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I am delighted to announce that my new play, “The Empty Charcoal Box” will open the new season at Oran Mor on Monday August 28th.

“It all started with the empty Charcoal Box. But that’s not where it started for Eddie. For Eddie, it started with Sonja Kristina……”

“The Empty Charcoal Box” is the tragi-comic story of how a long-hidden event of extreme violence 45 years ago has haunted  the lives of  three  Ayrshire Schoolboys ever since. A contemporary crisis  mean that  Billy, Eddie and Deansy are finally forced to confront that age old question which determines our path to wisdom: Should we look backwards to try undo our mistakes, or forwards and try not to repeat them?

The play will be directed by myself and will  feature three of Scotland’s most talented actors, Ryan Fletcher, James McKenzie and Gavin Jon Wright.

The play will use sound, movement and live  music to tell this darkly comic tale of guilt,  retribution and rebirth. Amongst others it features the work of Curved Air, Pink Floyd, John Kongos, Sham 69 and The Ramones.

Ryan Fletcher  has most recently been seen on the stage as Phil McCann in “Cuttin’ A Rug” at the Citizens and in “Milk” at The Traverse, and has appeared in “River City” , “Gary Tank Commander” and “The Limmy Show” on the small screen.

Gavin Jon Wright  is just back from the US tour of “Titus” where he played the title role. He played “Spud” in Trainspotting at The Citizens, and features in the role of  Hugh Kirk  in the recent three part ITV  Drama “In Plain Sight”.

James McKenzie  was last seen onstage at the Oran Mor and The Traverse as John Wilkes Booth in  “His Final  Bow” . He also appeared in the NTS production “Rites”  and will be familiar to “River City” fans for his role as  Gary Trenton.

The play runs from August 28th till September 2nd.

Full programming  and booking details here at  Play, Pie & Pint