It's a story that has a beginning, a middle, but as yet, no end. John McGrath's winding, furious, innovative play tracks the economic history and exploitation of the Scottish Highlands from the post-Rebellion suppression of the clans to the story of the Clearances: in the 19th century, aristocratic landowners discovered the profitability of sheep farming, and forced a mass emigration of rural Highlanders, burning their houses in order to make way for the Cheviot sheep. Described by the playwright as having a "ceilidh" format, The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil draws on historical research alongside Gaelic song and the Scots' love of variety and popular entertainment to tell this epic story. A totally distinctive cultural and theatrical phenomenon, the play championed several new approaches to theatre, raising its profile as a means of political intervention; proposing a collective and collaborative approach to creating theatre; offering a language of performance accessible to working-class people; producing theatre in non-purpose-built theatre spaces; breaking down the barrier between audience and performers through interaction; and taking theatre to people who otherwise would not access it. The play received its premiere in 1973 by the agit-prop theatre group 7:84. Methuen Drama's iconic Modern Plays series began in 1959 with the publication of Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey and has grown over six decades to now include more than 1000 plays by some of the best writers from around the world. This new special edition hardback of The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil was published to celebrate 60 years of Methuen Drama's Modern Plays in 2019, chosen by a public vote and features a new foreword by Kate McGrath.

Follows the thread of capitalist and repressive exploitation through the estates of the stag-hunting landed gentry, to the 1970s rush for profit in the name of North Sea Oil.

About the Author
John McGrath was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, in 1935. After national service and Oxford University, he wrote and directed for theatre and television, as well as writing for cinema. Early work included Z-Cars for BBC-TV (1962), Events While Guarding the Bofors Gun (1966) and the screenplay for Billion Dollar Brain (1976). In 1971, together with Elizabeth MacLennan, he co-founded the 7:84 Theatre Company, which divided into Scottish and English companies in 1973 with McGrath remaining as Artistic Director of both. During his career McGrath wrote over 60 plays, including Fish in the Sea(1972), The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil (1973), Blood Red Roses (1980), Border Warfare (1989), Watching for Dolphins (1992) and, most recently, HyperLynx (2001). He was twice Visiting Fellow in Theatre at Cambridge University. His previous books include A Good Night Out(1981), The Bone Won't Break (1990) and Six Pack: Plays for Scotland (1996).

Reviews
Arguably the single most important show in the whole history of Scottish theatre. * Scotsman *
As play it has everything, and it throws it at you in generous handfuls; laughter, farce, drama, live song and dance, finely researched political intent. . . . a love song to a beautiful, damaged culture and a warning of the dangers of unchecked capitalism it still rings astonishingly true. * Independent *
[McGrath] was Britain's Brecht, Scotland's Dario Fo . . . A creative powerhouse who was often out of fashion, but never out of action . . . Today, few speak, far less make theatre, with such ideological intent. * Guardian *



Book Information
ISBN 9781350135079
Author John McGrath
Format Hardback
Page Count 104
Imprint Methuen Drama
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 224g