Passing places (October 2006)

NLP Theatre Company cast members at Stonelaw High School
 

In October 2006 NLP Theatre Company performed Stephen Greenhorns "Road Movie for The Stage" Passing Places, in theatre venues and schools across Glasgow.

The performances were accompanied by specially devised drama workshops, which helped to develop the pupils understanding of the themes throughout the play and the issues and trends associated with Scottish contemporary theatre.

Passing Places proved to be a popular play, especially with the younger generation. It tells the story of two twenty something guys, Alex and Brian from Motherwell who are going nowhere. 

Until Alex unfairly gets the sack from the sports shop where he works and, in a moment of drunken retribution, 'borrows' a surfboard from the shop, a clapped-out Lada from Brian's brother, press gangs Brian into joining him, and heads for Thurso - Surf Capital of the North!

But this particular surfboard happens to be the prized possession of the shop's owner, the psychopathic gangster, Mr. Binks. And no sooner does Binks discover the theft than he dons the leathers, kick starts the Suzuki - and begins an epic pursuit.

En route to Thurso, travelling the winding single track roads, Alex and Brian expect to encounter the Scotland of the history books. Instead, they discover a Scotland they never knew existed. There's both culture, castles and ceilidhs, spectacular landscapes, right enough; but digital crofters, Heilan' hippies, mystic surf gurus, installation artists, Ukrainian mariners and Canadian geologists? Where did they come from?

"It's a 100 miles an hour rip-roaring ride through the vagaries of Scottish identity and culture."
The Guardian

"One of the most entertaining and enjoyable plays of modern times."
Perthshire Advertiser

"A real treat of substantial yet light-touch comedy, for any audience interested in the times we live in."
The Scotsman

"Full of tremendous gags and cartoonish humour."
The Sunday Herald