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Iain Finlay Macleod

IAIN FINLAY MACLEOD

  
Nationality:    Scottish
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

Iain Finlay MacLeod is a playwright, screenwriter and novelist based on the Isle of Lewis. Alongside his work as a writer he also works as a director on both single and multi-camera projects. Iain's original stage plays include SOMeRSAULTS (NTS), the BeNDS (Playwrights Studio/RSAMD), the PeARLFISHeR, I WAS A BeAUTIFUL DAY, HOMeRS and ALeXANDeR SALAMANDeR or the STORY OF A TeeNAGe PYROMANIAC, all for the Traverse Theatre, edinburgh. He has also adapted David Lescot's play UNe HOMMe eN FAILLITe as BROKe for the Traverse. In addition, Iain Finlay has written ATMAN and SALVAGe for Tosg Theatre and the libretto for the SILVeR BOUGH which was produced by Youth Music Theatre UK. Iain also collaborated on the multimedia opera ST KILDA which was performed in English, French and Gaelic at the Edinburgh International Festival 2009. the production, for which Iain wrote the libretto and wrote and directed the filmed elements was originally performed in June 2007 in six European venues simultaneously, which were linked by live satellite connection with St Kilda. Iain has also written extensively for radio including the SUMMeR WALKING which was adapted from his play the PeARL FISHeR, WHITe NIGHTS and RAVeN BLACK both adapted from the novels of Ann Cleeves, the KITCHeN CHILD, adapted from Angela Carter's short story, FROZeN and 15 MINUTeS TO CHANGe the WORLD all for BBC Radio 4. He is also the author of the TReASURe OF PUYMULe for Catherine Bailey Productions. Iain was a co-writer of the Gaelic-language film SeACHD: the INACCeSSIBLe PINNACLe, which was produced by Chris Young at Young Films and is the author of three Gaelic-language novels, the KLONDYKeRS, AM BOUNTY and eMPIRe all of which are published by Gaelic Books Council. Iain is currently working on a new commission for the National Theatre of Scotland and writing his fourth novel.

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below is a list of Iain Finlay Macleod's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Alexander Salamander         Atman         Bends, The         Bred In the Bone         Broke         Cliff Dancing         Devil Master and his Children, The         Highland Shorts         Homers         I Was A Beautiful Day         In My Father's Words         James Boswell         Mairi Anndra's House         Metagama         Mister Sequester (Un Homme En Faillite)         Pearlfisher, The         Road From the Isles         Salvage         Silver Bough, The         Somersaults         St Kilda         Tragedy Of Man, The         Whisky Galore / Uisge-Beatha Gu Leor         Wolf
Alexander Salamander

Synopsis:
the Story of a Teenage Pyromaniac

Notes:
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Genre:
Play/Drama

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Atman

Synopsis:
a is lonely. a works in the library. One day he goes through the wrong door and ends up in a strange room filled with books, as far as the eye can see. He feels strangely drawn to one of the books, so he picks it up and begins to read. In it is his life, in minute detail. It takes thirty pages to describe the first time he ate something sweet. Fifty pages to describe his first memory. Soon, he can do nothing apart from read. B, a psychiatrist he regularly sees, suggests an experiment. To see if it will help. He suggests writing in the book and seeing what happens. Inspired by the stories of Jorge Luis Borges, atman was first performed in Scots Gaelic by Tosg theatre Company on a Highlands tour and received its english language world premiere at Finborough, London, 01 Jun 2010.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Tosg Theatre Company     2006

Organisations:
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1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
60 min One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Bends, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Playwrights Studio/Rsamd    

Organisations:
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1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
-

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Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

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Bred In the Bone

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
adaptation of the novel written by David Pickup for the stage

1st Produced:
Es Theatre Company, NY     2005

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Broke

Synopsis:
Broke, by French writer David Lescot, seen here in an english language version by lain F MacLeod, is a less-is-more tale of a bankrupt man, his wife and his asset-stripping guardian angel liquidator. With the enforced loss of all material possessions - including the rare jazz record collection - a man has a slow-burning Zen epiphany, gradually learning that small is beautiful and less is more profitable for the soul.
Neil Cooper, Herald

Notes:
Original Playwright - David Lescot. Part of "Tilt"

1st Produced:

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1st Published:
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Genre:
Short play One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Cliff Dancing

Synopsis:
a play about the evacuation of St. Kilda

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
National Gaelic Youth Theatre     1991

Organisations:
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1st Published:
-   

Music:
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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Devil Master and his Children, The

