“I couldn’t imagine it not being here,” says Diane Carroll, who has worked at the ticket desk for A Play, a Pie and a Pint at the Òran Mór in Glasgow since it opened its doors in 2004. As she assists those who are queueing for the show it becomes clear what they have come early for: a cart of fresh, steaming pies makes its way down to the venue with them.
A Play, a Pie and a Pint, a lunchtime theatre event in the historic building in the city’s West End, is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
It was launched by the renowned theatre-maker David MacLennan with the idea of “a new play at lunchtime every week lasting no more than an hour, accompanied by a pie and a pint” and has played host to famous names including Robbie Coltrane, Karen Dunbar and Mel Giedroyc.
It continues to bring in hundreds of customers every lunchtime, Monday to Saturday.
Carroll points out a group of regular customers who have been coming to the shows since they started 20 years ago. Ann Chisholm and Joan McLean meet every Wednesday for a lunchtime performance. They first came along to see the likes of Elaine C Smith on stage and say the weekly play became a perfect place to keep up their social lives, while supporting local talent.
“It’s a great thing to start [going to] … It’s often the same people that come on the same day every week,” says Chisholm.
The event has an unusual turnaround, with a new play setting up each week. Actors and theatre crew only have two weeks’ rehearsal before their week on the stage.
Carroll says, despite relying on its loyal regulars, it still brings in people who have never been before.
Jude and Jonny Thomson came along to their first show to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.
“It’s well known everywhere and has a good reputation of being a good place to come and do something different,” says Jonny.
With almost every seat full at a Wednesday lunchtime, it’s easy to forget that A Play, a Pie and a Pint is facing similar struggles to theatres across Scotland, with venues such as the Brunton in Musselburgh, Edinburgh’s Summerhall and the Citizens in Glasgow under threat.
Customers are reminded before the play starts that there is a donation box at the back of the venue should they want to help the world-famous event continue.
The artistic director, Brian Logan, says the announcement is new to the welcome speech as a way to gain some extra support. “It doesn’t feel like PPP is going to fold, but it does feel like for PPP to put itself on sounder footing we desperately need a bit more money,” he says.
“The crisis elsewhere with the arts funding has made PPP even more essential than it was before.”
The actor Colin McCredie has performed in four A Play, a Pie and a Pint runs. While he was not sure in the beginning the concept would be successful, he echoes Logan’s feelings about where it stands in the Scottish theatre industry. “I was quite sceptical, but fair play to Colin Beattie from Òran Mór and David MacLennan that they created this absolutely amazing monster, which has dominated the Scottish art scene since then.
“It’s just so important when theatres are putting on less work and employing less actors and directors and playwrights. It’s a real lifeline.”
Carroll says the connection the event has with its audience could be the key reason for its continuing: “I think some of the audience feel as though they own Play, Pie and a Pint because they’ve been coming for so long. It’s a wonderful thing.”
