I remember hearing recently about asylum seekers being moved from refugee camps in the South of England to live in Scotland and worrying that they had been brought to a country which didn’t speak English because they couldn’t understand the Scottish accent. This anecdote sprang to my mind as soon as Glasgow Girls opened on the stage of the Oxford Playhouse with a group of girls arriving in Glasgow from various conflict-torn regions across the world – Iraq, Kosovo, Somalia. Their stories are little snapshots which thrust us – a primarily white, middle-class Oxford audience – into the minds and lives of people who know what it’s like to live as ‘others’, outsiders with no stability, knowing that every moment a knock on the door could tear apart their fragile existence.
Glasgow Girls tells the story of what it’s like to be an immigrant in a strange place, somewhere you’ve never even heard of. The girls of the play arrive in Glasgow and are allowed to live there for most of their teenage years, so by the time the knocks of the Border Control enforcers come to their doors, they’ve come to think of Scotland as home. When one of their number is threatened with deportation back to her home country, despite the potential danger to her and her family, the girls band together to take action against injustice, fighting all the way to Holyrood and Westminster.
Glasgow Girls is a politically-charged play, but it’s not worthy or preachy. It wears its political agenda lightly in the midst of laughter and music – my favourite song was ‘It’s No a Wean’s Choice’ – and the high energy level of the cast enervates the audience with an infectious sense of solidarity. By the end, we feel that we could take on the Home Office over the deportation of asylum seekers. This positivity of spirit is what makes the play so compelling.
It’s also wonderful to see a play with so many roles for young women; Glasgow Girls feels like the kind of theatre that gives a voice to the unheard, but it also empowers young women to feel free to be vocal, to know that speaking out can make a difference. The entire play passes the Bechdel test – I don’t expect many plays, books, films, or TV shows in which the main characters are teenage girls could make that boast!
I loved this play. I laughed a lot, but also found myself welling up at points. The company are taking it on a fairly short tour, so try and see it at the Oxford Playhouse this week if you can – you won’t regret it! ★★★★★ @BookingAround 8th September 2016
Production photography by Andrew Wilson
