Scottish People's Theatre

Growing out of roots planted in the Great Depression and the chaos of the Second World War, Glasgow Unity Theatre grew into the most celebrated and influential of mid-twentieth century Scottish theatre companies, successfully developing the theatrical styles and political commitments of the organisations from which it came. This new publication contains acting scripts of five of their most important plays, including Ena Lamont Stewart's "Men Should Weep" in its previously-unpublished first version, and a play from the 1950s, "All in Good Faith", by Roddy McMillan, who had begun his career as one of Unity's outstanding performers. Along with Unity's celebrated achievements in the late 1940s - Robert McLeish's "The Gorbals Story", George Munro's "Gold in his Boots", and Benedick Scott's "The Lambs of God" - this volume allows Unity's work to be read together, for the first time, and seen fully in the context of its period and influence. Here too we can see a use of Scots language far removed from the pantomime, music-hall and comedy of the contemporary stage, and capable instead of conveying genuine and universal emotions.