Synopsis:
Cameron is a Devil Master. He is an Edinburgh Q.C who takes his pupils (devils) through the process of 'devilling', on their way to being Junior Advocates. He lives in a beautiful house in the New Town and sometimes his feckless children visit. Retirement nears, and there is not a cloud in the sky apart from the death of Cameron's beloved dog, Max. But when something goes wrong with Charlie's efforts to transport Max from the vet to Cameron's house (there to be buried in the garden), John comes into their lives. And John wants something.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Highland Shorts

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
George Gunn, Marjory Callander, Duncan McLean, Grace Barnes, Iain F Macleod, Gordon Urquhart, Carol I Walker

1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
Traverse Publishing, 1999   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Shorts One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Homers

Synopsis:
a tough and funny play about Glaswegian orphans forcibly transplanted to the Islands. 1967. Alex and Mary are 'homers', sent from care homes in Glasgow to live with a new family in the Islands. they are thrown into the kaleidoscope of island life: the teacher who barks in a strange language; the Minister and his penchant for Elvis; andrena with her fetish for Hebridean delicacies. Alex pushes his new dad too far and is sent back to Glasgow into the care of Mr Pig, a sadistic butcher. But Mary, back on the island, has troubles of her own. So Alex finds himself on the ferry again, slicing through the black mirror of the sea. . .

Notes:
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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  doubling

Further Reference:

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I Was A Beautiful Day

Synopsis:
Dan and Lube are patients in a psychiatric unit on the Isle of Lewis. Dan is recovering from post traumatic stress disorder following tours of duty in Belfast and in the first Gulf war. Lube is suffering from schizophrenia following a nervous breakdown. Together they enter a fantasy about escaping, but Lube gets jealous and disruptive when Dan talks about visiting a female cartographer. Lube comes off his medication and thigns begin to boil over-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
An Lanntair Arts Centre, Isle Of Lewis, Scotland     2005

Organisations:
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1st Published:

Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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In My Father's Words

Synopsis:
In an old wooden house by the shore of Lake Ontario in Canada, Louis battles with his elderly father, Don, whose decline into dementia is gradually robbing him of the ability to speak. Louis' professional success as a university teacher of Classics belies an emotional inarticulacy which matches his father's inability to express himself in words. And then into their lives comes Flora, the carer that Louis employs to look after Don. Flora is of Scottish heritage and a good listener, and she understands that the 'nonsense' which Don speaks is fragmented Gaelic, opening up an ocean of revelations and buried family history spanning the Atlantic. In My Father's Words is a beautiful play about identity - national and personal - and language, and the utter indivisibility between the two.

Notes:
by Justin Young with Gaelic by iain Finlay MacLeod

1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Dranma

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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James Boswell

Synopsis:
Written by 20 of Scotland's leading writers. Directed by Joe Douglas and Catrin Evans. The Portrait Gallery will take centre-stage this spring as the National Theatre of Scotland explores their collection through the written word and performance in Dear Scotland. In this unique work, twenty of the country's leading writers will pen short, sharp monologues inspired by the Gallery's celebrated portraits which will be performed as a promenade theatre piece, staged within the galleries.

Notes:
Part of "Dear Scotland" : participants include: Peter Arnott; Jo Clifford; Rob Drummond; Janice Galloway; David Greig; Zinnie Harris; Iain Heggie; Stuart Hepburn; Jackie Kay; A L Kennedy; Hardeep Singh Kohli; Liz Lochhead; Iain Finlay Macleod; Nicola McCartney;Johnny McKnight;Linda McLean; Rona Munro; James Robertson; Ali Smith; Louise Welsh

1st Produced:
National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh     24 Apr 2014

Organisations:
National Theatre of Scotland

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
monologue

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Mairi Anndra's House

Synopsis:
a musical for children on the life of the American folklore collector Margaret Faye Shaw

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Eden Court, Scotland     2005

Organisations:
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1st Published:
-   

Music:
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Genre:
childrens musical Youth audience

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
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Metagama

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
" I translated sections of the play into Gaelic"

1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Translation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mister Sequester (Un Homme En Faillite)

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Pearlfisher, The

Synopsis:
Summer 1948 in the North West Highlands. Post-war austerity grips the land, but here the pickings are rich for Traveller people, as they trade, poach, rustle - and fish for pearls in the clear water of the rivers. Relations with the local people hang on a fragile thread, as they barter with one another, juggling language and meaning - and sometimes desire, from a distance. and then one day Jess, a girl from the village, spies ali the Traveller close up, trawling the river-bed. Jess takes his pearls and her lover RodErick pledges to make a necklace for her - setting in motion a chain of events which will change both communities for ever. Half a century later, in the autumn of 2007, the waters have risen, and the story is still being told and re-enacted. the Pearlfisher is an epic tale of kinship, money and desire

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Traverse Theatre Company, In association with eden Court Theatre

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Road From the Isles

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Salvage

Synopsis:
highlights the current media pre-occupation with castaway islands, and in a macabre but hilariously funny way, he examines the survival instincts of a group marooned on a desert island.

