“Making your home in another bird’s nest”: Conflict Zones and Conflicting Ideologies in David Greig’s Plays

Many important events such as the breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the Gulf War, 9/11, the global hunt for “tyrants” in the Middle-East and the increasing war on terrorism took place at the turn of the twentieth century, that has, in turn, changed our perception of the world. Alongside technological advancements and globalization, the world is now changing faster than ever before, unions are dissolving, borders are changing, boundaries are expanding and providing greater mobility and interaction as well as more opportunities to “trespass” into each other’s spaces by force, or out of mere necessity. Many of David Greig’s plays set in conflict zones, focus on significant or breaking points in history, in which characters with different cultural, religious, social backgrounds experience a “clash” of ideologies. In this respect, this paper aims to discuss topics such as conflict, identity politics, war, military intervention, violence, segregation in Greig’s plays, with special emphasis on Europe (1994), Ramallah (2004), The American Pilot (2005), Damascus (2007), and Dunsinane (2010), which are set roughly in Europe, the Middle East, and the Scottish Highlands.

“Making your home in another bird’s nest”: Conflict Zones and Conflicting Ideologies in David Greig’s Plays

Many important events such as the breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the Gulf War, 9/11, the global hunt for “tyrants” in the Middle-East and the increasing war on terrorism took place at the turn of the twentieth century, that has, in turn, changed our perception of the world. Alongside technological advancements and globalization, the world is now changing faster than ever before, unions are dissolving, borders are changing, boundaries are expanding and providing greater mobility and interaction as well as more opportunities to “trespass” into each other’s spaces by force, or out of mere necessity. Many of David Greig’s plays set in conflict zones, focus on significant or breaking points in history, in which characters with different cultural, religious, social backgrounds experience a “clash” of ideologies. In this respect, this paper aims to discuss topics such as conflict, identity politics, war, military intervention, violence, segregation in Greig’s plays, with special emphasis on Europe (1994), Ramallah (2004), The American Pilot (2005), Damascus (2007), and Dunsinane (2010), which are set roughly in Europe, the Middle East, and the Scottish Highlands.

___

  • Cramer, Steve. “The Traverse, 1985-97: Arnott, Clifford, Hannan, Harrower, Greigand Greenhorn”. The Edinburgh Companion to Scottish Drama. Ed. Ian Brown. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2011. 165-177.Dickson, Andrew. “How playwright David Greig discovered Brinam Wood in Basra”. The Guardian. 24 January 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jan/24/how-david-greig-discovered-birnam-wood-in-basra [Viewed 15 December 2015)Eatough, Graham and Dan Rebellato. The Suspect Culture Book. London: OberonBooks, 2013.Fisher, Mark. “Interview: Mark Fisher & David Greig: Suspect Cultures & HomeTruths”. Ed. Anja Müller and Clare Wallace. Cosmotopia: Transnational Identities in David Greig’s Theatre. Prague: Litteraria Pragensia Books, 2011. 4-32.Greig, David. “The Speculator”. The Speculator by David Greig and The Meeting by Lluisa Cunillé. London: Methuen. 1999. 1-121.______________. Victoria. London: Methuen Publishing, 2000.______________. A David Greig text: Suspect Culture’s Casanova. London: Faber andFaber, 2001.______________. Yellow Moon: The Ballad of Leila and Lee. London: Faber and Faber, 2006.______________. Damascus. London: Faber and Faber, 2007.______________. Plays 1: Europe, The Architect, The Cosmonaut’s Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in The Former Soviet Union. London: Bloomsbury, 2013.______________. Selected Plays 1999-2009: San Diego, Outlying Islands, Pyrenees, The American Pilot, Being Norwegian, Kyoto, Brewers Fayre. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 2010a.______________. Dunsinane. London: Faber and Faber, 2010b.______________. “Ramallah”. Scottish Shorts. London: Nick Hern Books, 2010c. 99-111.______________. “Fragile”. Theatre Uncut: A Response to the Countrywide Spending Cuts. London: Oberon Books, 2011. 47-65. Higging, Charlotte. “Interview with David Greig: Road to Damascus”. 16 February 2009. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/feb/16/david-greig-playwright-damascus [Viewed 4 April 2018]İnan, Dilek. The Sense of Place and Identity in David Greig’s Plays. Ankara: Roza Yayınevi, 2010.Müller, Anja and Clare Wallace. Cosmotopia: Transnational Identities in David Greig’s Theatre. Prague: Litteraria Pragensia Books, 2011.Sakwa, Richard and Anne Stevens. Contemporary Europe. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000.Scholte, Jan Aart. Globalization: a critical introduction. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000.Şenlen Güvenç, Sıla. “[You Can’t Kill Me]: Scottish Identity and Anglo-Scottish Union in David Greig’s Dunsinane”. Scottish Literary Review 6/2 (2014). 93- 113.______________________. “Ne Kadar Uzaksa Ada, O Kadar Kuvvetlidir Çekim Gücü: Ölü Aktörler-David Greig’in “Uzak Adalar”ı. Tiyatro Tiyatro Dergisi. 269 (March 2015). 18-20.______________________. “Transnational Spaces and Cosmopolitan Identities in David Greig’s Work”. Trans-Cultural Identities in Literature and in Visual & Performance Arts. Kültür Üniversitesi. 29 March 2016.______________________. Correspondence with David Greig. 9 January 2018. E-mail.Wallace, Clare. The Theatre of David Greig. London: Bloomsbury, 2013.