The Saltmarket Six: Historic Young Glasgow Gangs In Focus with Story Sadly Relevant To Any UK City Today (Theatre –interview)

Kilmarnock based Theatre Alliance are becoming widely known for original Scottish stories told based on true stories. Previous work told the tales of Scottish witches in The Devil’s Mark: The Story of the Scottish Witch Trials and of The Tumbling Lassie, which told a remarkable story of a young lass in late 17^th century Scotland rescued from slavery when the Court of Session declared that ‘We have no Slaves in Scotland’.  Proudly Scottish, their latest work, The Saltmarket Six, will be presented at The Boardwalk in the centre of Glasgow, site of one of Glasgow’s historic courts, and here it hosts a story from 1928, and Glasgow’s East End. SNACK got to catch up with director and writer Marlisa Ross, to find out more.

Tell us about The Saltmarket Six?

It’s a true story based on gang activity in Glasgow in the 1920s. Glasgow was known as the Chicago of Europe in terms of the razor gangs. This is not like a Peaky Blinders story, we’re looking at a young generation, teenagers, 15-to-17-year-old boys and girls, not hardened criminals. And it is about two gangs who are able to live harmoniously: the Young Calton and the Southside Stickers. They shared the same area and got on really well, which is quite unusual when you think about gangs. They went to the cinema together, socialised, and had grown up together. Then one night that changed.

What happened to change their friendship?

We don’t know exactly. We know that it involved a girl (and) led to their first fight. One member is injured substantially and that causes the complete breakdown. One gang really tried to stay out of it, wanted a more peaceful approach and said, we don’t want to fight, got no interest in fighting, (but) ultimately, they were in a position where they didn’t have a choice because there wasn’t going to be peace anymore. It wasn’t possible.

So where did this conflict play out and what happened?

On Albert Bridge in Glasgow with the two gangs arriving to fight. (But) they don’t know what to do. They’re wee boys and they don’t know how to fight. They don’t know how to use weapons, but they know from the examples they’ve been set, this is what we do to sort conflict.

The play doesn’t just tell the tale of the two gangs, it’s about the community around them. Did the police and the courts become involved?

They turned their back on this, they have bigger problems. Things are out of control. One young boy who’s not actually involved in either gang is caught in the crossfire on this bridge and six young boys face charges. Ironically, they were in the gang that tried to avoid any of the conflict: (they are) caught up in a world that they’re led into, completely different than the path they started on. We have a (court) system that decides to send a message to other gangs. We’re talking about 15-year-old, 16-year-old boys.

And you see relevance to what happened in what is happening today?

This has a relevance now and there’s lots we can learn from this story. There’s lots that I’ve learned and I’d never thought about. The main things I want people to take away from it is the contemporary significance here. There’s so much we can still learn from the past. We still see people in peer pressure situations where violence becomes a solution when it’s not and things get out of control very quickly.

It feels like a story that we could be telling all over the country. They [the two gangs] felt forced into it because of the examples they’ve been set. There’s a generational nonsense that they buy into because they believe that’s what they should be doing. Things haven’t really changed.

Did society see any reasons for the lawlessness of these young boys?

The war was blamed because that was seen as glorifying violence. Cinema is also a key role in these young people’s lives, their main outlet where they could sneak in and see violence in that realm as well. This exposure was telling you what it means to be a man.

So, the story is based on the definitions then and now of masculinity, but the vast majority of your cast are female?

I have two boys and the rest are female: only four of the characters in the piece are female. We do have some female gang members, but the story focuses on the male storylines (and) the majority are played by females. I always remind them, think about the person that you’re playing, don’t think about the gender. They’ve all risen to that well. 

With some of the younger females, there’s something vulnerable about the way they play the parts. That works well in terms of the age of the people we’re representing. There are moments that are beautiful and I’m proud of the way they’ve thought about it, and that does bring a different kind of dynamic.

Theatre Alliance has a core group of actors now that you are helping to support and develop, how does that dynamic work?

I’m lucky (they) trust me to say, we’re going to try this, and it may be a wee bit risky, but we’re going to try it anyway. It’s like good Research and Development. We’re looking at preparing The Tumbling Lassie for a promenade piece at Parliament House, which is where the court case took place for next year. It’s quite interesting taking work and then thinking, okay, how can we make this a completely different experience for an audience member? There’s a fair bit of trial and error with that, but that’s part of the fun. The cast give everything a go, which makes it very easy to be the person writing for them. 

That’s the beauty of writing rather than licensing a piece. You’re writing for the group in front of you. That’s been wonderful. Seeing how far some of those people have come is great, watching their confidence build. I love that people in their 50s and 60s go ‘I’m gonna give this a go because I’ve always wanted to.’ It doesn’t matter where they come from. I just meet them where they are with little or some or no background. We’ve got some people who are quite experienced and others who are really new. I’m always keen to provide a space where they are all able to take part. 

That’s a really important thing about Theatre Alliances providing that space for people. From a cast point of view, there’s something special about being the first ever person to say these lines, to play that role. It gives them real power in shaping that work. They’re so involved in the process and that’s special. It’s not for everybody. There are lots of people who would rather go and do a We Will Rock You! 

That’s totally fine. I’m much more interested in telling the stories and I’m lucky that the people who get involved usually want to tell that story too.

So, what can we expect next from Theatre Alliance?

I’m keen to see how it goes with this piece. It aligns with everything that I’m about as a writer. I’m incredibly passionate about my country and telling stories. We’re currently writing a musical about the Templeton carpet factory disaster so that that will be a piece that’s definitely in Glasgow. 

I’m also currently working on a piece that’s about the life of Elsie Mackay, who’s not terribly well known. She was the first British woman to attempt to fly across the Atlantic and was one of the first modern women, coming out of the war determined that she wasn’t going to go back to the way things had been before. Whatever she put her mind to in terms of career, she was going to do it. Didn’t matter who she pissed off in the process. 

There’s other people whose stories are better known, but I’m keen to celebrate the women that are from the area that I come from as well. That’s an immersive performance, and it’s going to be styled in a speakeasy, as a cabaret performance with the story coming to life there.

The Saltmarket Six can be seen on Sunday the 15^th of March at The Boardwalk in Glasgow at 1pm and 6pm.