Nine Dundee Rep Youth Theatre actors are preparing to tread the boards in two connected plays about gang violence.
Set on the streets of Glasgow and based on classical Greek drama, Paddy Cuneen’s award-winning plays Fleeto and Wee Andy explore the lure of brotherhood offered by gang culture.
The young Dundee actors will swell the ranks of the cast and take on the roles of gang members when the plays come to the Rep.
“I wanted to write something about the issue but I don’t know a great deal about gangs myself, never having been in one or the victim of crime,” Paddy said.
“One of the things about being in a gang in a modern city must be something like being in a Greek or Trojan army. In the Iliad, it was basically gang warfare.
“I felt there were striking parallels with the Greek tragedy, where somebody may be feeling alienated in an urban environment and find a sense of belonging in a gang.”
Inspired by The Iliad, Fleeto tells the story of a young lad who falls in with a gang when his friend is stabbed. His revenge brings disaster on himself and the family of his victim.
Paddy took Fleeto to be performed in workshops at Polmont Young Offenders’ Institute and out of that, Wee Andy was born.
“They were very interested in the character of Wee Andy in Fleeto,” Paddy explained. I took that to continue the story.”
Wee Andy depicts the fallout of those picking up the pieces as another young lad is attacked by a knife gang. In both plays, Paddy has taken Glasgow street talk and set it to Shakespearian styles of speech.
“It’s a fantastically powerful driving force and the Glasgow-speak fits perfectly,” he said.
“It gives it drive and menace. It gives a sense of it being language, rather than just cursing and expletives.”
While the productions dissect gang violence and highlight the social inequality behind much of that culture, Paddy stressed they offer no solution.
“I’m not someone who is qualified to examine social issues,” he said.
“What I am qualified to do is portray them on stage.”
Fleeto and Wee Andy run at the Rep on Tuesday, starting at 7.30pm. Tickets are from £12 to £16. For more information visit dundeerep.co.uk.