Glasgow Girls
Theatre Production
Director and Composer
Book by David Greig
Songs by Patricia Panther, MC Soom T and John Kielty
★★★★★
“The most politically engaged and enraged British musical since Blood Brothers, but it is even more raw and heartbreaking because it is entirely true.”
- The Sunday Express
The life-affirming Scottish musical drama, based on the true story of seven feisty Glaswegian teenagers whose lives change forever when their school friend and her asylum-seeking family are forcibly taken from their home to be deported.
The ‘Glasgow Girls’ are galvanised to fight for her rights, inspiring a whole community to unite behind its residents.
Edinburgh Fringe sell-out 2016.
Winner of Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award.
Photo by Andrew Wilson
Photo by Andrew Wilson
Photo by Andrew Wilson
Photo by Andrew Wilson
Photo by Andrew Wilson
Photo by Andrew Wilson
Photo by Andrew Wilson
Photo by Andrew Wilson
Photo by Andrew Wilson
Photo by Andrew Wilson
★★★★★
“Staged and performed with an integrity that makes it the most politically engaged and enraged British musical since Blood Brothers, but it is even more raw and heartbreaking because it is entirely true.”
- Sunday Express
★★★★
“The kind of explosion of great popular theatre that every city and every nation needs, from time to time, to remind it of what it is, and what it might become.”
- The Scotsman
★★★★
”The Girls just bounce out of their skins with a barn-storming hope and determination”
- The Herald
★★★★
“The writer and director of Glasgow Girls have hit on something involving and immediate. And it is this reaction that ultimately feels most rewarding.”
- TVBomb
★★★★
”Glasgow Girls undoes the spin and biases which surround the issue of asylum, smoothing them into a pleasing love letter to our great city, the communities who built it and the new faces who will continue to help it grow.”
- WhatsOnStage
★★★★
”The last third of the show makes for a devastatingly of-the-moment piece of political theatre.”
- The Herald
★★★★
“Awe inspiring”
- Time Out
★★★★
”An irresistible tribute to the power of friendship and community while also packing a fearless political punch.”
- The List
★★★★
“The spirit of Joan Littlewood is surely looking down.”
- Evening Standard
★★★★★
“The show makes bold statements politically and theatrically, and would be the perfect new kid on the block in London’s West End. It would be a crime to miss this show.”
- Fourth Wall Magazine
★★★★
”There can be little doubt that Bissett and co have created a significant milestone in Scottish musical theatre.”
- The Telegraph
★★★★
“True raw power”
- Metro
★★★★
“Strong, gritty, street-wise and unashamedly polemical”
- One Stop Arts
“A sense that sometimes a musical can make a difference.”
- The Observer
★★★★
”sweeps the audience along on a tide of politically charged fun.”
- All Edinburgh Theatre
★★★★★
“Genuinely moving and inspiring. Utterly unmissable.”
The Public Reviews
Trailer for UK Tour
In the media
Article in The Sunday Post, Glasgow Girls asylum seeker campaigner urges teenagers to raise their voices
Photo by Wattie Cheung
It’s No a Wean’s Choice performed by Terry Neason and the the cast of Glasgow Girls. Clip from BBC Arts
Photo: BBC
Cora talks to The National
“I feel the story has a whole new fresh resonance just because of everything that has been happening around it,” says Bissett.
Article in the Daily Record, Director Cora Bissett tells a true tale of protest in her latest play
Photo: Sunday Mail
The Magnificent Seven - Cora talks to The Herald about Glasgow Girls
Cora talks to the Daily Record
Glasgow Girls director Cora Bissett tells how return of musical based on immigration characterises city's friendly culture
Education Pack
Download the Glasgow Girls Education Pack, facilitated by Graham Leadbitter with additional material by Cora Bissett, Craig Deans, Ronan Dockrell, Julie Petrie and Benjamin Thomas White.
The Education Pack has been designed with students who study Drama, Modern Studies and/or RME.
Cast
2019
Callum Cuthbertson
Chiara Sparkes
Sophia Lewis
Terry Neason
Stephanie McGregor
Shannon Swan
Kara Swinney
Aryana Ramkhalawon
Patricia Panther
Laura Jane Wilkie
Original
Callum Cuthbertson
Amiera Darwish
Roanna Davidson
Myra McFadyen
Stephanie McGregor
Amaka Okafor
Dawn Sievewright
Frances Thorburn
Patricia Panther
Laura Jane Wilkie
Creative Team
Book by David Greig
Director and Composer Cora Bissett
Composers Kielty Brothers, MC Soom T, Patricia Panther
Musical Arrangements Hilary Brooks
Musical Director 2016 Gavin Whitworth
Additional Musical Arrangements Mikey J. Asante
Set Design & Costume Updates 2016 Jessica Brettle
Original Set & Costume Design Merle Hensel
Choreographer Natasha Gilmore
Lighting Designer Lizzie Powell
Sound Designer Garry Boyle
Associate Choreographer Jade Adamson
Previous Performances
Citizens Theatre, Glasgow 2012, 2014, 2016
Theatre Royal Stratford East, London 2013, 2016
The Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock 2016, 2017
Assembly Hall, Edinburgh Edinburgh Festival 2016
Oxford Playhouse, Oxford 2016
Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling 2016
Liverpool Playhouse, Liverpool 2017
The MAC, Belfast 2017
Kings Theatre, Glasgow 2019
Kings Theatre, Edinburgh 2019
Originally produced by National Theatre of Scotland, Theatre Royal Stratford East in association with Richard Jordan Productions. Subsequent tours from 2014-2019 produced by Raw Material.