'Dark comedy with heart' set in Glasgow cafe to make stage debut

Aaron Kirkwood wrote A Dream Called Vienna during the second Covid lockdown in winter 2021 when he entered the Scottish Community Drama Association (SCDA) Play on Words competition.

While the competition allowed for a wide scope of settings and plots, it had to be topical.

Aaron’s award-winning script follows the lives of three women – Marie, Agnes and Tina - at different stages of their lives working in a café and the difficulties they face while trying to make their unpursued dreams a reality.

It will debut at The Fort Theatre later this month.

Aaron, who works in education, said: "The underlying theme of A Dream Called Vienna is female empowerment, of the expectations on women, especially for the older characters, to do certain jobs and live certain lives.

"The play takes three generations of women and examines their differences from everything from work ethic to sexual habits, through deadpan humour and Glasgow dialogue.

"It’s definitely a character-driven play, so once I had these strong characters, the dialogue practically wrote itself because everyone knows a Marie, an Agnes, a Tina."

The 32-year-old added: "It’s a very female-driven play, there’s not many men.

"One of the only male characters is someone who holds a position of power over them and that’s deliberate."

From a young age, Aaron says he used to write "pretend" scripts for TV shows and performed in different theatre companies but this will be the first play he has written that will be performed.

He says A Dream Called Vienna creates a "real host of emotions" for the audience.

Aaron said: "It’s a dark comedy but it’s got a lot of heart to it.

"It’s funny but it’s also got some real moment of pathos in it there as well.

"Hopefully the audience will be entertained."

After entering the competition, Aaron says he 'forgot all about it' but was "really pleased" when he found out he won.

As part of the prize for winning the competition, Aaron worked with Guy Hollands, former artistic director of the Citizens Theatre, to develop the play further.

Guy realised the play had the potential to be extended from its original one-act format and supported Aaron in working it into a full-length play.

Of the experience, Aaron said: "It was a really enjoyable experience actually getting to work with him and learn from a director’s point of view what would work on stage.

"His insight was great, and it was a really proud moment."

Now, with less than two weeks to go until the play’s debut, Aaron says he is "really excited" to see it coming together.

He said: "The cast are working exceptionally hard, they’re doing a fantastic job.

"There’s some really powerful performances coming through."

After the show completes its run in Bishopbriggs, Aaron is hopeful he will see it picked up by other theatre companies as he believes it has the potential to be a "much loved Scottish play".  

Guy Holland said: "A Dream Called Vienna is a rare combination of sparky dialogue, well-rounded characters and powerful emotion- an accessible, warm-hearted play for our times.

"Ultimately, Aaron hopes the play will become one of Scotland’s best-loved- and with characters as memorable as these, it’s easy to see why that dream may well come to be."

A Dream Called Vienna will be at The Fort Theatre in Bishopbriggs from Wednesday, March 27 until Saturday, March 30.

You can find out more HERE.