Liz Lochhead

Four British plays deal with a poet and her mother, a family's breakdown in communication, a woman who literally wrestles with her problems, and the interaction of a group of office workers

Liz Lochhead is one of the country’s leading poets. Her work has paved the way and inspired some of the most inspirational voices writing in Scotland today, including Ali Smith, Kathleen Jamie, Jackie Kay and Carol Ann Duffy. In A Handsel, the first new poems from Scotland’s second modern Makar since 2016’s Fugitive Colours, the poet celebrates people and those small momentous moments that encapsulate so much of her work. It is human relationships that sit at the heart of these poems; each one is a beautifully realised snapshot that explores the poet’s past, her friendships and revisits favourite characters from earlier collections. This landmark publication collects for the first time the poetry of Liz Lochhead. Bringing work back into print, this collected poems publishes all of the poet’s collections, presented in their entirety: Memo for Spring, Islands, The Grimm Sisters, Dreaming Frankenstein, The Colour of Black and White and Fugitive Colours, as well as poems from Bagpipe Muzak and True Confessions.

This is an exclusive limited edition with a preface by Liz Lochhead and a new introduction by Ali Smith. Liz Lochhead is one of the leading poets writing in Britain today. This, her debut collection, published in 1972, was a landmark publication. Writing at a time when the landscape of Scottish poetry was male dominated, hers was a new voice, tackling subjects that resonated with readers – as it still does. Her poetry paved the way, and inspired, countless new voices including Ali Smith, Kathleen Jamie, Jackie Kay and Carol Ann Duffy. Still writing and performing today, fifty years on from her first book of poetry, Liz Lochhead has been awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and was Scotland’s second modern Makar, succeeding Edwin Morgan. Memo for Spring is accessible, vital and always as honest as it is hopeful. Driving through this collection are themes of pain, acceptance, loss and triumph.

In the seventies and eighties, The Lost Poets – Ron Butlin, Andrew Greig, Liz Lochhead and Brian McCabe, with musician James Hutcheson – were Scotland’s reply to the Liverpool Poets. For many years they were regulars on the Edinburgh Fringe and elsewhere. With their unique blend of poetry and music they proved to be an inspiration for much of today’s spoken-word movement. Each of them went on to highly successful careers as novelists, playwrights and visual artists, as well as continuing to publish poetry. This collection celebrates The Lost Poets’ work and contains new as well as previously published work

‘Why do folk not, ever, catch on to themselves?… Ach, gies you another interesting nutter to play.’ Welcome to Paris at the time of Louis XIV. Come backstage and meet the King’s theatre company – a troupe of grandes dames, old hams, ingénues and, of course, their leading man, author of their dramas and cause of all their troubles... thon man Molière. Under constant threat of debtors’ prison, in big bother with church and state and – worst of all – disastrously in love, Molière writes brilliant, scurrilous comedies inspired by a desperate life. But telling the truth is a dangerous business and his latest drama could be the death of him… Liz Lochhead's play Thon Man Molière was first performed at the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh in 2016, in a production starring Jimmy Chisholm and Siobhan Redmond. ‘I was so moved by this play, which surprised me, as I had expected a knockabout comedy. Don’t get me wrong, it was funny. But I hadn’t expected the tenderness and emotional complexity. The bond – eternal, exasperated, essential – between Molière and Madeleine is the core of the piece, but all of these characters seem every bit as human and deep and strange and needy as theatre people always are.’ David Greig, Artistic Director of the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh

This stunning collection features never before published work along with poems written during her time as Scots Makar, and marks the end of her term as Scotland's Poet Laureate (2011-2016). Whether commissioned works, such as 'Connecting Cultures', written for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 or more personal works, 'Favourite Place', about holidays in the west coast with her late husband, this collection is beautiful, sensitive and brilliant. Throughout her career Liz Lochhead has been described variously as a poet, feminist-playwright, translator and broadcaster but has said that 'when somebody asks me what I do I usually say writer. The most precious thing to me is to be a poet. If I were a playwright, I'd like to be a poet in the theatre.'

