Around the World in a Season of Plays! Autumn Season Announced
Hollywood’s Golden Age, Baba Yaga, and Ukraine’s premier playwright feature in a globe-trotting season that will tell tales from across the world, as the finalists of The David MacLennan Award are announced.
From Hungary to China, through Pakistan and France, before visiting the Golden Age of Hollywood and the far-flung reaches of the Siberian wilderness – this Autumn, A Play, A Pie and A Pint is travelling the world, with tickets now on sale! What’s more, PPP’s upcoming Autumn Season will feature a broadcast from Palestine as well as the Scottish premiere of He Who Opens the Door by Neda Nezhdana – Ukraine’s leading playwright, currently in exile in the country’s West. Across 12 pieces of new writing, PPP will throw open its doors to the world in a season co-presented with The Citizens Theatre, The Traverse, Aberdeen Performing Arts and Ayr Gaiety.
PPP’s Autumn Season kicks off on September 5th 2022 with Sally. Written by the critically-acclaimed James Ley (Wilf, Love Song to Lavender Menace), Sally imagines a world where one actor’s soaring success as Sally Bowles is inextricably tied to the rise of 21st century, far-right populism…
Meanwhile, Morna Pearson (Darklands, How to Disappear) adapts Molière and celebrates 400 years since his birth in the farcical, madcap Impromptu at Oran Mor; Johnny McKnight (101 Dalmatians, Rubble) shines a feminist light on the feud between Golden Age gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons in The Golden Rage; Hilary Brooks (Sunshine On Leith, Glasgow Girls) and Clive King (Wee Free! The Musical) explore the midnight world of the remarkable and inimitable Kiki of Montparnasse in Kiki; Dave Gerow (The Infernal Serpent, A Change in Management) fuses the trials and tribulations of the 21st century gig economy with Meet the Parents in Break My Windows; and in The Prognostications of Mikey Noyce, Frances Poet (Fibres, Maggie May) invites us into a world where one hapless man’s premonitions may be the only thing standing between Britain and total ruin.
Elsewhere in the programme, Morna Young (The Stamping Ground, Aye, Elvis) debuts BABS, a tale of friendship, self-discovery, and Baba Yaga’s post-hag career; and Joe McCann (The Bookies) examines misogyny, politics and racism through the lens of an interracial couple living in Orbán’s Hungary in the dark comedy Alföld, a co-presentation with The Citz. Alice Clark (BBC Scottish Voice 2022) draws heart-warming parallels between two women, worlds apart in Scotland and China in Made in China, which seeks to lift the lid on the West’s material and capital dependency on the East; and Taqi Nazeer (Scotistan, Ghost Light) brings us a supernatural horror story rooted in South Asian and Middle Eastern folklore with Jinnistan – spookily opening on Hallowe’en itself!
PPP is proud to platform global writers whose countries face invasion and occupation. This season will see the Scottish premiere of He Who Opens the Door by Neda Nezhdana, one of Ukraine’s leading contemporary playwrights. Translated by John Farndon, this black comedy, in which two Ukrainian women awake in a morgue – neither dead nor alive – reflects the limbo for many in Ukraine, caught between opposing forces. Additionally, Joe Douglas (Educating Ronnie, The Cheviot, The Stag and the Black Oil) teams up with Palestinian performer Faisal Abu Alhayjaa (Showtime from the Frontline) in The Peace Piece: LIVE from Oran Mor!, which addresses the century of volatile events since the Balfour Declaration and will feature a broadcast from Palestine.
Finally, PPP’s annual search for the Next Big Thing in Scottish playwrighting reaches its endgame: in October, the three finalists from The David MacLennan Award will be announced. The Award aims to uncover new writing talent by providing first-time writers with the opportunity to have their work professionally produced, before being presented on stage at A Play, A Pie and A Pint. Earlier this year, the team at A Play, A Pie and A Pint saw over 130 submissions. Full details regarding the Award can be found HERE.
Earlier this year, we told incredible stories from all over Scotland. This Autumn, we are telling stories from across the globe! Now more than ever, as borders rise and isolationism takes hold, it feels important to tell stories from all walks of life, all over the world – from women in Ukraine to a factory worker in China, by way of a 350-year-old French farce and a live broadcast from Palestine – this season is ambitious, exciting and has something for everyone”
Jemima Levick, Artistic Director
