The Cheviot / The Stag and the Black / Black Oil

An exuberant ＂Ceilidh＂ play with scenes songs and music of Highland history from the clearances to the oil strike

John Peter McGrath, (1935-2002), was a Liverpudlian playwright of Irish descent, best known for his work with the 7:84 theatre company. His most successful play, The Cheviot, the Stage and the Black, Black Oil (1973) tells the story of the clearance of the Scottish highlands, first for grazing, then shooting and finally for oil. Indeed, McGrath took up the cause of Scottish independence as a focus of his writing, placing the issue hand in hand with his efforts at a popular, radical theatre.

Upon McGrath’s death at the age of 67 Michael Billington wrote: ＂no one since Joan Littlewood did more to advance the cause of popular theatre in Britain than John McGrath＂.