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The Slab Boys Trilogy
Spanning the 1950s to the 70s, the plays capture the rebellious mood of a post-war generation growing up to a backdrop of James Dean, Elvis, sharp-suited glamour, hope and despair.
John Byrne takes the slab room he worked in and makes it pure theatre: the scams, the dreams, the aloof but gorgeous girl, the despair of life back home, the obligatory tormenting of the office 'weed', and the mandatory boy chat and pranks all help the day to pass. Phil and Spanky explode onto the stage in a classic vaudeville double-act.
Now considered one of Scotland's defining literary works of the twentieth century, the Slab Boys Trilogy premiered at the Traverse back in the late 1970s and early 80s taking Scotland, then Britain, and then Broadway quickly by storm.
The Traverse revived the Slab Boys Trilogy for the theatre's fortieth anniversary in November 2003.
John Byrne takes the slab room he worked in and makes it pure theatre: the scams, the dreams, the aloof but gorgeous girl, the despair of life back home, the obligatory tormenting of the office 'weed', and the mandatory boy chat and pranks all help the day to pass. Phil and Spanky explode onto the stage in a classic vaudeville double-act.
Now considered one of Scotland's defining literary works of the twentieth century, the Slab Boys Trilogy premiered at the Traverse back in the late 1970s and early 80s taking Scotland, then Britain, and then Broadway quickly by storm.
The Traverse revived the Slab Boys Trilogy for the theatre's fortieth anniversary in November 2003.
352 pages, Paperback
First published October 29, 1987
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About the author
John Byrne
2,960 books360 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
John Lindley Byrne is a British-born Canadian-American author and artist of comic books. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on nearly every major American superhero.
Byrne's better-known work has been on Marvel Comics' X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise. Coming into the comics profession exclusively as a penciler, Byrne began co-plotting the X-Men comics during his tenure on them, and launched his writing career in earnest with Fantastic Four (where he also started inking his own pencils). During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including Next Men and Danger Unlimited. He also wrote the first issues of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series and produced a number of Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
John Lindley Byrne is a British-born Canadian-American author and artist of comic books. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on nearly every major American superhero.
Byrne's better-known work has been on Marvel Comics' X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise. Coming into the comics profession exclusively as a penciler, Byrne began co-plotting the X-Men comics during his tenure on them, and launched his writing career in earnest with Fantastic Four (where he also started inking his own pencils). During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including Next Men and Danger Unlimited. He also wrote the first issues of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series and produced a number of Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 6, 2020
Mmm. The older Scots among us will recall that The Slab Boys trilogy was once regarded as an icon of Scottish culture back in the 1970s full as it is of [alleged] Scottish wit in the Glasgow vernacular. The story centres on the irreverent back-chat of two lads working in the colour-mixing room (the slab room) of a carpet factory and how their lives pan out over the three plays.
I remember seeing the first and most famous of the plays when I was a youngster and finding it a bit boring in spite of all the hype that surrounded it. Turns out my youthful instincts were right. It’s not just that it isn’t actually that funny, or that has become very dated, it is that the two lead characters are a couple of nasty bullies who are cruel to and make fun of people with mental health problems. I disliked them intensely and by the end of the third play still didn’t care what happened to them.
I hope these plays are never revived as I would be appalled if anyone thought for a minute that they represented Scottish culture past or present. One to be consigned to the archives and, hopefully, forgotten.
I remember seeing the first and most famous of the plays when I was a youngster and finding it a bit boring in spite of all the hype that surrounded it. Turns out my youthful instincts were right. It’s not just that it isn’t actually that funny, or that has become very dated, it is that the two lead characters are a couple of nasty bullies who are cruel to and make fun of people with mental health problems. I disliked them intensely and by the end of the third play still didn’t care what happened to them.
I hope these plays are never revived as I would be appalled if anyone thought for a minute that they represented Scottish culture past or present. One to be consigned to the archives and, hopefully, forgotten.
July 13, 2022
3.5 thereabouts
i am confused xxxxx john i don’t know what to think
i am confused xxxxx john i don’t know what to think
May 1, 2020
I had the great pleasure of seeing the production of The Slab Boys, the first in John Byrne’s amazing trilogy of plays, at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow with my daughter Ruth a few years ago and was therefore delighted to receive a copy of The Slab Boys Trilogy book from her for my birthday this year. Reading the three plays has been an absolute delight and every page has examples of the brilliance of John Byrne’s writing.
The Slab Boys trilogy is a genuine masterpiece and should be essential reading for anyone who has yet to discover why it has been described as ‘one of Scotland's defining literary works of the twentieth century’. If you’ve been fortunate to have enjoyed seeing stage productions of the plays, the book is the perfect way of reliving the theatrical magic you have witnessed. The wonderful humour of the pieces, particularly from the ‘double act’ exchanges between the two main characters, Phil and Spanky, are in brilliant evidence throughout but there is also poignancy, sadness and real senses of regret, especially in the latter two plays, Cuttin’ a Rug and Still Life.
