Books by Alistair (Author) Beaton

How would you feel about sitting in front of that nice old village pub on a sunny afternoon while convoys of 40-ton tankers roll past six feet away?Deerland Energy's plans to drill for shale gas in the pretty village of Fenstock are going well. The company is looking at big profits.They can count on the support of distinguished scientists working in university departments funded by the energy companies while at local level, Councillor Pilbeam, Chair of the Planning Committee, seems to be open to lucrative offers.The only slight snag is a ragged band of protesters, reluctantly led by retired academic Elizabeth Blackwood. Surely she's just another 'mad old biddy', as she's characterised by ruthless PR guru Joe Selby.This new razor-sharp black comedy by Alistair Beaton takes a timely look at the conflicted core of planetary energy and earthly power. Fracked! received its world premiere at the Chichester's Minerva Theatre on 8 July 2016.

Caledonia is a tale of hubris and delusion, portraying a crucial slice of Scotland's history told with dark humour and creative flair, by award-winning playwright and satirist Alistair Beaton.

To paraphrase Alistair Beaton''s Caledonia - the first play in this collection - ''The English have anthologies, the Spanish have anthologies, the French have anthologies . . . why should not Scotland have its anthology?''Scotland is entering a crucial period in its history, where its identity is being debated daily, from everyday conversation to the national and international press. At the same time, its theatre is resurgent, with key Scottish playwrights, theatres and theatre companies expanding their performance vocabularies while coming to prominence in national and international contexts.Caledonia is a tale of hubris and delusion, portraying a crucial slice of Scotland''s history and its foray into imperial colonialism told with dark humour and creative flair, by award-winning playwright and satirist Alistair Beaton.Bullet Catch, by Rob Drummond, is a unique theatrical experience exploring the world of magic, featuring mind-reading, levitation, and the most notorious finale in show business.Morna Pearson''s The Artist Man and the Mother Woman is a wickedly funny, deceptively simple, surreal portrait of a spectacularly dysfunctional relationship.Rantin'', by Kieran Hurley draws on storytelling, live music and an unapologetically haphazard take on Scottish folk tradition, in an attempt to stitch together fragmented stories to reveal a botched patchwork of a nation.First performed at the Royal Court in 2013, Narrative by Anthony Neilson is a theatrical exploration of the the boundaries and possibilities of storytelling.Featuring plays from Alistair Beaton, Rob Drummond, Morna Pearson, Kieran Hurley and Anthony Neilson, this collection is edited by Dr. Trish Reid, a leading critical voice on Scottish theatre.

Alistair Beaton's new play, part farce, part biting satire, on modern politics, New Labour and the fine art of spin is set in the plush seaside hotel of a party conference as anti-capitalist riots rage in the streets below.