Queer Plays Volume One – An Anthology of Scottish LGBTQ+ Drama (paperback)

Queer Plays Volume One:
An Anthology of Scottish LGBTQ+ Drama

curated by J D Stewart

A landmark anthology of eight plays spanning 50 years of Scottish queer theatre.

This powerful anthology showcases the richness, range and resilience of Scottish LGBTQ+ drama through eight plays by writers whose work has helped shape, question and expand the contemporary stage. Across generations, styles and theatrical forms, these plays explore identity, desire, family, faith, friendship, politics, memory and belonging with wit, urgency and emotional force.

From intimate confession to bold theatrical reinvention, from sharp comedy to queer resistance, Queer Plays Volume One offers an essential introduction to the breadth of queer playwriting in Scotland. The collection is both a celebration of LGBTQ+ lives on stage and a valuable resource for readers, teachers, students, libraries, theatre-makers and anyone interested in contemporary Scottish drama.

This anthology is ideal for those seeking queer plays, Scottish drama, LGBTQ+ theatre texts, and contemporary playwriting that speaks across decades with honesty, imagination and theatrical flair.

Contents

• Sex, Chips and Holy Ghost by Jo Clifford
• Medea on the Mic by Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh
• Ness by Hannah McGregor
• SomeoneGood by Kathy McKean
• Mum, Dad, There’s Something I Got To Tell You by John Binnie
• The Fork by Ian Brown
• Flick and Pie Go Fishing by Laila Noble
• Molly’s Collar & Tie by Christopher Deans

Summaries

SEX CHIPS AND HOLY GHOST
by Jo Clifford

A witty, irreverent and ultimately heartfelt two-hander set in Oran Mor, where a priest and a trans nun arrive to announce that the “offending” play has been cancelled and instead perform a mock spiritual cleansing of the venue. What begins as a sharp satire on religious hypocrisy, repression and institutional power gradually opens into something warmer and more visionary, as the pair move beyond dogma towards a theology of love, blessing, embodiment and joy. Blending camp comedy with political bite and spiritual tenderness, the play becomes a celebration of queer identity, chosen ritual and liberation from shame.

MEDEA ON THE MIC
by Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh

A reimagining of Euripides’ heroine through a bold, contemporary, queer lens, unfolding the story as a sequence of monologues, confessions and recordings shaped by microphones, podcasts, press conferences and public testimony. Moving across time, borders and identities, the play retells Medea’s myth as a story of migration, betrayal, misogyny, gaslighting and survival, while also making space for queer desire, chosen kinship and spiritual renewal. Fierce, funny and formally inventive, it transforms an ancient tragedy into a modern act of reclamation, giving Medea back her voice and refiguring her not as monster, but as witness, survivor and mythic force.

NESS
by Hannah McGregor

A tender, funny and deeply affirming queer fable set on the banks of Loch Ness, where a young non-binary person, Em, retreats into the landscape after conflict with their mother and encounters a gloriously camp, ancient Nessie who becomes guide, witness and fellow outsider. What begins as a playful mythic adventure opens into a moving story about trans identity, naming, visibility and the pain of not being seen by those closest to you, while the play’s mix of Scots, Gaelic, folklore and cabaret creates a vivid sense of place and inheritance. By turns comic, magical and emotionally raw, it becomes a celebration of self-definition, queer ancestry and the power of claiming your own story.

SOMEONEGOOD
by Kathy McKean

A fierce, inventive play about grief, queer belonging and the seductive danger of anger, as a young gay man reeling from a homophobic attack is drawn towards a group that promises solidarity, protection and pride but edges ever closer to extremism. Set against the charged atmosphere of bars, marches and street violence, the play explores how fear and trauma can be manipulated into hatred, while refusing easy binaries of victim and aggressor. By turns funny, brutal and heartbreaking, it becomes a complex meditation on masculinity, violence, desire and the longing to find safety, love and a place to stand.

MUM, DAD THERE’S SOMETHING I GOT TO TELL YOU
by John Binnie

A witty, raw and theatrically self-aware coming-out story around Colin, a young gay man looking back on the moment he tried to tell his working-class Scottish family the truth about himself. Moving between direct address, family scenes, memory and sharp comic commentary, the play captures the tension between love and incomprehension, as Colin faces prejudice, silence and the limits of what his parents can understand, while refusing to surrender either his humour or his sense of self. A poignant and politically charged portrait of queer self-naming, family fracture and the difficult, necessary act of speaking aloud who you are.

THE FORK
by Ian Brown

Four sharply drawn characters come together in a Glasgow living room for an evening of chips, tea and volatile conversation that exposes the fault lines of queer life, secrecy and survival in 1970s Scotland. As the guarded, lonely Jack brings the outspoken Tom into the home of his friend Maggy, who is spending time with younger, judgmental Sandy, the play unfolds into a tense piece about desire, shame, repression and the different compromises people make in order to live. By turns witty, raw and unexpectedly tender, it reveals the costs of discretion and the wounds of prejudice, while insisting on the fragile dignity of queer connection in a hostile world.

FLICK AND PIE GO FISHING
by Laila Noble

This sharply observed queer relationship drama follows Flick and Pie as a brutal homophobic assault by Pie’s father forces buried tensions to the surface, exposing the different class backgrounds, family loyalties and survival codes that shape their lives together. Moving between flirtatious beginnings, domestic intimacy and a hospital waiting room reckoning, the play balances biting humour with real emotional depth as love is tested by violence, secrecy and the limits of mutual understanding. Tender, funny and painfully honest, it becomes a nuanced portrait of queer partnership, asking whether love alone is enough when the worlds two people come from pull them in different directions.

MOLLY’S COLLAR & TIE
by Christopher Deans

This surreal drama traces a rich, episodic history of queer life in Scotland through a chorus of voices, stories and reclaimed lives, moving from hidden desire and coded encounters to activism, self-invention and hard-won visibility. Blending theatrical biography, oral history and poetic testimony, the play introduces figures including drag performers, lovers, campaigners and pioneers such as Murray Hall and the founders of the Scottish Minorities Group, revealing the courage, humour and resilience that sustained LGBTQ+ lives across generations. By turns celebratory, heartbreaking and defiant, it becomes both an act of remembrance and a stirring tribute to queer survival, community and political awakening.