Following its world première at the Edinburgh Festival a new play from celebrated Scottish playwright Douglas Maxwell, opens at Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
A blistering and timely family drama set in Glasgow; ‘The Whip Hand’ is an explosive new play about power, privilege and our inescapable past.
Dougie is just turned 50 and his family are throwing him a party. But, he’s about to throw them a curveball, and there’s no going back.
He wants to make right a terrible wrong, even if it puts his daughter’s future at risk. However, his motivation may not be as pure as it seems. Will anyone in the family escape the fallout?
Maxwell says: “It’s about a guy asking his family to back him in a scheme that harkens back to Scotland’s darkest past. It’s about trying to make up for mistakes and trying to move on. It’s about class, ignorance and race. It starts off fast and funny but soon roars off into something unstoppable as the family is ripped apart at the seams.
It’s an honour to have the production in Birmingham. I love the city and the theatre and I hope that the play grips the audiences here as it did at the Edinburgh Fringe.”
Directed by Tessa Walker, ‘The Whip Hand,’ which is presented by Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Traverse Theatre Company, in association with National Theatre of Scotland, is at The Rep between Tuesday 5 and Saturday September 16?
