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Bondagers

BondagersImage: Drew Farrell

A true classic of modern Scottish Theatre, and a haunting evocation of a lost way of life, Sue Glover’s lyrical play with music and song follows six women land workers as they graft and dance their way through a year on a 19th Century Borders farm.


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Every ploughman had to provide a woman (a bondager) to work on the farm. If his wife was too busy with family, he hired a woman to work the fields and lodge in his home. Following these women  through the passing of the seasons, we feel the rhythm of the land and the harshness, humour, hope and tragedy of those who worked upon it.


The critical consensus

Passionate, haunting and emotionally-involving, this Bondagers is an absolute winner.

****(*)Michael Cox, Across the Arts, 31/10/2014

Even works that take on the status of ‘modern classic’ seem to find revival exceptionally difficult, so the Lyceum deserves great praise for bringing Bondagers back.

****(*)Hugh Simpson, All Edinburgh Theatre, 26/10/2014

Glover’s drama has lost none of its energy or timeliness.

****(*)Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman, 27/10/2014

Kemp’s six-strong cast hit a strident note from the start, their delivery as tough and hard-edged as the bondagers’ lives.

****(*)Mark Fisher, The Guardian, 27/10/2014

Verdict: Poetic but hardworking take of a modern Scottish classic makes for a welcome and timely revival.

****(*)Thom Dibdin, The Stage, 27/10/2014

After more than a decade without a production on home soil, one of the most striking things about Bondagers is just how ground-breaking the play's fusion of rich poetic text, striking physicality and a rhythmic musicality that pulses it remains.

****(*)Neil Cooper, Coffee-Table Notes 27/10/2014

Rich in intellect, this play is brain food; a continuing classic of the Scottish stage that asks: what is the price of change, and are we still too poor to ask for it?

****(*)Emma Hay, TVBomb, 27/10/2014

The Bondagers is not only a superbly evocative recreation of a time long forgotten, but a poignant reminder of the transient nature of life itself.

****(*)Edinburgh Spotlight, 30/10/2014

If you can, see this remarkable play in this very fine production.

*****Bill Dunlop, Edinburgh Guide, 29/10/2014

There are moments of powerful beauty in the production.

***(*)(*)Gareth Davies, The Public Reviews, 26/10/2014

The effect is poetical but, at times, almost too beautiful.

****(*)Clare Brennan, The Observer, 02/11/2014

Glover’s play is arguably the finest of Scottish work plays, and Lu Kemp (making her directorial debut at the Lyceum) has fashioned the best production of it I have seen.

Mark Brown, Scottish Stage (Sunday Herald), 03/11/2014


Features about Bondagers

Interview: Lu Kemp, director of Bondagers

Gareth K Vile, The List, 14/10/2014

Where and when?

Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh from Wednesday October 22, 2014, until Saturday November 15, 2014. More info: www.lyceum.org.uk

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