Rob Drummond Plays with Participation

Bullet Catch; Wallace; The Majority; Top Table; Eulogy; Rolls in Their Pockets

Rob Drummond, David Overend

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781350095298
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

Written (and occasionally performed) by Rob Drummond in collaboration with director David Overend, these scripts are a record of a long-term artistic partnership. From the award-winning magic of Bullet Catch (the Arches, 2012), to the audience votes of The Majority (National Theatre of Great Britain, 2017), these six plays open up a space for improvisation and participation, and a range of responses and reactions from the audience.
The collection includes four previously unpublished scripts along with up-to-date versions of their most successful productions. With introductory essays and in-text commentary by both the writer and director, this is a valuable resource for practitioners, students, and scholars of contemporary British theatre.

Wallace

Benny Young as Sir Edward Hammer MP, Moyo Akandé as Petra Lang, and Lesley Hart as Roberta Bishop in Wallace

Wallace was first performed in 2014 at The Arches, Glasgow. It was produced as part of the Early Days Festival in the week preceding the referendum on Scottish independence. Wallace was presented as a work-in-development commissioned by the National Theatre of Great Britain. It evolved to become The Majority three years later.

Journalist/Chronicler/Service Rep Moyo Akandé

MP’s Son/Longshanks’s Son/Researcher Kieran Baker

Wallace Rob Drummond

Chairperson/Bishop Wishart/Secretary Lesley Hart

Comedian/Calgacus/Robert the Bruce/Wallace’s Dad James McAnerney

MSP/John Balliol/Receptionist Gaylie Runciman

MP/Longshanks Benny Young

Co-director Rob Drummond

Co-director David Overend

Assistant Director Lucy Wild

Lighting Designer Kai Fischer

Music and Sound Designer Scott Twynholm

Set and Costume Designer Neil Warmington

Wardrobe Assistant Iona Barker

Casting Director Laura Donnelly

Production Manager John Wilkie

Deputy Stage Manager Hannah Nicol

Assistant Stage Manager Christine Collins

Act One: Political¹

The Great Cause

A TV studio. The programme is called The Great Cause. The panel members have assembled and the audience are buzzing.

Suddenly, the lights dim dramatically and the floor manager shouts, ‘And we’re live in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four…’

Three, two and one are silent.

The intro music plays accompanied by dramatic lighting.

The music fades but continues quietly under the following.

Chair Good evening, I’m Roberta Bishop and welcome to The Great Cause. Tonight’s show is a referendum special.² Our panel tonight: Scottish National Party stalwart and MSP for Paisley³ Sarah Bailey, controversial comedian and Yes campaigner Bruce Carrick, Scotland’s only Tory MP⁴ Sir Edward Hammer…

The Chair has to pause momentarily as Wallace, a man in face paint and full Braveheart get-up, boos from the audience.⁵

Chair … and former Sunday Herald journalist, Petra Lang. Please welcome them all.

The audience clap as a final burst of music fills the space.

We want to thank you all for submitting your questions in advance and remind you that these have not been seen by our panellists. If your question was not selected, don’t worry, we will accept questions from the floor at regular intervals. Our hope is for a free and open debate in this, the most important week in Scotland’s history. So please don’t be shy, this won’t work without your help.

Before we begin I wonder if we could take a quick poll. Who in the audience tonight is intending to vote Yes? Who is intending to vote No? And who is yet to decide?

The Chair responds to this.⁶

Let’s have our first question tonight which comes from Sam Munro. Sam.⁷

Audience Question One

A ‘boom mic’ finds the first audience member, who has agreed to play Sam.

Sam Is it ever acceptable to sell your vote for financial gain or should ideology be the primary motivating factor in making your decision?

Chair This question comes of course in the light of the stories of syndicates of people in Edinburgh putting their votes up for sale on the online auction website eBay.⁸ Sarah Bailey.

MSP Thank you, Roberta. Yes, this is a troubling story. People have become accustomed to their vote not meaning anything. I’m here to say that should you vote Yes on Thursday all of that will change. That’s a personal guarantee.

Journalist Come on, Sarah, you can’t even personally guarantee you’ll still be around after Thursday. Your coat’s on a shoogly peg after Radisson Gate, isn’t it?

MSP There is an internal inquiry ongoing into the incident at the Radisson Hotel so I don’t feel like it would be appropriate to talk about it here tonight, Petra.

Chair Yes, Petra, let’s stay on topic please.

Pause.

Sir Edward Hammer.

MP Please, please, just Edward will suffice. I cut a pretty lonely figure up here, don’t I? After all, there are more pandas in Scotland than Tory MPs.⁹ Before I get to my answer I think it’s important to extend my good will to both sides of the debate as, whatever happens at the end of the week, we are all going to have to live and work together afterwards.

Comedian So that’s a yes to a currency union then?

MP We already have a currency union, it’s you who wants to put that in jeopardy.

Scotland is a success story in terms of pioneering medical research, education and healthcare. We pay more into the UK coffers than any other nation in the Union. Sounds like we could survive on our own perfectly easily, right? Well, let’s think about this. There is a reason we are currently thriving. The UK is the oldest and most successful economic union in the world. Our economy is based on a principle of pooling and sharing risks and resources. We are thriving now. What makes you think changing the situation within which we are thriving will mean we will continue to thrive?

This...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Foreword by Jackie Wylie, Artistic Director, National Theatre of Scotland
• Introduction by David Overend
• In conversation
• Bullet Catch
• Wallace
• The Majority
• Top Table
• Eulogy
• Rolls in Their Pockets
• Appendix
• Copyright