Notes:
performed in Gaelic

1st Produced:
Gilmorehill G12, Glasgow     21 Oct 2000

Organisations:
Tosg Theatre Company

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Silver Bough, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Writer: Iain Finlay Macleod; composer: Gerard McBurney; based on the books by F Marian McNeil

1st Produced:
Part Of The Aberdeen International Youth Festival     2008

Organisations:
Youth Music Theatre: UK

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Somersaults

Somersaults
Questions of identity, belonging and a sense of self are universal, no matter what language you speak. Cambridge graduate James has it all: wealth, a beautiful wife, a swanky London flat. But when the creditors move in and his wife moves out, James suddenly finds he's left with nothing. Nothing but words, and even they are starting to slip away. James' Father is dying - his last connection to his childhood, his upbringing and the language of his birth, Gaelic. With this link gone, James fears he will simply cease to exist. Forced to confront his past and the conflict of identity within him, James explores the importance of language and how it defines who we are.

Notes:
Somersaults was originated following discussions between Iain Finlay MacLeod And Vicky Featherstone (artistic Director of the National theatre of Scotland) on the decline of the Gaelic language. Iain was then given A Writer's Attachment with the Company in 2009 And was subsequently Awarded A play-writing commission which sees this presentation of Somersaults As A work in progress during Reveal

1st Produced:

Organisations:
National Theatre of Scotland

1st Published:

Music:
-

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Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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St Kilda

Synopsis:
the Birdmen' of St Kilda: Scaling the sheer cliffs of their rocky home 'the Birdmen' of St Kilda harvested a living from seabirds and their eggs for more than 3,000 years. the decline and depopulation of their society was a slow process, accelerated by contagions from the mainland. By the time the British government evacuated the island in 1930 there were hardly thirty people left - clinging to their unique way of life and furious landscape and roped to their customs and language. Living on the edge: St Kilda is the most westerly of Scottish islands and the last landfall before America. It is the UK's only dual World Heritage Site - for both natural and cultural heritage - and the cliffs rise taller than the empire State Building. Traditional Gaelic song and contemporary music are performed against a backdrop of vintage and modern film as a cast of actors, singers and acrobats tell the story of the 'Birdmen' of St Kilda. Memerising Multi-media: Two large screens frame the stage and show archive film from 1908 to1930. Interwoven with these highly emotional images is spectacular contemporary film of the place, its story and Dramatic aerial cliff-dancers.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Edinburgh: Festival Theatre     2009

Organisations:
Edinburgh International Festival

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
musical multimedea

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Tragedy Of Man, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     1991, 1993

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Translated and adapted; draft and TS

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
National Library of Scotland ref: Fifth estate Theatre Company - acc.11443/119-20

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Whisky Galore / Uisge-Beatha Gu Leor

Synopsis:
World War II and the island of Todday is suffering from a serious drought - a distinct lack of whisky. It casts a long shadow over the island and means that Sergeant Odd cannot marry his sweetheart Peggy. For as everyone knows, a reiteach (wedding party) cannot happen without a dram. This delightful new version of this much-loved, charmingly whimsical comedy (made famous by the 1949 Ealing comedy film) features a host of colourful characters, live music and, naturally, whisky galore. A Play, A Pie and A Pint teams up with the National Theatre of Scotland and new Gaelic theatre company, Robhanis to serve up a new Gaelic version of Compton Mackenzie's legendary liquor classic Whisky Galore/ Uisge-Beatha Gu Leor. Adapted by Iain Finlay Macleod, and directed by Guy Hollands. Whisky Galore will be performed almost entirely in Gaelic, with English subtitles

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Strontian: Sunart Centre     14/2015

Organisations:
Robhanis Theatre

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
Short play

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Wolf

Synopsis:
Let us prey. theatre for the senses exploring wolf/human relationships. Text: Iain Finlay Macleod with performers from David Glass ensemble/Dreamthinkspeak/Matthew Bourne's 'swan Lake'.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
authentic artist Collective/Kath Burlinson/escalator east to edinburgh

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
interactive, physical theatre

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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