BBC Scotland presents Òran Mór’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint
We’re delighted to announce BBC Scotland’s presentation of six of our A Play, A Pie and A Pint productions to be broadcast on BBC Scotland.
“We’re really, really excited about it,” says April Chamberlain, who, alongside Morag Fullarton, has been co-artistic director of A Play, A Pie and A Pint since 2016.
“We’re hoping it will widen our audience to people who haven’t been able to come along to Oran Mor, as well as providing a chance for people who have seen the plays already to see them again onscreen.
We’re not changing anything in what we do, and the BBC Scotland series is a great snapshot of what our little lunchtime phenomenon is all about.”
I’m more than pleased that A Play, A Pie and a Pint is at last being featured on national television.
A lot of dedicated people have contributed to Òran Mór’s successful lunch time performances over the years. I have no doubt our founder, David McLennan is also pleased his legacy is being aired on the BBC.
I would like to acknowledge our longstanding paying public for their support over the last 15 years through thick and thin, and who have made A Play, A Pie and A Pint what it is today.
– Colin Beattie
Owner of Òran Mór and Executive Producer of PPP
Ahead of the series, the BBC will also be screening ‘A Play, A Pie and A Pint: Scotland’s Theatre Revolution‘, a documentary produced and directed by Elly Taylor – originally shown in 2014 to mark the tenth anniversary of PPP. Watch on BBC iPlayer.
BBC Scotland’s sextet of A Play, A Pie and A Pint productions includes:
Chic Murray: A Funny Place For A Window by Stuart Hepburn
The “Comedian’s Comedian” Chic Murray passed away in Edinburgh on the night of the 29th of January, 1985. In a career that had taken him from an engineer’s apprenticeship in Kincaid’s Shipyard, Greenock, to the top of the bill at The London Palladium, Chic was a complete one-off.
On what is his last day on this earth, Chic takes a musical look back at the ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies of his glittering, but tragically flawed career.
Sunday 1st September, 10pm – BBC Scotland
View Play | Watch on BBC iPlayer
Ring Road by Anita Vettesse
Ring Road, starring Anita Vettesse and Gavin Jon Wright. Ring Road is a play about forty year old Lisa, who in thrall to a mid-life crisis, makes an indecent proposal to her brother in-law, to father a baby for her and end her childlessness.
Actress Anita Vettesse, who appeared in Bob Servant, has been forging a career as a noted writer in recent years, including work for River City as well as Falling for BBC Radio Drama, and an episode of The Break for BBC Three. Her other plays have included Happy Hour, From the Air, and Eddie and the Slumber Sisters and she has recently become writer in residence at the National Theatre in Scotland. Ring Road will be her first original work to be showcased on television.
Sunday 8th September, 10pm – BBC Scotland
View Play | Watch on BBC iPlayer
A Respectable Widow Takes to Vulgarity by Douglas Maxwell
A Respectable Widow Takes to Vulgarity, starring Anne Kidd and Craig McLean.
This play depicts a recently widowed elderly lady, who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young lad at her husband’s company, and goes on a mission to learn how to give verbal vent to her repressed emotions.
It has been written by seasoned playwright Douglas Maxwell. His many plays include Yer Granny, Fever Dream: Southside, and Mancub and have been staged internationally from New York to South Korea, from New Zealand to Hong Kong.
Sunday 22nd Sept, 10pm – BBC Scotland
View Play | Watch on BBC iPlayer
Toy Plastic Chicken by Uma Nada-Rajah
Starring Neshla Caplan, David James Kirkwood and Anna Russell-Martin.
In the play, a toy plastic chicken going through airport checks is suspected of being a bomb, leading to the interrogation and screening of its female owner for domestic radicalisation.
Writer Uma Nada-Rajah based her blackly comedic exploration of degradation and revolt on a real experience. As well as her work as a playwright, she also works as a nurse.
Based in Kirknewton, she trained with the acclaimed French theatre school, École Philippe Gaulier, is a graduate of the Young Writers’ Program at the Royal Court Theatre and a recipient of a New Playwrights’ Award from Playwrights’ Studio Scotland.
Her other plays include The Constant K Determines the Ultimate Fate of the Universe and The Dubai Papers. Toy Plastic Chicken will be her first work to be showcased on television.
Sunday 22nd Sept, 10pm – BBC Scotland
View Play | Watch on BBC iPlayer
Meat Market by Chris Grady
Starring Julie Duncanson, Robin Laing and Megan Shandley.
A comic tale, fraught with duplicity and dodgy ethics, that sees three strangers meet in a 24 hour gym late at night to negotiate the sale of a human kidney.
Meat Market was the first theatre play penned for writer Chris Grady, who cut his teeth writing for comedy sketches. He is the co-creator and co-writer of BBC Radio Scotland’s Saddled. Chris is also a story producer on Scot Squad and regularly writes for River City Other writing credits include projects with Greg McHugh : Gary; Tank Commander, the Election Special and Gary Goes to Hollywood.
Sunday 29th September, 10pm – BBC Scotland
View Play | Watch on BBC iPlayer
Crocodile Rock by Andy McGregor
Set in Millport in 1997, it is a comic and musical coming of age story about 17-year-old Steven. Feeling hemmed in by island life, he meets an outrageous drag queen who opens his eyes to another world. It features actor Darren Brownlie and musicians Gavin Whitworth and Gary Cameron.
Director, composer and playwright Andy McGregor originally started off in a band Blind Pew, and in a parallel career also co-founded youth theatre groups in his home town of Largs and Greenock. He went onto train at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Shows he has written, composed and directed include Spuds, The Rise and Inevitable Fall of Lucas Petit, Pure Freezin’, Love 2.0 and Vinyl Idol (with Debbie Hannan). Andy’s first project to be televised, Crocodile Rock will be recorded for its BBC Scotland screening during the theatre run in late August.
Sunday 6th October, 10pm – BBC Scotland
View Play | Watch on BBC iPlayer
You’ll have to provide your own pie and pint but we hope you’ll tune in from the comfort of your own home and enjoy PPP on your tv!
We’re hoping it will widen our audience to people who haven’t been able to come along to Òran Mór, as well as providing a chance for people who have seen the plays already to see them again onscreen.
– April Chamberlain, Co-Artistic Director
Press Links
“BBC to give ‘pie and a pint’ lunchtime plays wider airing”
The Times
“Historic Glasgow venue’s famous A Play A Pie and A Pint shows to be turned into BBC dramas”
The Daily Record
“April Chamberlain – A Play, A Pie and A Pint at the BBC”
The Herald
Theatre review: Crocodile Rock, Oran Mor, Glasgow, four stars
The Herald
“A Play, a Pie, and a Pint: Chic Murray, a funny place for a window,” review
The Herald
“A Play, A Pie and A Pint continues on our TV screens” Scottish Field
Please note broadcast dates are always subject to change.