John Patrick Byrne, both as a writer and a painter and artist, still somehow isn’t fully recognised or appreciated in his own country as the actual genius he undoubtedly is. If he had been born in France or Italy he would be lauded and loved in those countries with proper ‘national treasure’ status. This is reflected in the unbelievable struggles he had to endure to get Underwood Lane, his latest theatrical work, into production. We had tickets for this in July and had been really looking forward to it but sadly it has had to be postponed until next summer due to the current pandemic.
I will very much look forward to revisiting The Slab Boys trilogy book many times again in the future as the brilliance of John Byrne’s writing will continue to provide so much enjoyment and I would have no hesitation at all in giving the book the highest possible recommendation.
The Slab Boys trilogy is a genuine masterpiece and should be essential reading for anyone who has yet to discover why it has been described as ‘one of Scotland's defining literary works of the twentieth century’. If you’ve been fortunate to have enjoyed seeing stage productions of the plays, the book is the perfect way of reliving the theatrical magic you have witnessed. The wonderful humour of the pieces, particularly from the ‘double act’ exchanges between the two main characters, Phil and Spanky, are in brilliant evidence throughout but there is also poignancy, sadness and real senses of regret, especially in the latter two plays, Cuttin’ a Rug and Still Life.
John Patrick Byrne, both as a writer and a painter and artist, still somehow isn’t fully recognised or appreciated in his own country as the actual genius he undoubtedly is. If he had been born in France or Italy he would be lauded and loved in those countries with proper ‘national treasure’ status. This is reflected in the unbelievable struggles he had to endure to get Underwood Lane, his latest theatrical work, into production. We had tickets for this in July and had been really looking forward to it but sadly it has had to be postponed until next summer due to the current pandemic.
I will very much look forward to revisiting The Slab Boys trilogy book many times again in the future as the brilliance of John Byrne’s writing will continue to provide so much enjoyment and I would have no hesitation at all in giving the book the highest possible recommendation.
June 14, 2018
A heavy focus on characterisation within the context of comedy is the name of the game in all three plays, the first two especially.
Language is handled carefully and neatly - the author applying a bent on the inherent caricature through a kid gloves approach.
Still, what is often a land-locked literature in itself also features, here, in 2018, a snippet of a social past entirely common but never thoroughly nomenclated.
As such, the brand of comedy (launching from misnomers, puns, non-sequiturs and gentle farce) could prove inaccessible to international audiences; and tired to contemporary Scottish audiences currently acclimated to a different brand of working-class Scottish comedy.
Despite the focus on characterisation, I would have liked to have saw more character depth in The Slab Boys and Cuttin’ a Rug. The boys are nineteen; hidden passions are whispered but never shouted, even at the end of both plays.
However... a sudden curve ball: the third and final play, Still Life, has a noticeable maturity in its writing from the opening scene! The characters are different: Spanky from Act One; Phil from Act Two.
Not just different but have become developed, which along with the morphed (evolved...?) setting create a neat-but-slight holistic perspective. It’s an engaging end to the trilogy.
Overall I felt these plays showed up the artistic versatility of John Byrne well. And beyond that, a comfortable little seat in the canon of contemporary/modern Scottish literature.
Language is handled carefully and neatly - the author applying a bent on the inherent caricature through a kid gloves approach.
Still, what is often a land-locked literature in itself also features, here, in 2018, a snippet of a social past entirely common but never thoroughly nomenclated.
As such, the brand of comedy (launching from misnomers, puns, non-sequiturs and gentle farce) could prove inaccessible to international audiences; and tired to contemporary Scottish audiences currently acclimated to a different brand of working-class Scottish comedy.
Despite the focus on characterisation, I would have liked to have saw more character depth in The Slab Boys and Cuttin’ a Rug. The boys are nineteen; hidden passions are whispered but never shouted, even at the end of both plays.
However... a sudden curve ball: the third and final play, Still Life, has a noticeable maturity in its writing from the opening scene! The characters are different: Spanky from Act One; Phil from Act Two.
Not just different but have become developed, which along with the morphed (evolved...?) setting create a neat-but-slight holistic perspective. It’s an engaging end to the trilogy.
Overall I felt these plays showed up the artistic versatility of John Byrne well. And beyond that, a comfortable little seat in the canon of contemporary/modern Scottish literature.
September 4, 2022
Right I don’t want to cheat but I’ve not read Still Life and I couldn’t find a singular entry on Goodreads go Cuttin’ A Rug - consider this a Cuttin’ A Rug only review.
It was a pleasure to step back into the Slab Boys world. I’d have loved to see this live for the fact that it builds on the physical comedy of the first; you can really feel Byrne honing his craft as a playwright. This was great fun.
It was a pleasure to step back into the Slab Boys world. I’d have loved to see this live for the fact that it builds on the physical comedy of the first; you can really feel Byrne honing his craft as a playwright. This was great fun.
March 26, 2022
Cuttin a rug
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews