 0:22:26for the Best Foreign Film in the Oscars,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29so it's had a huge success.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35So, that's an example, quite an extreme one, I have to be honest.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39We're not bothering Hollywood every day...
0:22:39 > 0:22:41BAGPIPES PLAY
0:22:41 > 0:22:45..but one of the interesting ones which gives me
0:22:45 > 0:22:49great satisfaction is that a small company in Philadelphia called
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Tiny Dynamite got in touch and they said,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55"We've been following what you're doing on your website.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58"Can we do it here?"
0:22:58 > 0:23:01- Do we have pints? ALL:- Aye, aye!
0:23:01 > 0:23:03- Do we have pies? ALL:- Yes.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06We have got a helluva play for you tonight, so, you guys are...
0:23:08 > 0:23:11I was just struck by how clever it seemed,
0:23:11 > 0:23:12how simple...
0:23:12 > 0:23:15but also unique.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17And there certainly wasn't anything like that
0:23:17 > 0:23:18going on over here in America.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21- And then if you can bring the bottle as well...- Yes, I will.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25And then... 'I e-mailed David in Glasgow and,
0:23:25 > 0:23:28'I think within 24 hours, David had called me,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32'left the most wonderful message, encouraging me.'
0:23:33 > 0:23:35So, let's just try that transition.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38He has sent me many, many scripts,
0:23:38 > 0:23:43specifically ones that he feels will work over here in Philadelphia.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47I'm listening, Your Majesty.
0:23:47 > 0:23:48LAUGHTER
0:23:48 > 0:23:50The voice starts to laugh...
0:23:50 > 0:23:52And a lot of the playwrights we produce,
0:23:52 > 0:23:55people just haven't heard of over here
0:23:55 > 0:23:58and there's a real building excitement about the UK
0:23:58 > 0:24:01playwrights, and especially the Scottish playwrights.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03I hated cold water currents.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05- You said you loved cold water currents.- I hated them.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07LAUGHTER
0:24:07 > 0:24:11'So, it's been amazingly successful.'
0:24:11 > 0:24:15BAGPIPES PLAY AND APPLAUSE
0:24:16 > 0:24:20The global outreach of A Play, A Pie and A Pint is still expanding
0:24:20 > 0:24:24with discussion in progress for A Play, A Pie and A Pint
0:24:24 > 0:24:25in San Paolo in Brazil.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27BAGPIPES PLAY
0:24:27 > 0:24:31It's a colossal success and I put that down to two or three things.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35You put it down to the fact that it's compact.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40If you add to that a guiding hand of somebody who has got very good
0:24:40 > 0:24:44taste in Dave MacLennan's case, but has very open taste.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47He's not driving an agenda.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52He was very obviously at ease with what people would bring to him
0:24:52 > 0:24:54and he would find a way to enable that.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58At the heart of good drama is tension...
0:25:00 > 0:25:03..tension, story-telling,
0:25:03 > 0:25:07and distinctly, believably drawn characters.
0:25:09 > 0:25:10- I am waiting. - Yes, I can see you are.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12- Well?- Well...
0:25:12 > 0:25:14SHE CLEARS HER THROAT
0:25:14 > 0:25:18..Mr and Mrs Nicholson believe very firmly in married love...
0:25:18 > 0:25:21but not in the conventional sense.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23I am all ears, Miss Matheson.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28They reject the convention that marriage demands exclusive love.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30So, their marriage vows were meaningless!
0:25:30 > 0:25:33They also reject the idea...
0:25:33 > 0:25:37..that women should love only men and that men should love only women.
0:25:39 > 0:25:40LAUGHTER
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Repeat that last statement, if you please.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51We love coming here. It's one of our favourite places.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53We come here every Wednesday for ten years
0:25:53 > 0:25:56and we wouldn't miss it for anything, and today's play was fantastic.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59I thought it was a tour de force,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02and the acting superb.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04That was absolutely excellent.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06I would be coming back. This is a first time.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11Glasgow at lunch? I don't think so, Dave.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14But lovely, a nice idea.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17So, if you ever need to take any advice from anybody,
0:26:17 > 0:26:18don't take it from me.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21I remember my husband saying to me, "This is absolutely brilliant
0:26:21 > 0:26:24"what David's doing, but it's not going to work for too long.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27"They'll maybe struggle on for a couple of seasons."
0:26:27 > 0:26:32Well, nobody was more delighted than he to be 100% wrong about it.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38To celebrate A Play, A Pie and A Pint's first decade,
0:26:38 > 0:26:40there's a party at Oran Mor.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43# ..like you're supposed to grow
0:26:43 > 0:26:47# I could grow any way I choose... #
0:26:47 > 0:26:48You gave me a wonderful play.
0:26:50 > 0:26:51- Great celebration.- Yeah.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53It's a great thing what you've done.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00David, I cannae be here tonight at the party. I'm in China. I'm gutted!
0:27:00 > 0:27:01But this is for you...
0:27:01 > 0:27:05You are a legend in your own lunch-time,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09Which is not to insult you, I just though, ach! I might as well,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12In praise of you, old pal, producer extraordinaire,
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Produce a line or twa' of doggerel,
0:27:15 > 0:27:20Because yon fateful day, this was your reply,
0:27:20 > 0:27:24"Colin, why don't we do lunch-time theatre right here?
0:27:24 > 0:27:27"How's about it? A Play, A Pie and A Pint?
0:27:27 > 0:27:29"Come on, Colin, say, "Aye"!
0:27:29 > 0:27:34"Yes, we'll just tell the story, not necessarily loud but clear.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36"Won't show the audience where we're going,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40"Just take them there by telling the story,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42"Letting them in."
0:27:42 > 0:27:47"We'll go, "Are we sitting comfortably? Then let us begin.""
0:27:47 > 0:27:49APPLAUSE
0:27:51 > 0:27:55The main thing being unwell has brought home to me,
0:27:55 > 0:27:57is what a lucky man I am.
0:27:57 > 0:27:58APPLAUSE
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Stop it!
0:28:00 > 0:28:01That's quite enough!
0:28:02 > 0:28:07I've had the best job in theatre in Scotland for a long time.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13I've been lucky in my marriage
0:28:13 > 0:28:15and having a wonderful son.
0:28:16 > 0:28:22I just have this damn complaint of which there is currently no cure,
0:28:22 > 0:28:26and I refuse to let it define me.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28APPLAUSE DROWNS OUT SPEECH
0:28:28 > 0:28:33Gramsci, the Italian socialist, said a great thing.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38He said, "Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will,"
0:28:38 > 0:28:43and I've always felt that's a very good attitude to life,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46to be aware intellectually of the problems,
0:28:46 > 0:28:48but to have the will to beat them.