Six of the best as Gordon unveils his latest dramas set on Arran
Arran-born author and playwright Gordon MacLeod has released his latest book, entitled
Arran Dramas. The book, a compilation of five dramatic works, features three plays for stage performance, one for radio broadcast and one for the screen.
The title is because all five works are set on Arran, so for some there will be many familiar places, but absolutely no familiar faces to read about.
Through his work, he hopes the plays will primarily entertain, while conveying a little of the beauty, history and life of the island and its people.
When asked what influenced him to write these new works and of their subject matter, Gordon, who now lives in Southport, said: ‘The book contains several dedications to people who have had a significant role in my life and, unusually for me, I even start this one with an introduction to try to give some insights that might go some way towards answering that question. In terms of the five works, they range from crime through to the supernatural, but they also provide a social commentary on anything from the structures that exist in society and the way it is ordered, through to some serious questions about how some issues are dealt within our contemporary society’.
One of the shorter works in the book, a one-act play, he has dedicated to the Isle of Arran Drama Association, in recognition of the part they play in bringing entertainment through their annual drama festival to the island. In the introduction to his works, he acknowledges that the island has a very rich heritage of the performing arts.
Speaking about the cover of his book, which was designed by his sister Elaine Campbell, who also designed the cover to his previous novel
Carrot Toppers, Gordon said: ‘Given my affection for all things Arran, and particularly all things Machrie, I was even more delighted to find the cover of my new book features the Standing Stones in Machrie.
‘Although Elaine is probably better known nowadays for her work for the Douglas Hotel, she is an immensely talented textile designer and I am indebted to her for giving of her skills to the cover design of this book’.
Gordon has previously written five novels that have been published, three of these being set on the island. The first, Silicon Glen, was published by Tartan Moon in 2009. Last year his novel about austerity, Carrot Toppers, was released on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle formats.
As for future work, he says: ‘Scottish drama and novels do not seem to curry much favour with the literary and dramatic world at the moment, and, although not all my work is based in Scotland, I’ll continue to write about how I view the world and, given Arran played by far the biggest part in my upbringing, if my writing keeps drawing me back there and to Scotland, then so be it. I can think of no finer place or people in the world I would want to be associated with’.
Arran Dramas is available from the Amazon bookstore in paperback and from all good bookshops.