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Ena Lamont Stewart

ENA LAMONT STEWART

  (1912 - 2006)
Nationality:    Scottish
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Alan Brodie Representation Ltd  (estate)

Ena Lamont Stewart was Scotland's first major female playwright. Since the 1980s there have been writers like Sharman MacDonald, Rona Munro and Liz Lochhead but, in the 1940s women playwrights barely existed in Scotland, or anywhere else. This general lack of interest in them was surely a major reason why Ena had so little of her work performed, despite having provided 2 outstanding plays for Unity Theatre, which greatly assisted the company's reputation and its box office. Born 10 February 1912 in Glasgow, the daughter of a clergyman, she spent much of her life in the city and used to work as the librarian of Baillie's reference library. She married the Scottish actor, Jack Stewart, with who she had a son and they both joined Glasgow's MSU Repertory Theatre in Rutherglen, who produced her first play DISTINGUISHED COMPANY in 1942. Ena later commented in a programme note on her feelings about conventional Drama of the time: "One evening in the winter of 1942 I went to the Theatre. I came home in a mood of red-hot revolt against cocktail time, glamorous gowns and under-worked, about-to-be-deceived husbands. I asked myself what I wanted to see on stage and the answer was Life. Real life. Ordinary people." In her next play, STARCHED APRONS, she used her own observations at the city's children's hospital, where she worked as a receptionist. She sent it to Glasgow Unity Theatre, where its production in 1945 proved tremendously popular. It was their first really successful play and toured to Edinburgh and to the Embassy Theatre, London. Ena was swiftly commissioned to write another work. Ena's other produced plays are KIND MILLY (Pitlochry Festival Theatre) and WALKIES TIME (Edinburgh Netherbow, Glasgow Strathclyde and Pitlochry Theatre and adapted for radio in 1975/6). there are other plays of hers which have not yet seen the light of day. She was the founder member of the Scottish League of Dramatists and the Scottish Society of Playwrights. She died in March 2006.

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below is a list of Ena Lamont Stewart's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Dingin' Doon o' Donny's Hoose, The         Distinguished Company         Heir To Ardmally         High Places         Kind Milly         Knocking On the Wall         Men Should Weep         Poor Man's Riches         Starched Aprons         Towards Evening         Walkies Time         Will You Still Need Me

Dingin' Doon o' Donny's Hoose, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
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1st Produced:
-     1983

Organisations:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
MS and typescript

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
National Library of Scotland ref: 7:84 (Scotland) Theatre Company - Acc.10893/210

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Distinguished Company

Synopsis:
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Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Glasgow's Msu Repertory Theatre In Rutherglen     1942

Organisations:
-

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Heir To Ardmally

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
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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:
-

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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High Places

Synopsis:
A compassionate tale of high rise living created by urban rebuilding.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     1985

Organisations:
7:84 Theatre Company

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:
-

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Kind Milly

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
Pitlochry Festival Theatre    

Organisations:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Knocking On the Wall

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
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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

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Men Should Weep

Men Should Weep
Portrayal of impoverished 1930s Glasgow. Despite cramped tenement living and the turmoil of seven children, there is laughter and strength in the Morrison family. Tough and tender mother Maggie, just about holds together her unruly brood against wretched poverty. But sniping neighbours, the flight of daughter Jenny, and the unexpected return to their overcrowded quarters of Maggie's son and his sexually restless wife erode her spirit. And then, just as temporary employment for beloved husband John affords a decent Christmas, wayward Jenny returns with new-found wealth, offering them the chance of escape and one big moral dilEmma.

Notes:
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1st Produced:
Athenaeum Theatre, Glasgow     1946

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1983   978-0573018381

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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  9            Other:  voices

Further Reference:
-

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Poor Man's Riches

Synopsis:
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Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     1946

Organisations:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
National Library of Scotland ref: 7:84 (Scotland) Theatre Company - Acc.10893/106

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Starched Aprons

Synopsis:
the struggles of staff in a large hospital in Britain between the wars. She used her own observations at the city's children's hospital, where she worked as a receptionist.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Glasgow Unity Theatre     1945

Organisations:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  11            Other:  -

Further Reference:
National Library of Scotland ref: John McGrath - Acc.11615/70

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Towards Evening

Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
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1st Published:
Contained in: "Plays By Women Volume Eight" published by Methuen 1989   -

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
National Library of Scotland ref: John McGrath - Acc.11615/73

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Walkies Time

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Edinburgh Netherbow    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Plays By Women Volume Eight" published by Methuen   -

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
National Library of Scotland ref: John McGrath - Acc.11615/77

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Will You Still Need Me

Synopsis:
people simply getting along with each other

Notes:
Towards Evening; Walkies Time; Knocking On the wall

1st Produced:

Organisations:

1st Published:
in "Plays By Women Vol.8" Methuen, London, 1990   -

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
3 1 Act Plays One Act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  varies

Further Reference:
-

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