Which theatre is the most prolific producer of new plays in the UK? The Royal Court, perhaps? The Bush? The National? The Drum in Plymouth? The Arcola in east London? In fact it's none of these. The title is held by a pub theatre in the West End of Glasgow – Òran Mór – which this year alone premieres 37 new plays in full productions under the banner of A Play, a Pie and a Pint.
Since 2004, David MacLennan (founder member of legendary Scottish companies 7:84 and Wildcat) has been serving up A Play, a Pie and a Pint in Òran Mór's cavernous basement. Delivering exactly what it says on the tin, MacLennan and his crack team run each new play for a week of lunchtime performances, with a free pie and pint thrown in with a £10 ticket. From comedies and tragedies to monologues and musicals, A Play, a Pie and a Pint has it all. Luminaries such as David Greig, Gregory Burke and Liz Lochhead sit alongside first-time writers. Novelists Louise Welsh and Alan Bissett were tempted into writing their debut plays for the tiny subterranean stage. Famous faces such as Robbie Coltrane and Elaine C Smith adorn the walls in photos of past productions. Scotland's national critics tuck in a serviette every Monday lunchtime.
As MacLennan tells it, the concept was slow to catch on. But A Play, a Pie and a Pint is now part of Glasgow legend, packing in 150 people per performance, six times a week, week-in, week-out, for the duration of a 37-play season. What's so brilliant is how simply it breaks down barriers. It's rooted at the heart of a community. It's cheap, quick and at an accessible time of day. You get an excuse for a drink at lunchtime, the pies are superb, and the atmosphere is social, informal and welcoming. You sit at tables to eat your lunch while you're entertained. MacLennan himself introduces every play, every day. Putting a face to the project in such an informal setting is key to its success – not only do audiences know who to thank after the show, they know who to berate when they don't like what's served. And they do say what they think – vociferously, because they feel such ownership in return for their loyalty.
Naturally, there are artistic limitations: each play must be 45 minutes long and can have a maximum of three actors. The performance space doubles as a nightclub, gig and comedy venue, so the set is taken down every day to make way for Biffy Clyro or Emmy the Great or whoever is arriving to play that evening. But practical limitations can be the key to realising artistic freedom. In our season of five co-productions with MacLennan last year at Paines Plough, there was something magical about watching three actors play 20 characters in Linda McLean's The Uncertainty Files, and seeing David Harrower's Good With People excavate the history of a momentous relationship through the minutiae of innocuous conversation, like a theatrical version of a Carver short story.
Perhaps most impressive of all is that A Play, a Pie and a Pint is an entirely commercial operation. It receives no subsidy at all, albeit with proportional rates of pay agreed with the Scottish Unions and some sponsorship income from Heineken and the Glasgow Evening Times. Yet it takes enough at the box office to pay for the work it makes. That's an inspiration, and a gauntlet to the subsidised sector in these troubled times to believe and invest in new plays.
This week we're opening the first of three world premiere co-productions with Òran Mór. Since the 1970s Paines Plough has been fortunate enough to co-produce with many of the UK's new writing powerhouses, including the Drum, the Bush, Soho Theatre, Watford Palace, the Traverse, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, Birmingham Rep and Manchester Royal Exchange. And for the third year running we're proud to be a part of the biggest annual season of new plays in the UK (perhaps the world?).
Beyond Glasgow, we're using our reach as a touring company to take these three new plays by Katie Douglas, David Watson and Leo Butler to Edinburgh, Manchester and Coventry. We hope their success will see the unique ethos of A Play, a Pie and a Pint adopted far and wide.
