John McGrath
Encyclopedia
John Peter McGrath, was a Liverpudlian
-Irish
playwright
and theatre theorist who grew up in Wales
and notably took up the cause of Scottish independence
in his plays. His life partner was the Scottish actress Elizabeth MacLennan
.
He was known both for his work with the 7:84 Theatre Company
as a playwright and for his theoretical formulation of the principles of a radical
, popular theatre. His best-known play is The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil
(1973). The play utilizes some of the dramaturgical
and theatrical techniques of epic theatre
- actors take on multiple roles and frequently slip out of character, for example - in ways that many students of theatre would associate with the praxis of the modernist theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht
, but which McGrath is keen to stress have a genealogy that stretches far further back through the history of popular traditions of performance. The title of the play refers to three pivotal periods in the history of class struggle
in Scotland: the clearing of the Scottish highlands
to make way for grazing land, the subsequent use of this land by the wealthy for shooting
, and its current exploitation in the oil market. These changes are identified as forming a recurrent pattern of abuse of the land and the exploitation of the people by outsiders and by wealthier locals.
He adapted the satirical morality play
A Satire of the Three Estates (1540) by David Lyndsay
as a contemporary morality A Satire of the Four Estaites, which was presented by Wildcat Theatre Company at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre as part of the Edinburgh International Festival
in 1996. This production opened on 16 August 1996 and starred Sylvester McCoy
.
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
-Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and theatre theorist who grew up in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and notably took up the cause of Scottish independence
Scottish independence
Scottish independence is a political ambition of political parties, advocacy groups and individuals for Scotland to secede from the United Kingdom and become an independent sovereign state, separate from England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
in his plays. His life partner was the Scottish actress Elizabeth MacLennan
Elizabeth MacLennan (actress)
Elizabeth MacLennan is a Glasgow-born Scottish actress and radical popular theatre practitioner.She helped to found 7:84 Theatre Company and 7:84 Scotland...
.
He was known both for his work with the 7:84 Theatre Company
7:84
7:84 was a Scottish left-wing agitprop theatre group. The name comes from a statistic, published in The Economist in 1966, that 7% of the population of the UK owned 84% of the state's wealth....
as a playwright and for his theoretical formulation of the principles of a radical
Far left
Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...
, popular theatre. His best-known play is The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil
The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil
The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil is a play written in the 1970s by the popular Liverpudlian playwright John McGrath. From 1973, beginning at a venue in Aberdeen, it was performed in a touring production in community centres around Scotland by 7:84 and other community theatre groups...
(1973). The play utilizes some of the dramaturgical
Dramaturgy
Dramaturgy is the art of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. Dramaturgy is a distinct practice separate from play writing and directing, although a single individual may perform any combination of the three. Some dramatists combine writing and...
and theatrical techniques of epic theatre
Epic theater
Epic theatre was a theatrical movement arising in the early to mid-20th century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practitioners, including Erwin Piscator, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold and, most famously, Bertolt Brecht...
- actors take on multiple roles and frequently slip out of character, for example - in ways that many students of theatre would associate with the praxis of the modernist theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, but which McGrath is keen to stress have a genealogy that stretches far further back through the history of popular traditions of performance. The title of the play refers to three pivotal periods in the history of class struggle
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
in Scotland: the clearing of the Scottish highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
to make way for grazing land, the subsequent use of this land by the wealthy for shooting
Shooting
Shooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman...
, and its current exploitation in the oil market. These changes are identified as forming a recurrent pattern of abuse of the land and the exploitation of the people by outsiders and by wealthier locals.
He adapted the satirical morality play
Morality play
The morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes", a broader term given to dramas with or without a moral theme. Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of...
A Satire of the Three Estates (1540) by David Lyndsay
David Lyndsay
Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, was a Scottish Lord Lyon and poet of the 16th century, whose works reflect the spirit of the Renaissance.-Biography:...
as a contemporary morality A Satire of the Four Estaites, which was presented by Wildcat Theatre Company at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre as part of the Edinburgh International Festival
Edinburgh International Festival
The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around the middle of August. By invitation from the Festival Director, the International Festival brings top class performers of music , theatre, opera...
in 1996. This production opened on 16 August 1996 and starred Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor. As a comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s, but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to...
.
Sources
- Kershaw, Baz. 1992. The Politics of Performance: Radical Theatre as Cultural Intervention. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415057639.
- MacLennan, Elizabeth. 1990. The Moon Belongs to Everyone: Making Theatre with 7:84. London: Methuen. ISBN 0413641503.
- McGrath, John. 1981. A Good Night Out: Popular Theatre: Audience, Class and Form. London: Nick Hern Books, 1996. ISBN 1854593706.
- McGrath, John. 1990. The Bone Won't Break: On Theatre and Hope in Hard Times. London: Methuen. ISBN 0413632601.
- McGrath, John. 1996. Six-Pack: Plays for Scotland. Edinburgh: Polygon. ISBN 0748662014.
- Schechter, Joel, ed. 2003. Popular Theatre: A Sourcebook. Worlds of Performance Ser. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415258308.