7:84

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7:84 is a Scottish left-wing agitprop theatre group, which has produced pro-independence work. The name comes from a statistic, published in The Economist in 1966, that 7% of the population of the UK owned 84% of the state's wealth.

The group was originally founded by playwright John McGrath in 1971, and operated throughout Great Britain. In 1973, it split into 7:84 (England) and 7:84 (Scotland). The English group folded in 1984, having lost its grant from the Arts Council of Great Britain.[1] The Scottish group now faces a similar fate, having lost its funding from the Scottish Arts Council in 2006. Current Artistic Director Lorenzo Mele successfully secured funding for a further year from April 2007.[2] He subsequently commissioned a series of four plays, Wound by Nicola McCartney, Eclipse by Haresh Sharma, A Time To Go by Selma Dimitrijevic, and Doch-An-Doris (A Parting Drink) by Linda McLean. Together, these short plays formed Re:Union, a production which toured Scotland in Spring 2007. This was followed in September 2007 by Raman Mundair's The Algebra of Freedom, which also toured extensively throughout Scotland. This production was directed by 7:84's Associate Director, Jo Ronan, and designed by David Sneddon.

Contents

[edit] Touring Productions

Although much of its work centres around outreach projects throughout Scotland, 7:84 is principally known for its touring productions. The following table contains details of all 7:84's major productions that toured nationally.[3]

Show Director Writer Date
The Algebra of Freedom Jo Ronan Raman Mundair 5th September - 6th October 2007
Re:Union Lorenzo Mele & Jo Ronan Selma Dimitrijevic, Nicola McCartney, Linda McLean & Haresh Sharma 11th April - 5th May 2007
Free-Fall Lorenzo Mele Christopher Deans 16th February - 8th April 2006
Borderland Lorenzo Mele Andrew Doyle 22nd September - 5th November 2005
Tipping Point Lorenzo Mele Davey Anderson 6th June - 3rd July 2005
Boiling a Frog Lorenzo Mele Christopher Deans (based on the novel by Christopher Brookmyre) 3rd Feb - 2nd April 2005
Private Agenda Lorenzo Mele N/A 2nd September - 23rd October 2004
Reasons to be Cheerful Stuart Davids Martin McCardie 19th February - 10th April 2004
Gilt Zinnie Harris Stephen Greenhorn, Rona Munro & Isabel Wright 2nd October - 9th November 2003
Can't Pay? Won't Pay! Andy Arnold Dario Fo 6th February - 22nd March 2003
Factory Girls Guy Hollands Frank McGuinness 3rd October - 9th November 2002
Cave Dwellers Gordon Laird Nicola McCartney 14th February - 23rd March 2002
The News at When...? Gordon Laird N/A 23rd November - 22nd December 2001
Marching On Gordon Laird Gary Mitchell 29th March - 12th April 2001
A Little Rain Gordon Laird Peter Arnott 22nd September - 5th November 2005
24 Hours Iain Reekie Frances Corr, Deirdre Heddon, Jess Kerr, Ernie Kyle, Frank Shields, Rhiannon Tise 16th March - 22nd April 2000
Caledonia Dreaming Iain Reekie David Greig 6th June - 19th July 1999 and later revived at the 1999 Edinburgh Festival
Dissent Iain Reekie Stephen Greenhorn 5th November - 6th December 1998
Valley Song Natalie Wilson Athol Fugard 19th May - 14th June 1998
Tongues Andrew Dawson, John Heraghty, Natalie Wilson 11 - 28th February 1997
Angels in America Iain Reekie Tony Kushner 29th March - May 1996
Born Guilty Iain Reekie Peter Sirchrovsky 27th April - 18th June 1995
The Salt Wound Jim Culleton Stephen Greenhorn 21st September - 5th November 1994
The Grapes of Wrath Iain Reekie Frank Galati 25th Feb - 1st March 1994
Twilight Shift Iain Reekie Jackie Kay 6th October - 7th November 1993
Phoenix Iain Reekie Roy MacGregor 11th May - 20th June 1993
Sophocles' Antigone Iain Reekie Dan Taylor 23rd February - 27th March 1993
The Lament for Arthur Cleary Iain Reekie Dermot Bolger 14th October - 21st November 1992
Scotland Matters Iain Reekie John Binnie, Iain Heggie, Liz Lochhead, Ann-Marie Di Mambro, Gurmeet Mattu, Rona Munro & Jimmy Reid 12th May - 6th June 1992
Jump the Life to Come Iain Reekie Noel Greig 6th February - 15th March 1992
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Roanna Benn Ralf Manheim / Bertolt Brecht 4th October - 4th November 1991
Revolting Peasants Gerard Kelly Patricia Prior May 14th - 15th June 1991
Bold Girls Lynne Parker Rona Munro 27th September - 17th November 1990
Govan Stories Roanna Benn 2nd May - 25th May 1990
When The Wind Blows Gerard Kelly Raymond Briggs 25th August - 7th October 1989
Road David Hayman Jim Cartwright 8th May - 3rd June 1989
The Sash Gerard Kelly Hector MacMillan 24th January - 25th April 1989
Long Story Short Finlay Welsh Donald Campbell, James Graham, Tom Leonard, Aonghas Macneacoil, Ann-Marie Di Mambro, Gureet Mattu, Rona Munro, Ricky Ross and Ann Samuel 28th February - 31st March 1989
No Mean City Alex Norton David Hayman 24th May - 16th July 1988
Mairi Mhor - The Woman from Skye John McGrath John McGrath 2nd September - 17th October 1987
The Gorbals Story David Hayman Robert McLeish 6th May - 20th June 1987
There is a Happy Land John McGrath John McGrath 25th April - 7th June 1986
Beneath One Banner David Maclennan Sean McCarthy 13th February - 5th April 1986
The Incredible Brechin Beetle Bug John Haswell Matt McGinn 3rd December - 16th January 1986
High Places John Haswell Ena Lamont Stewart 13th March - 16th May 1985
The Albannach Finlay Welsh John McGrath 28th February - 26th April 1985
In Time of Strife David Hayman Joe Corrie 7th May - 15th June 1984
The Baby and the Bathwater John Haswell John McGrath 19th October - 8th December 1984
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists David Hayman Archie Hind 8th May - 9th June 1984
The Clydebuilt Season 10th February - 15th May 1982
Gold in his Boots John McGrath George Munro
Johnny Noble David Scose Ewan McColl
Men Should Weep Giles Havergal Ena Lamont Stewart
The Catch John McGrath John McGrath 15th August - 7th November 1981
Blood Red Roses John McGrath John McGrath 18th August - 8th November 1980
Swings and Roundabouts 26th John McGrath John McGrath February - 22nd March 1980
Joe's Drum Campbell Morrison John McGrath 21st May - 22nd June 1979
Thought for Today David Maclennan Company collaboration 10th February - 16th March 1977
Honour Your Partners David Maclennan David Maclennan 27th January - April 10th 1976
Little Red Hen John McGrath John McGrath 16th September - 13th December 1975
The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil John McGrath John McGrath 31st March - June 1973

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ BBC NEWS | Scotland | Funding axed for theatre company
  2. ^ BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Glasgow and West | Reprieve for 7:84 theatre company
  3. ^ See archives at http://www.784theatre.com/

[edit] External links

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