First and foremost, thanks to Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe, without whom this book would not exist. Huge to thanks to Dr. David Overend, who patiently attempted to keep the research on track in the early years; and to Dr. Graham Jeffery, who guided the whole project to fruition. I am massively grateful to you all.
Thanks to uws for the funded PhD, and to Fiona Sturgeon-Shea who has been an important ally. I am indebted to all at Playwright Studio Scotland. As project collaborator, this essential playwriting organisation provided much needed moral and financial support, which turned out to be life changing.
Thank you to the Black Star Projects team who worked on the plays, including the performers on: Blood Lines – Sophia Prendergast, Neil Stewart, Graham Campbell and Michael Abubaker; Tommy’s Song – Tom McGovern; Awkward – Laura Fahey and Anna Leckey. You were absolutely the right people.
Special thanks to Alan McKendrick, Gary McNair, Iain Heggie; you were amazing, as was/is designer Colin O’Hara. Thanks Fiona McKinnon. Thank you Ashanti Harris. Thanks to the National Theatre of Scotland. Thank you to the theatre making peers that formed the focus group discussion.
And I say thank you for the music: to the Wee G3 – the house band that the Blood Lines musicians formed on the day they met, contributing energy, talent, reggae beats and songs to sing and dance to; a highlight of the production.
A nod of love to Elvis Presley – choosing the songs and working with his lyrics on Tommy’s Song was one of the most enjoyable parts of making the work. Thanks to Lee Handman for the short clips of the Bowie songs on Awkward; a conversation that began in the Himalayas and ended in the Scottish Borders.
Thanks to all collaborators at Ankur, the Arches, Oran Mor and the Swallow Theatre. Thanks Sarah Smith at Glasgow School of Art, for the feminism and autobiographical writing scholarship. Thanks to Katarzyna Kosmala and to Deborah Middleton at the Centre for Psychophysical Performance Research.
Thanks to Stewart Laing and Pamela Carter for being inspirational in theatre.
I am grateful for the yoga, the meditation and the movement, and all the courses and teachers and workshop leaders I met along the way; from Stephen Clark who taught me Bikram Yoga in his flat, to Alex Cat who supervised me through tctsy training. Keep spreading the love. Namaste.