Five plays from the the makar (national poet) of Scotland, one of the country’s best-known (and best-loved) living playwrights. Liz Lochhead is the author of many highly inventive original plays, adaptations and translations, all crafted with her special blend of the vividly colloquial and the energetically poetic. This volume brings together five of her best original plays ranging over three decades and several, contrasting styles. Her first play, Blood and Ice (1982), is about the creation of Frankenstein, and weaves a spider’s web of connections between the literary monster and Mary Shelley’s own turbulent life. The modern classic Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off (1987) retells the familiar tale of enmity between Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, with Lochhead’s own brand of ferocious iconoclasm and boundless wit. Quelques Fleurs (1991) is a portrait of a marriage, both funny and tragic, and told through interlaced monologues. The last two plays, Perfect Days (1998) and Good Things (2004), mark a woman’s fear of turning, respectively, forty and fifty. In the first, Barbs, 39, a celebrity hairdresser, determines to do something to drown out the ticking of her biological clock. In the second, Susan, 49, sets out to find love the second (or is it third or fourth?) time round… This rich collection of plays carries a new and candid introduction by the author, specially written for the volume. ‘Funny, feisty, female, full of feeling… Liz Lochhead possesses the deeply Scottish qualities of independence, inquisitiveness and inventiveness’ Carol Ann Duffy

During her career Liz Lochhead has been described variously as a poet, feminist playwright, translator and broadcaster but has said that 'when somebody asks me what I do I usually say writer. The most precious thing to me is to be a poet. If I were a playwright, I'd like to be a poet in the theatre.' Liz Lochhead has a large and devoted audience and delights audiences where she goes.

Renowned poet and dramatist Liz Lochhead tells the story of Frankenstein's creation. Summer 1816. A house party on the shores of Lake Geneva. Eighteen-year-old Mary and her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, along with Mary's half-sister Claire and the infamous Lord Byron, take part in a challenge to see who can write the most horrifying story. Mary's contribution is to become one of the most celebrated Gothic novels of all time. Using flashbacks and the rich poetic language for which she has become admired, Lochhead weaves a spider's web of connections between Mary's own tragic life and that of her literary monster. Liz Lochhead's play Blood and Ice was first performed at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 1982. It was later revived, in a revised version, by David McVicar at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1988, and subsequently toured by McVicar's company, Pen Name. It was again revived, in this published version, at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, in October 2003. As Lochhead writes in the Introduction to this revised version of the play, the myth created by Mary Shelley 'remains potent for our nuclear age, our age of astonishment and unease at the fruits of perhaps-beyond-the-boundaries genetic experimentation'.

A modern classic about the bitter rivalry between Mary, Queen of Scots, and her cousin and fellow ruler, Elizabeth I of England - retold by Scotland's most popular playwright. 'Once upon a time, there were twa queens on the wan green island, and the wan green island was split inty twa kingdoms. But no equal kingdoms...' Mary and Elizabeth are two women with much in common, but more that sets them apart. Following the death of her husband, the Dauphin of France, the beautiful, and staunchly Catholic Mary Stuart has returned from France to rule Scotland, a country she neither knows nor understands. Ill-prepared to rule in her own right, Mary has failed to learn what her protestant cousin, Elizabeth Tudor, knows only too well - that a queen must rule with her head, not her heart. All too soon the stage is set for a deadly endgame in which there can only be one winner and one queen on the one green island. Liz Lochhead's play Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off is presented in a distinctive cabaret style, with much of the dialogue in the 'Braid Scots' vernacular. It was first performed by the Communicado Theatre Company at the Lyceum Studio Theatre, Edinburgh, in August 1987. This revised version was published alongside the revival by the National Theatre of Scotland, which toured in 2009. Also included is a new introduction by the author.

