Carnwath, Lanark, Leadhills, Coulter, Crawfordjohn, Symington and Biggar

I’d like to say I hunt new plays down like a butterfly collector but that’s not what happens. Before the story and the characters form, I see, hear or read something that stops me in my tracks. It can be an old travel journal, a name on a memorial stone or, in this case, a tiny room where ladies used to sew.

When I first climbed the dark creaking staircase to the sewing room at the top of Castlepark house, my heart was beating fast. The hairs on the back of my neck told me I was entering a lost world. A place stitched into the past – a quiet nook for contemplation and creativity, and a sanctuary for someone who's hiding from the world. The play ideas that endure contain characters who demand to live in these new worlds. Strong, complicated and driven characters. People I know our audiences will be interested in.