ABSTRACT
After the First World War, Scotland was still riven by the twin drives for social change which had originated in earlier centuries – nationalism and socialism. The St Andrews Society of Glasgow used the remaining funds from pre-war Glasgow Repertory Theatre to support a series of three productions, from which Scottish National Theatre Society emerged. The streams of Scottish and English theatre divide and then merge again through the years. The theatre practice which upheld a national definition of Scotland as urban and industrial was part of socialist and workers’ theatre movement also emerging in England. With the coming of the Second World War the Glasgow Workers Theatre Group amalgamated in 1941 with other politically motivated groups, Glasgow Clarion Players, Jewish Institute Players and others, to form Glasgow Unity Theatre. The Gorbals Story was given over six hundred performances between 1946 and 1949, including tours of Scotland and England, where it was given for season at Garrick Theatre in London.
