Interviews with the creatives who’ve adapted Alasdair Gray’s for work stage, audio and screen

Alasdair Gray has inspired creativity in many other people but his own work is often described as unique and uncategorisable. So how adaptable is Alasdair Gray? How do you manage the scope of his work and match its ambition?
In one place for the first time. Interviews with the daring creatives who’ve adapted Alasdair Gray’s work for stage, audio and screen. What challenges did these teams face? What decisions did they make? How epic was the process? Not all the drama happened on stage!
Find out more in A Gray Space: alasdairgraysp...
With thanks to our own daring creative - writer and interviewer Anita Sullivan - and all our contributors:
Robin Brooks - who adapted Lanark for BBC Radio 4 in 2014
Alastair Cording - who adapted Lanark for TAG Theatre in 1995
Graham Eatough - who directed Lanark for The Citizen’s Theatre in 2015
Tony Graham - who directed Lanark for TAG Theatre in 1995
David Greig - who adapted Lanark for The Citizen’s Theatre in 2015
Tony McNamara - who adapted Poor Things for Yorgos Lanthimos’s 2023 film
Ben Schaffer - who hopes to adapt 1982 Janine for the stage
Who is Alasdair Gray?
Alasdair Gray is a creative polymath who’s often described as a genius and regularly compared to William Blake. He’s best known for his novels Lanark, 1982 Janine and Poor Things as well as his murals in Glasgow's Oran Mor, Ubiquitous Chip and Hillhead Underground. You can explore our personal perspective on a genius Uncle in A Gray Space: alasdairgraysp...
Accessibility options and video description:
The video combines photographs of the different theatre, audio and screen productions with music by Sergei Chetvertnykh at Pixabay.
Text transcript: Reimagining Alasdair Gray: From page to stage, audio and screen. In one place. For the first time. Interviews with the daring creatives who’ve adapted Alasdair Gray’s work for stage, audio and screen. Not all the drama happened on stage! 1995 Alastair Cording & Tony Graham adapted Lanark for stage. Performed at the Edinburgh International Festival by TAG (Theatre About Glasgow). 2014 Robin Brooks and Allegra Productions adapted Lanark for radio. Performed on BBC Radio 4. 2015 David Greig and Graham Eatough adapted Lanark for stage. Co-production between The Citizens Theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival. 2023 Tony MacNamara adapted Poor Things for screen. Produced and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe. Explore more… Visit A Gray Space to find out how these daring creatives have done the impossible and adapted Alasdair Gray’s work for stage, audio and screen. AlasdairGraySpace.net A Gray Space inspired by Alasdair Gray. Enter. Explore. Be inspired.
You can use the links to our website to read about all these adaptations in articles that include alt text for all images:
How Adaptable is Alasdair Gray: alasdairgraysp...
Adapting Poor Things: alasdairgraysp...