Fibres
A Stellar Quines and Citizens Theatre co-production
“We were two weans playing at wee hooses, him in his first job and me being the good wife doing his washing. Now we’re both paying the price.”
Jack is proud of his work at the Clyde shipyards. His wife, Beanie, who is nursing him through asbestosis, thinks he’s a fool. But the real test of their marriage comes when they discover that the dusty overalls Jack brought home to be washed by Beanie, poisoned her too. This isn’t what she thought Jack meant when he promised “what’s mine is yours”.
Meanwhile their daughter, Lucy, attempts to overcome her grief. Will she be held back by her parents’ experience, or will she have the courage to allow romance to blossom with Pete?
Written by award-winning playwright Frances Poet, Fibres is a big-hearted and laugh out loud play about what it means to entwine our lives with another, in sickness and in health. A story told by four characters who show a very Glaswegian resilience and wit, the play asks can we ever cut the cords that bind us and who will catch us if we do?
Cast includes much loved actor Jonathan Watson (Only An Excuse, Two Doors Down, Rab C Nesbitt) and Maureen Carr (‘ugly sister’ Edith in Still Game and baddie Theresa O’Hara in River City).
Stellar Quines is an award-winning organisation whose vision is to be Scotland’s leading touring theatre company, inspiring excellence in women and girls.
Part of our Citizens Women season.
'Beautiful, painful, funny, relateable and heartbreaking' - Audience reactions
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DATES
Date Time Information 17 Oct 6pm Barrowfield Community Centre, book tickets here 18 Oct 2pm Barrowfield Community Centre, book tickets here 19 Oct 8pm Cove Burgh Hall, book tickets here 22 Oct 7.30pm Paisley Arts Centre book tickets through venue 24 Oct 7pm The Pearce Institute, book tickets here Post-show Discussion 25 Oct 7.30pm Beacon Arts Centre, book tickets through venue 26 Oct 7pm St. Francis Community Centre, book tickets here 27 Oct 7pm Barmulloch Community Centre, book tickets here 29 Oct 8pm Traverse Theatre book tickets through venue 30 Oct 8pm Traverse Theatre book tickets through venue 31 Oct 7pm Barlanark Community Centre, book tickets here 1 Nov 7pm Dunoon Burgh Hall, book tickets here 2 Nov 7pm The Whiteinch Centre, book tickets here
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Cast & Creative Team
CAST
Maureen Carr
Ali Craig
Suzanne Magowan
Jonathan Watson
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer Frances Poet
Director Jemima Levick
Set and costume design Jen McGinley
Lighting design Emma Jones
Sound design Patricia Panther
Reviews
"It's the outright identification with working women that makes Francis Poet’s outstanding play Fibres so effective"
- Morning Star
“led by a pair of moving and seriously funny performances“
- The Herald
"taking a story that desperately needs to be told to many communities deeply affected by the disease"
- The Scotsman
"cleverly constructed and staged with precision"
- The Stage
"a tragic story beautifully told with likeable characters and wonderful performances from all involved"
- Broadway World
"Fibres is magnetic, moving, and utterly memorable"
- The Wee Review
"Winning performances deliver a heartbreaking and unsentimental tale about asbestos poisoning in the workplace"
- The Observer
"excellently acted production"
- The Guardian
"Fibres is an affecting piece about an important, too often neglected, subject"
- The Herald on Sunday
Press
"The more laughter we see onstage, the more we feel the characters' pain”
Frances Poet speaks to Neil Cooper at the Herald about what inspired her to tell the story of Fibres
"When he was sent Fibres by Frances Poet, he couldn’t put it down."
Jonathan Watson talks about his role in Fibres to Rick Fulton at The Daily Record
"This isn’t what Beanie thought Jack meant when he promised “what’s mine is yours”.
Jonathan Watson talks to the Evening Times about the heartbreaking and heartwarming story of Fibres
"You can use humour to see you through dark times and I think that’s reflected in Fibres,”.
Jonathan Watson talks to the Sunday Post about his role in Fibres, touring Scotland this Autumn
“If you have a connection to the material, it will be painful but hopefully cathartic, because we can hold the anger you are feeling. If you don’t have a connection, it will make you feel angry and hold that for others.”
Writer of Fibres, Frances Poet, speaks to Nadine Bay at The National
“Of course, it is a play about asbestos, that is the driver of the piece. However, actually, it’s a play in which people talk about their hopes and dreams, the people they love, and what it means to lose somebody you really love."
Director of Fibres, Jemima Levick, speaks to Mark Brown at The National
" I wanted to write a real human story, with love and laughter as well as tragedy – a story audiences would want to engage with."
Writer, Frances Poet, speaks to Joyce McMillan at The Scotsman
“Because it’s a Glasgow story, I found my characters making me laugh, even in the face of tragedy. Their resilience was irresistible. And suddenly the play I was writing wasn’t a tragedy but a love story with as many laughs as tears”
Ruth Wishart at the Helensburgh Advertisers looks ahead to the Fibres tour