The Caravel: A Glaswegian play about the most-notorious gangster-run pub in Glasgow takes on the Fringe

A new Glasgow theatre company has taken their play featuring one of the most notorious gangster-run pubs in Glasgow to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this week.

Cuttin Aboot Theatre Co. brought The Caravel to the Fringe this year - a play they penned earlier this year to run in Glasgow - it debuted at the Argyll Arcade in the city centre in early April.

Set in 1990, The Caravel revolves around the former gangster-run pub in Barlanark under the same name - but rather than focusing on the gangsters, it casts a light on a group of young women coming of age in the East End of Glasgow.

It plays on the similarities between some of the hardest criminals in Glasgow, and a group of young teenage girls on the cusp of adulthood - and the interactions between the two groups.

It’s not all fiction however, the play is based (loosely) on the playwrights, Milly Sweeney’s, experiences growing up around The Caravel, and the experiences of her mum who was a regular at the gangland pub near Easterhouse.

Sweeney is also set to play the character representing her mum in the play, Jane.

Cuttin Aboot is a female-led theatre production company started by a group of young friends, many of whom are currently enrolled in acting, directing, and arts programmes in institutions like New College Lanarkshire and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

In their own words, their productions are ‘unapologetically Glaswegian theatre that cuts through to the soul.’

It’s only the indie-production company’s second produced play after setting up in 2022, and The Caravel has already sold out shows in both Glasgow City Centre, and most recently their Saturday showing at the Edinburgh Fringe on August 26 - an incredible feat for a new production company with no connections in the industry.

Cuttin Aboot Theatre Co. first produced ‘CAMH DOWN’ - a play detailing youth mental health and the process of seeking help through the NHS Child and Mental Health service.

Written by Glasgow playwright Milly Sweeney, the play focuses on her own experiences growing up around The Caravel, and those of her mum, who was a regular in the gangster-run pub in Barlanark.

Co-director Amy Clark spoke to us about the play, she said:“The Caravel focuses on a group of young girls coming of age - at that point in their lives when they’re leaving high school and everyone begins to go down separate paths.

“It also goes into what it’s like growing up as a woman in Glasgow. It’s not quite a play about gangsters, although they are present - they play a lot more like a fantasy, theatrical interpretation of them.

“We set the tone of a film with big dance numbers that give 90’s music videos or flash mob-type vibes - with the girls and gangsters breaking into dance a few times throughout the play.

“The dance numbers are representative of how characters feel at key points in the play, as well as creating a sense of fun and nostalgia for the audience with hits from the 90s.

“It should feel really nostalgic for mums and people of that time, so many Facebook messages have come through from people saying they met their husband in the pub.

The year in which the play is set, 1990, is important to the play. As Glasgow makes a name for itself as the European City of Culture, it moves away from its post-industrial roots to a more hopeful and modern outlook.

The characters themselves represent this - the gangsters a remnant of the loss of industry, feeling the need to prove themselves as hyper-masculine criminals in a world bereft of opportunities, and the girls a new generation of Glaswegian, one with an outlook for the future, yet still eager to find themselves in this brave new world.

The Caravel doesn’t need to tell you all this, it shows you - not just in its characterisation, but in a range of musical and dance numbers emblematic of the time as well as the reliance in the writing on lived experiences.

The notorious Glasgow gangland figure-heads are not depicted as respectable Godfather type-characters, nor are they portrayed as sympathetic TV gangsters like Tony Soprano.

Instead ‘the Boss’ and other Glaswegian gangster characters are depicted as legless pub punters and landlords - viewed through the lens of teenage girls who are none the wiser to their illicit underworld.

Speaking of the prominence of women in the play, Amy Clark said:”It’s a female-led story, with a mostly female creative team, so it was important for us to have an all-women story.

“The play focuses on the experiences of women coming of age in working-class Glasgow.

“The role of the boss is being played by Emma Arbon. We intentionally chose to have the role played by the opposite sex as it suggests how the character’s position is unstable within the criminal underworld in the circumstances of the play.

“The gender swap is there to highlight the use of those sexist insults aimed at the boss throughout his life - it’s how he feels internally portrayed in a literal physical sense - which stems of course from his relationship with his father.”

The Caravel is currently playing at Space 45 (just by Edinburgh Waverley!) at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at 17:10 each day from Tuesday, August 22 to Saturday, August 26 - you can book tickets for the shows (except from sell-out Saturday) on the Fringe website.