The Bookies, a riotous Scots language black comedy, will be making its Edinburgh Fringe debut at Summerhall this August. The play that premiered to great acclaim at Dundee Rep Theatre in May 2022, will be produced by KB Productions 7 co-produced by Virág Tóth for its Edinburgh run. The piece deals with gambling addiction, racism, toxic masculinity and is very much a working-class story.
Here, co-writer Joe McCann discusses how he was determined to revive the play, the origin story of the Bookies and how a conversation with a close family member helped the production come to life.
The Bookies will be performed at Summerhall from August 1st to August 26th (excluding the 12th & 19th). Get your tickets here.
The Bookies is being revived at this year’s Fringe and will go to Summerhall. What can you tell us about the show?
The Bookies is an original black comedy written by two working-class writers, myself & Mikey Burnett. It is and I stress a genuine working-class tale and Mikey and I pride ourselves on attracting our own community to theatre. The play is a four hander, with unique characters who are all attempting to get ahead in the World. The show originally began life as a sitcom that we wrote back in 2007. We fired the pilot off to an agent and she sent to The Comedy Unit. Sadly, they felt it wasn’t ready and had far too much swearing. Mikey and I waited a long time to revisit the play. He had a chat with his friend, Gregory Burke telling him we planned to write a play set in a high street betting shop & Gregory immediately said, “it should be about FOBT machines.” And the FOBT is very much at the heart of our tale. We wrote the script and started shopping it around and we were very grateful that Andrew Panton at Dundee Rep commissioned the piece. The Bookies opened at Dundee Rep in May 2022 and ran for three weeks.
How was the run at Dundee Rep and what are the differences between that show and the version that will be at The Fringe?
I was blown away by the show and it was an absolute privilege to be at The Rep. It’s an iconic theatre and we got to work with some incredible talent. Sally Reid directed with Barrie Hunter , Benji Osouga, Irene McDouggal and Ewan Donald starring. The genius that is Douglas Maxwell dramaturged the piece & he has become a good friend to both Mikey and I. The run went very well, and we drew a great audience.
The stark difference with this new version is it will be a much smaller production but in a very positive sense. In Dundee the show ran at ninety minutes, our Summerhall version will be 75 minutes. I feel that only enhances the piece, the action is relentless, and you get a real sense of the world of a betting shop. Now, we have a new producer and an entirely new production team. It’s all rather exciting.
Tell us about your new creative team?
The piece is produced by the wonderful Kit Bromovsky. She runs the London based production company, KB Productions.
Eleanor Felton will direct the piece. I worked with Eleanor on my solo project, Alföld and when we needed a director for The Bookies, she was the first person I thought of. She’s an amazing talent, a problem solver, who cares deeply about the text and how to get the best out of actors.
Our cast are Rury Murray, Fraser Wood, Dayton Mungai and Francesca Hess. They are all wonderful actors.
Morven McLeod (set & costume designer), Bones (fight coordinator), Lisa Meech (sound design) and Zoe Peebles (our stage manager) have been unbelievable especially as we’ve dealt with very challenging budget constraints.
It is a very young and energetic company who have all worked wonders.
What challenges did you face bringing, The Bookies to stage?
I am not going to lie it has been an incredibly daunting journey. Mikey and I tried to find a producer to take the show to the fringe in 2023 but after a few aborted attempts we gave up. This time we regrouped and were determined to bring the piece to The Fringe. We approached Summerhall and we were very grateful they added us to their excellent curated programme. The next step was finding a producer who was willing to take the show on. We tried everyone we could think of in Scotland but unfortunately, we just couldn’t get it over the line. We then turned our attentions to London and that’s where we found, Kit. She has been an absolute godsend. She read the play and saw the potential of the piece and jumped right on board. She’s helped us navigate some tricky times and found funding for the play.
We also managed to secure a wonderful sponsor in Gamban, thanks to its co-founder Matt Zarb-Cousin.
We still had a significant financial shortfall to get the piece to stage. Again, we tried every avenue we could including Crowdfunder. I spoke to, Virág McCann-Tóth my partner and the one person who I can always rely on and she very generously agreed to pay our shortfall and come on board as a co-producer. We just had a wee boy, Atlas Marlowe McCann in April so it was a wonderful gesture for Viri to commit her money and time to the project. Thankfully the way sales are going, she will get back her investment.
What are your hopes for the play?
First off, my hope is that we attract a significant working-class audience to the show. For my whole writing career, I have endeavoured to tell working class stories that resonate with my own community. Theatre can be far too safe and far too middle class and white; The Bookies is the antithesis of this.
We’ve been blown away by the pre-sales. I would love for the show to have a future life by touring the UK. Mikey always said there is a high street Bookies in every town and city in the UK and Ireland. The FOBT epidemic is destroying people’s lives. It’s a story that should be told far and wide.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see The Bookies?
The Bookies is many things. It is funny, dark, disturbing and very, very Scottish. It’s an original piece of working-class writing that does not fit easily into any box. It is also very audience friendly and very entertaining. It’s laugh out loud funny and a great night at the theatre. The Bookies isn’t just another black comedy at the Fringe. It’s a window into a world that’s often overlooked in theatre – the gritty reality of working-class life (not those just cosplaying as working class), with all its challenges and dark humour. Bringing ‘The Bookies’ to Summerhall and The Fringe feels a bit like coming home. It’s an Edinburgh story set in Leith and we can’t wait for audiences from all over the world to see it.
