Unicorns on the Road is a new play that explores hate crime and the bystander effect, primarily through the lens of a queer man from the East Coast of Scotland.
This dramatic piece of fictionalised writing is inspired by true stories drawn from Scotland and the global LGBTQI experience; and is provisionally focussed around the brutal murder of a young Polish man, beaten to death in 2003 in a homophobic attack. The perpetrator was charged with Culpabale Homicide (a legal term akin to manslaughter that infers the guilty party caused death though not with deliberate intent). His autopsy found smoke in his lungs, proving that he was still alive when the attacker set him on fire.
To be transparent and alleviate any safeguarding/trauma exploitation concerns, this story is an amalgamation of two different events, one from Ayr in Scotland and another in San Diego, and is intended to reflect the failing of our legal system in offering protections over that of sensationalising individual trauma. That is however, a powerful and unavoidable by-product of the narrative, and an essential part of the storytelling to garner audience empathy.
Bleak, and difficult material to navigate. This story was originally referenced in my immersive club show Jock Tamson’s Bairns and was consistently the material the audiences wanted to revisit after the performance. In late 2024 I told a version of the story at Turan Ali’s Queer Folk Tales at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh, further cementing its audience appeal and inspiring the creative direction of this proposal.
For me, Unicorns on the Road has always been a strong concept, though tonally it does not find a natural home as an extension to the happy-go-lucky queer party nights of immersive theatre that I have become known for.
I’m delighted to once again be a recipient of Creative Scotland’s Open Fund for Individuals for my writing for this show, and I am keen to hear expressions of interest from future collaborators for presentation.
BCW 