Picture shows : Glasgow Girls Dress Rehearsal. (l-r) Dawn Sievewright, Roanna Davidson, Frances Thorburn, Amaka Okafor, Stephanie McGregor,Ameira Darwish. Picture © Drew Farrell. Tel 07721-735041. National Theatre of Scotland, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Citizens Theatre, Pachamama Productions, Richard Jordan Productions Ltd in association with Merrigong Theatre Company (Australia) present WORLD PREMIERE of Glasgow Girls opens 31 October 2012 at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow Inspired by a true story Conceived for the stage and directed by Cora Bissett. Book by David Greig Music and Lyrics by Cora Bissett, Sumati Bhardwaj (MC Soom T), Patricia Panther and John Kielty. Set Design by Merle Hensel, Musical Direction by Hilary Brooks, Choreography by Natasha Gilmore, Lighting Design by Lizzie Powell and Sound Design by Fergus O’Hare The full cast is: Callum Cuthbertson, Ameira Darwish, Roanna Davidson, Stephanie McGregor, Myra McFadyen, Amaka Okafor, Patricia Panther, Dawn Sievewright and Frances Thorburn. Based on the true story of one of the most vocal and powerful asylum campaigns to catch the imagination of the media and inspire a community to unite behind its residents, Glasgow Girls is a brand new life-affirming Scottish musical with seven strong female leads and a vibrant multi-cultural voice at its heart. The musical promises to be a celebration of Glasgow and the power of teenagers with a cause.

The Glasgow Girls are a group of seven young women who have highlighted the poor treatment of failed asylum seekers. The group of girls from Drumchapel High School protested against the detention of one of their friends, Agnesa Murselaj, who had fled from war-torn Kosovo. Publicity grew as the girls challenged the First Minister and publicly voiced their concerns as more children at their school were dawn raided, detained and deported. Two BBC television documentaries have been made of their story. Press contacts: Clare McCormack, Press Officer Tel:

New review: Glasgow Girls

A new musical tackling asylum seeker rights is unusual but excellent, finds Hazel Robertson

A topic seldom confronted by politicians and often misrepresented in the press, asylum seekers in the UK aren’t an immediately obvious subject matter for a musical. The genre seems too frivolous to take an in depth look at rights; how can singing and dancing highlight the severity of the conditions people can sometimes find themselves in under the current system of asylum?

Hazel Robertson find that Glasgow Girls does this surprisingly well. A musical that follows a group of girls who joined together to campaign for asylum seeker rights, it brings complicated issues to the forefront in a way that is accessible and striking. Hazel explains:

The musical format of this production really does work. The huge variety of songs, including a self-aware musical-style opening montage, powerful rapping from a Glaswegian MC and an electro number for the almost robotic UK immigration officers perfectly constructs humour, pathos and pace to the story. The musical score is also used to give us a picture of multicultural inclusion as we are treated to traditional Roma and Kurdish songs.

Click here to read the review.

Photo by Drew Farrell used with permission.