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Donald Robertson Is Not a Stand Up Comedian
What would you do if everyone in the world hated you? Would you run? Would you fight? Or would you try to make them laugh? Donald Robertson has no mates and he isn't funny. But with guidance from his new mentor Gary, he hopes that this is all about to change. Donald Robertson Is Not A Stand Up Comedian is a darkly comic coming of age story that explores the need to belong and deconstructs the brutal role that humour can play in society.
McGonagall’s Chronicles
"I'm in love with a man from Dundee Though he lived 100 years or so before me He was a poet He was aware of this" A tragic comedy, McGonagall's Chronicles charts the true life story of the worst poet of all time: William McGonagall. With wit, candour and warmth, Gary McNair tries to understand how McGonagall could be so bad at what he did, and gets to the heart of the dilemma that surrounds his legend – is it okay for us to laugh at someone's obvious and relentless failings?
Russian Theatre at the Margins of High Putinism
Russian Theatre at the Margins of High Putinism traces the development of fringe theatre in Russia over the course of the second decade of the twenty-first century. This is a period that bears witness to the conservative-authoritarian turn in modern Russian politics and the subsequent slide into open repression of nonconformist elements in society. Through a close examination of various aspects of contemporary Russian theatre, including new trends in dramaturgy, documentary theatre, hybridization of media, performance, and actionist theatre, a picture emerges of a vibrant, heterogeneous subculture existing on the margins of cultural life and yet fully engaged in dialogue with the shifting political realities of the day. Utilizing extensive interviews with a number of significant theatre practitioners, the book offers a final firsthand glimpse of contemporary Russian culture and society in the years prior to two events that changed the country beyond recognition-the global pandemic and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Consideration of the seismic impact of those events on contemporary theatre and culture in Russia concludes the study.
A Gambler's Guide to Dying
See that feeling that you might have won? Why wouldn't you want that to last for as long as possible. That's best bit! What are the odds of living an extraordinary life? This is the story of one boy's granddad who won a fortune betting on the 1966 World Cup and, when diagnosed with cancer, gambled it all on living to see the year 2000. An intergenerational tale of what we live for and what we leave behind. This edition of A Gambler's Guide to Dying was published to coincide with the run at the Traverse Festival in August 2025.
After the Cuts
It’s the future; just like now, but a bit more... well, shitey. Jim and Agnes have worked hard their whole lives and now Agnes needs a life-saving operation. With the NHS as we know it a thing of the past, they must take matters into their own hands in this darkly comic tale showing the lengths people go to for life and love.
Square Go
Max is a normal-ish kid in a normal-ish town. He spends his days daydreaming and hanging out with his weird wee pal Stevie Nimmo. But when Max is called for his first Square Go, a fight by the school gates, it’s his own demons he must wrestle with first. Featuring an original soundtrack by members of Frightened Rabbit, this unmissable collaboration between Fringe First winning writers Kieran Hurley (Heads Up) and Gary McNair (A Gambler’s Guide to Dying) is a raucous and hilarious new play about playground violence, myths of masculinity and the decision to step up or run.
The Monstrous Heart
Mag lives in a rustic cabin in the Canadian wilds, far from neighbours and further from her past. It's an unremarkable life, save for the enormous bear carcass on the kitchen table. But when her estranged daughter Beth turns up on the doorstep having been freshly released from prison, the past becomes terrifyingly present - and the bear isn't the only thing with a dangerous bite.
Locker Room Talk
Locker Room Talk is a provocative piece of event theatre. Inspired by Donald Trump’s leaked sexually aggressive comments, the show is a confronting exploration of the phenomenon the then presidential candidate later dismissed as ‘locker room banter’. But can this be true? Is this simply a loathsome individual or one who speaks to a silent majority? Gary McNair wants to think we are better than this, and is having honest conversations with men about women to see if he is right or wrong. The words of these men are performed by a cast of women in this verbatim piece.
Nae Expectations
How do I even start? It's a mental story. Ah know, Ah know, everyone says that – 'ma life's pure mental'. But honestly – a guy drowns, a man eats a live pigeon (though Ah might no have time for that), a woman gets set on fire, right before my eyes! But before we get tae aw that, Ah should tell you ma name. Right. So, ma name, is. . . Pip. Pip is just your average wee guy – happy with his lot and not much of a complainer (though you really wouldn't blame him if he was!). Regularly tortured and terrified, in what is, it must be said, a truly hard life, he still finds time to laugh, smile and dream of a brighter future, even though no-one expects anything of him. Or so he thinks. . . Nae Expectations is Gary McNair's fresh look at the Dickens classic Great Expectations, with a Glasgow tongue and a gallus spirit. Follow young Pip as he battles with monstrous adults, the class system and, most of all, his inner demons as he tries to work out who he is, what he wants to be and how to find his own way in the world. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at Glasgow's Tron Theatre, in October 2023.
Wilf
My story is about love... No, it's about loss... No, it's about love and loss and pain and loneliness... But it's funny! Calvin is going to completely revolutionise his life. Escape his abusive boyfriend, detonate his inner sex bomb, see (and shag) the world. Yes, he's going to change things, and everything will be wonderful, and he's going to be so happy. Definitely. Finally. Right? Together with Wilf, a rusty Volkswagen Polo which, like Calvin, has seen better days, they hit the road on a wild ride of dodgy Airbnbs, greasy takeaways, anonymous graveyard sex and banging 80s power ballads - ending up somewhere they never imagined they'd go. But is Calvin breaking free, breaking down, or just breakdancing in hot pants? This riotous and heartfelt new play from James Ley (Love Song to Lavender Menace) takes audiences on a hilarious and unapologetic ride through Scotland as Calvin and Wilf attempt to escape loneliness, cope with mental illness and learn to love themselves, with the help of one another. This edition was published alongside the production at Traverse Theatre for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2022.
