Kirjahaku

Plenty of productions can boast such a strong team, of course. But it is rare to find a play which works as well as Des Dillon's story of six sisters who set out, with their Ma and Grandma, to avenge the infidelity of the eldest sister's husband. The eldest is Caroline. Having bought her council house in a decrepit 60s Coatbridge block, her husband Bobby has done a runner with the babysitter, Stacie Gracie. And if Caroline can't find ten grand by tomorrow, the flat will be repossessed. Enter seven witches. Or the next best thing, if Caroline's five sisters, mother and pointedly Catholic grandmother are not, technically, a coven. Accompanied, as they would need to be, by an extra bottle of vodka, a few cans of lager, a plentiful supply of fags and a couple of packets of biscuits. Exit, into Caroline's stupendously inappropriate fireplace, many pairs of Bobby's underwear. Each for a member of the number as they arrive. Up to and including Father Boyle, new to the parish, whose entrance disturbs the main object of the gathering: to hex Stacie Gracie's frozen head. Wielding a cast of cantankerous, outspoken and spiteful siblings is never going to be easy for either playwright or director. The lines need to come hurtling out with such speed that they are realistic, but equally with such good delivery that you don't mind missing a punchline - another will be along in a minute. Des Dillon's script doesn't disappoint. And if it never lets up in its delivery, it is also naturally paced so that the action ebbs and flows, giving each sister time to establish themselves with all sorts of sub-plots and intricacies of character coming to the surface, while the actual plot arrives at a satisfying conclusion.

Welcome to Dillon's world; a world where murderous poultry and evolutionary elephants make their mark. He takes you from the darkness of the illustrated Man and Jif Lemons to the laugh out loud Bunch of c***s. These stories are instantly accessible and always personal. Relationships, places and language are set precisely with few words and no flinching. If you're an alchoholic, recovering alcoholic, insane, a policeman, prisoner, gold digger, farmer, animal lover, Scots or Irish Scots you may well recognise yourself somewhere in this book.

Manny Riley is a recovering alcoholic and struggling scriptwriter with a serious anger management problem. Lately, though, things have started to change for the better. A happy marriage, a move away from Glasgow to an idyllic seaside village and the adoption of Bailey, a lurcher with epilepsy. He'll soon find that these things only open up a whole new world of problems he'll have to face up to. And he has to do it all without losing his temper.

Caroline's husband abandons her (bad move) for Stacie Gracie, his assistant at the meat counter, and incurs more wrath than he anticipated. Set in present day Irish Catholic Coatbridge, "Six Black Candles" is bound together by the ropes of traditional storytelling and the strength of female familial relationships.

An Experiment in Compassion shifts between Stevie's life as an alcoholic and his sober life where he forges a relationship with his girlfriend and estranged son. Following a myriad of characters and their stories, this piece of fiction provides an emotional and intense insight into the world of alcoholism whilst exploring themes of revenge and forgiveness.

A book to make you laugh. A book to make you cry. A book to make you rage against the injustices of the world. A book to make you feel better about it all. Perhaps. Perhaps not.

A story of boyhood friendship and irrepressible vitality told with the speed of trains and the understanding of the awkwardness, significance and fragility of that time. This is a day in the life of two boys as told by one of them.

Caroline's husband abandons her (bad move) for Stacie Gracie, his assistant at the meat counter, and incurs more wrath than he anticipated. Caroline, her five sisters, mother and granny, all with a penchant for witchery, invoke the lethal spell of the Six Black Candles. A natural reaction to the break up of a marriage? Set in present day Irish Catholic Coatbridge, "Six Black Candles" is bound together by the ropes of traditional storytelling and the strength of female familial relationships. Bubbling under the cauldron of superstition, witchcraft and religion is the heat of revenge; and the love and venom of sisterhood.

Danni, a past her sell by date nervous breakdown survivor, has been charged with contempt for using the word Cunt in Glasgow Sheriff Court. Back home researching the origin of the word Cunt she unwittingly conjures up an ebullient African Goddess who helps her overcome a bullying sister, a know all psychiatrist, a patronising Judge, a paedophile and a violent ned in a wheely bin. Danni emerges from the chaos having reclaimed the word Cunt for the sisterhood and transformed herself into a confident contemporary feminist. Des Dillon's hilarious black comedy asks who made the word Cunt bad and who must pay for it.

When the citizens of Leningrad find themselves cut off from the world and the enemy is pressing at the gate, survival becomes a question of how high you can fly or how far you're willing to fall. Violinist Yelena Petrovna is trapped in besieged Leningrad with her sister and their children. Yelena clings to music in an attempt to survive bombardment, freezing temperatures, starvation and the constant fear of Stalin's reprisals. Can Yelena survive long enough to play Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony with the Leningrad Radio Orchestra to be broadcast to the world outside the frozen city? Yelena's Leningrad challenges love, art and music to make life worth living even in the face of unspeakable horrors.