A dark and wickedly funny farce about one man's twisted attempts to find a woman he can control completely. Adapted from Molière's classic comedy The School for Wives by Liz Lochhead, 'Scotland's greatest living dramatist' (Scotland on Sunday). He's old, rich and determined to find the perfect wife. She's young, innocent and in debt to him. He'll have her by any means possible... 'Wives like your one, those with all the smarts, The ballbreakers, they're the ones to break our hearts... So pick a simple girl - it's not rocket science!' Liz Lochhead's play Educating Agnes was first staged by Theatre Babel at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, in 2008.

A bittersweet romantic comedy about finding love later in life, from 'Scotland's greatest living dramatist' Scotland on Sunday. Suddenly single and with the dreaded 'Big Five-0' staring her in the face, Susan also has to cope with a father in his second childhood, a daughter in the throes of aggravated adolescence and an ex who, unfortunately, still has the power to wound... Set in the charity shop where Susan is a volunteer, Good Things is a poignant, hilarious play with a lot to say about finding love the second (or third or fourth) time. It was conceived by Lochhead as a loosely thematic sequel to her earlier play Perfect Days (Traverse Theatre, 1998). Liz Lochhead's Good Things was first performed by Borderline Theatre Company, in association with the Byre Theatre, St Andrews and Perth Theatre, at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow in September 2004, prior to an extensive national tour.

The ancient myths of the Kingdom of Thebes, re-told by Scotland's foremost poet/dramatist. Following her award-winning Medea (Scottish Book of the Year 2001), Liz Lochhead revisits the Greek classics in a startlingly timely re-telling of the stories of Oedipus, Jokasta and Antigone. Liz Lochhead's Thebans was first performed at the Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, in August 2003, as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Two plays from Molière, by 'Scotland's greatest living dramatist' (Scotland on Sunday). Miseryguts is a Scots version of Molière's Le Misanthrope, a bitter comedy about a worldly sophisticate who cannot help telling uncomfortable truths about his fellow men – and women, with one of whom, despite himself, he is deeply and painfully in love. In this Scots version of Molière's play, Liz Lochhead transposes the action of the play into the world of media and politics in 21st-century, devolved Scotland, allowing for a rich seam of contemporary satire. Miseryguts was first performed in March 2002 at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. Tartuffe is a rollicking Scots version of Molière's comic masterpiece. Lochhead brings out Molière's mix of political satire and black comedy as the religious hypocrite, Tartuffe, worms his way into Orgon's household. Liz Lochhead's version is written in a robust Scots dialect, while retaining the rhyming couplet form of the French original. It was first performed in January 1986 at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh.

MACCAIG * MORGAN * LOCHHEADThis book contains a selection of the finest work from three of Scotland's best-known and best-loved poets: Norman MacCaig, Edwin Morgan and Liz Lochhead. They have fascinated and charmed thousands of readers and listeners across Europe and America with the energy, humour and compassion of their vision. MacCaig's memorable celebrations of the physical world and the tragic-comic note of many of his short lyrics contrast strikingly with Morgan's poems on the modern world and city life. Liz Lochhead writes with an alert and sensitive eye on personal relationships and women's experience of them. The book provides an invaluable introduction to modern Scottish poetry and to the poets who are arguably its greatest practitioners.

A funny, sad and truthful romantic comedy about beating the biological clock. Barbs Marshall is a celebrity hairdresser in Glasgow. She is successful and well off, but she is 39 years old and almost deafened by the ticking of her biological clock. To make matters worse, her mother is a nag, her best friend is holding out on her, and her ex husband has a new 22 year old girlfriend. Then she meets a 26 year old stranger who seems more than ready to oblige. But the complications are by no means over... Liz Lochhead's play Perfect Days was first performed in August 1998 at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, winning a Fringe First Award. The production was revived at Hampstead Theatre, London, in January 1999 and then transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End in June 1999. 'People seldom write life style comedies like Perfect Days for the stage anymore. The last scene has jokes so marvellous that they are greeted by rounds of applause as one blinks back the odd tear' — Financial Times 'The mix of pithy patter and heartwrenching poignancy works a treat' — The Times 'A huge popular hit' — Daily Mail Edinburgh Fringe First Award