I set off for Edinburgh with contained excitement; I am going to see the development piece of Cora Bissett’s (director of Roadkill) latest work Glasgow Girls. Having heard various elements of its progress over the past few months, I’m looking forward to seeing something special.
Mobilising a community to take action
I have to confess – I have high expectations. Glasgow Girls is based on the lives of a group of young women, refugees and local Scots whose activism revealed the poor treatment of asylum seekers in Glasgow. Specifically the use of dawn raids, which wrenched families, including children, out of their beds in the early hours of the morning to take them to detention centres.
The Glasgow girls, along with their community, didn’t just reveal the poor treatment; they campaigned for it to end. They hounded politicians, challenged authorities, set up dawn watches and made a difference.
Film clips, song and talented actors bring the harsh reality to life
At the theatre I meet with the real Glasgow Girls and we sit down with heightened anticipation at what‘s about to unfold on stage. Cora sets the scene using clips from the BBC documentary that had been taken at the time. The harsh reality that people faced is before our eyes – a girl and her family taken away; pupils turning up at school wondering where their friends had gone; a school and then a community mobilised into action at this injustice.
Cora introduces the ‘Glasgow Girls’ on stage and these actors are charged with emotion as they sing a series of songs giving voice to the sentiment and feeling at the times; this can only be conveyed in song. They sing about being young people trying to change things, about politicians who have not delivered what they promised and about whether people like them could be happy.
A celebration and testament to these incredible young women
I sit watching with the real Glasgow Girls with tears streaming down my face; I cannot help but be impressed at the inspiring, young women they have become. Glasgow Girls is a celebration, a testament of what these young women have achieved. The circumstances that propelled these women to take action still feel so relevant today.
There is so much for people to enjoy in Glasgow Girls, the story, the passion, the music and the people. My expectations have been surpassed and I eagerly await the complete show to be finished.
