ARE young people politically apathetic? Do they share a sense of political alienation – and even hopelessness – as a result perhaps of being pushed to the sidelines while politicians play with their lives?

Youth activism has not always been constrained. During the advent of the Second World War, Glaswegian schoolboys walked out of classrooms to fight in France.

And incredibly, in 1936, hundreds of young Scots took off to fight in a war in Spain, in an act of bravery and conviction that seems unimaginable today.

The story of the Spanish Civil War’s legendary International Brigade is told in Robbie Gordon and Jack Nurse’s 549, a play (with songs) set in modern-day Prestonpans.

It also offers a dramatic opportunity to consider the notion of politicisation 80-odd years on. We discover that one night in a small pub, four young men are haunted by the ghost of George Watters.

Their friend – a bartender called Ellen – also has her own deep connection to George’s story.

The lives of these millennials are contrasted sharply with those of four young miners who made their way to the Spanish valleys.

Would these pals in the pub ever seem likely to find such a serious purpose?

What are their thoughts on the selfless young heroes of the 1930s who walked away from their lives and into a hell hole?

And why would those young miners in the 1930s sacrifice so much for a country they knew so little of? What does it mean to fight for a cause? What sort of impact did this decision to fight have on their own families?

And of course, the story of the 549 (the number of Scots who lost their lives) can’t fail to resonate.

Yes, we can send money to help the battle in Ukraine, but, if it were possible, how many Scots would pick up a rifle and go off and fight to the death?

What the play does cleverly is to avoid presenting the modern-day young men as having one voice. Yes, they have known each other since they were born. Yes, they love their weekly game of cards together.

But each is different. There is the working-class Tory, the socialist idealist, the one who’d rather be anywhere else, and the apathetic cynic.

And as we discover, the four who left Scotland in 1936 were an equally disparate quartet.

The pub setting however has not constrained the theatrical imagination of the writers in what they can convey.

This is a show that manages to combine fierce physical action and movement with poignant songs emerging from the guitar player in the corner.

But overall, it offers a real chance to explore the mindset of those who left an East Lothian coal mine behind in order to fight fascism.

Was it about idealism, an attempt to move forward to a new world order? Or an escape from the hopelessness of the pits?

Martin Donaghy, Robbie Gordon, Cristian Ortega and Dylan Wood play the four with Rebekah Lumsden as bartender Ellen.

549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War, runs at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow, October 6-8 and then at selected theatres in Scotland in October and November.

 

THE PRIME Minister’s latest benefits crackdown seems to have arrived at a perfect time for the premiere of Rob Drummond’s dark comedy play. Set in the near future, Don’t. Make. Tea. imagines a world where the benefits system has undergone a transformation. But is it for the better?

The play tells the story of Chris, a woman packed with pride who hates asking for help. But when her condition deteriorates, she has no choice but to claim disability benefits. And that’s how she comes to meet Ralph. Ralph believes in the new benefits system. He’s here today, in Chris’s home, to assess her. His task is to prove that she is fit and capable of working.

But Chris knows he is wrong – and that her life will be over if his verdict stands. Can she persuade him to change his mind? And, if not, how far is she willing to go to save herself? She then asks herself the philosophical question: if you are capable of killing and disposing of a body, can you really call yourself disabled?

What the play does of course is ask questions about how society considers and supports disabled people with relation to the benefits system. Director, Robert Softley Gale, says: “I hope Don’t. Make. Tea. can ask some big questions about how we value disabled people in society – and perhaps spark some conversations that can begin to make things better.”

A spokesperson for the play said: “It is now a more ideal time than ever to stage the play with this year seeing the introduction of the Adult Disability Payment in Scotland.”

Don’t. Make. Tea. The Traverse Theatre, October 5-8