A NEW play about the Scots language, the way people use it, and the tensions that it can expose is coming to the Ayrshire stage later this year as part of a Scotland-wide tour.

Common Tongue, by Fraser Scott, is to tour Scotland this autumn over 14 dates in September and October.

Presented by JGProducing in association with Ayr Gaiety, and with support from Paisley Arts Centre, the play will be performed at the Gaiety Theatre in Ayr on September 20.

The show will also tour to Stair Community Centre near Mauchline on September 24, Ballantrae Community Centre on September 26, and Fairlie Village Hall on September 27, before going on to Edinburgh, Peebles, Greenock, Cumbernauld, St Andrews, Dumfries and Paisley.

Originally presented in 2024 with support from Creative Scotland and in association with Cumbernauld Theatre, ‘Common Tongue’ is written and directed by Fraser Scott, and performed with deft humour and big heart by Olivia Caw as Bonnie.

The show’s production team say: “Bonnie’s life has been defined by wirds; the richt wans, the wrang wans, aun the wans used against her.

“Now, Bonnie haes a chance to speak aboot it. But the last time she done any public speaking wis a solo talk in Primary School. This time roon she’s no really sure whit she’s gonnae say, or even how she’s gonnae say it.”

(Image: Kris Kesiak) A fast-paced and quick-witted one-person show exploring the impact of language, identity and their intersections in Scotland; ‘Common Tongue’ follows Bonnie as she navigates her relationship with the way she speaks, coming to grips with the implications of her culture, and how much she can claim it or ignore it.

Olivia comes from Cumbernauld and is a graduate of the East 15 Acting School; her CV includes a spell in 2022 and 2023 as a cast member in Trainspotting Live, while she has also narrated two audiobooks - How to Survive Everything by Ewan Morrison and Santa Steals Christmas by Eve Nairn Magnete.

(Image: Josie Morrison Young) Fraser, from Paisley, trained at Birkbeck, University of London and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and is a recipient of the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Scholarship, a Cross Trust Award, and the John Byrne Award.

A play ‘aboot imperfect Scots’, Common Tongue highlights not only the richness of Scots, but the very real social, political, and personal tensions that language can expose.

This is a play for anyone who has ever been told they speak ‘wrong’ or have tried to find the right words.