Theatre and politics in Scotland were once so closely aligned you could almost see the ghosts of John Maclean or James Maxton look down from the gods. Companies such as 7:84 and Borderline acted out the voices of dissent, offering up social message and powerful entertainment.
But the agitprop days disappeared in the Eighties when we needed them most. Or did they?
This week a play by Annie Lowry Thomas looks to serve up theatre of not only concern, but clever questioning. After Party uses an actual house party as a metaphor for tracing the hopes and expectations of New Labour, and how they came to represent a sticky-carpet, beery, empty-can stench of abject disappointment.
Thomas’s idea began as her Masters project for her theatre degree at Glasgow University, took a break during the pandemic and then continued to develop. “The idea was formed from a sense that being a millennial means you have come too late to the party, the party being the Blair government,” she explains. “When I was at school, austerity began to kick in, and year by year things got worse.”
“I don’t want to stretch the metaphor until it breaks but there was the thought of something different, like a new energy coming into the party with bags of cans from the shop, even the idea of closing the curtains and suggesting we go for breakfast.
“But that Corbyn project obviously failed, and 2019 was a tough year for a lot of young people on the left to process, about what had happened and why we got it so wrong. Having said that, it was a surprise that it succeeded as much as it did in 2017.”
The 17 years of Conservative rule created a massive demand for change in young left-leaners. Then the new Labour party appeared, fronted by Sir Keir Starmer, and it seemed a pertinent time for the writer to update the story. To what extent have ideas of socialism been consigned to the past? Annie Lowry Thomas brings a strong critical voice to that story so far.
But in highlighting what she believes are too many similarities with Blairite policy, is there not a danger that the Tories are let off the hook? “I can see what you mean,” she says, smiling. “However, audiences won’t have to worry that this is the case. We look hard at what went on between Labour governments, which was years of Tory austerity, and the hypocrisy. But this play isn’t a vast criticism of the Labour party, or in fact the Tories, and it’s not an advocation for another party, instead it’s more of a reflection of how we got here.”
The writer returns to the metaphor. “We look at the peaks and troughs. It asks hypothetical questions of what we want from those in charge. And it’s autobiographical in the sense that I’ve been watching elections appear in 2014, with the referendum, and 2016, 2017 and 2019, and being witness to that - and feeling that I’ve been constantly on the losing side. And it’s a bit like being at a party where you’ve stayed way too late, and you’re involved in conversations that go in circles. There is all this energy – but where does it go? Then you go to bed, get up and get on with your day.”
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It seems Annie Lowry Thomas couldn’t not grow up politically aware and concerned. Her parents were strong New Labour supporters. “My mum had been a CND protester, a ‘get stuck in’ type of activist, and my dad was also hopeful for New Labour.”
But then came the symbolic moment which caused her dad’s head to swivel in amazement. “It was when Tony Blair invited Margaret Thatcher round for tea, three days after getting in,” she recalls, the disdain still evident in her voice.
Annie Lowry Thomas, who has worked at the Arches Theatre and the Tron Theatre in Glasgow, has written a show (lashed with heaps of entertainment value) that wears its political heart on its sleeve. And it’s warming to realise that not all young people are apathetic.
Yet, it’s not to suggest that Scotland is primed for a major return to political theatre. “The problems we have in achieving funding or finding spaces to perform are so tough. If I didn’t have a full-time job, I wouldn't have been able to do this. But I really wanted to write about my experience of living on this weird island for 32 years and the people who have taken turns running it.”
After Party’s ending can be written up to the curtain, she explains. This suggests it could well feature mentions of Angela Rayner’s £68k a year photographer or Keir Starmer’s specs? “Last week Rachel Reeves came out with the line; ‘This is a party of working people. We’re not a party of protest.’ The implication is that working people don’t care about the likes of imperialism. And that’s a line I wrote in the play two years ago.”
She smiles. “I’ll be watching events closely in the build up to opening.”
After Party, The Tron Theatre, Counting House, Glasgow October 4-5. Summerhall, Tech Cube 0ctober 11-12.
Glasgow Kiss: The Musical
David Carswell’s new musical tells of James who returns to Glasgow after 20 years for a family funeral and while home bumps into his first love, packed with music from the likes of Simple Minds, Texas and the Bluebells. The Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, September 30 - October 5.
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