21 August 2021

By Göran R Buckhorn

Playwright Ed Waugh has a book out with his three plays about the Geordie heroes: Harry Clasper, Joe Wilson and Glenn McCrory, Göran R Buckhorn writes.

The professional oarsman and boat builder Harry Clasper is a household name on HTBS – and since 2015 so also is Ed Waugh. Ed’s claim to fame – at least on these pages – is his brilliant play about Clasper, Hadaway Harry, which HTBS has written about numerous times.

In early 2020, in London, it was time for another play from Ed’s hand, Carrying David. In this play, Ed has moved to another sport, boxing. Carrying David is the dramatic story of how the terminally ill David McCrory inspired his bother Glenn to become the cruiserweight champion of the world.

The play had already been a huge success at playhouses in North-East England and Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, Carrying David was cancelled in London due to the COVID-19 outbreak, so Londoners never had the chance to see it.

Now there is a possibility, maybe not to see it, but at least to read the play. Tyne Bridge Publishing in Newcastle-upon-Tyne has just published Ed Waugh’s Geordie Plays about the three Geordie sons Harry Clasper, Joe Wilson and Glenn McCrory. The book includes the three plays: Hadaway Harry, The Great Joe Wilson and Carrying David.

The publisher writes:

Harry Clasper, Joe Wilson and Glenn McCrory; three Tyneside heroes, each with a magnificent tale to tell. It’s important we are still talking about these icons who have added so much to our culture. And in his Geordie Plays, Ed Waugh brings to the stage the essence of what it means to battle against all odds to make an impact, in what is often a brutal and unforgiving world. These three published plays also reveal so much about how important regional heritage is and how the North East has a unique cultural identity that makes its people proud.

On Saturday, 16 October, Ed will talk about his new book at Newcastle City Library. More information about this event can be found here. For those who can not attend the event, Tyne Bridge Publishing is keen to film the event and stream it online.

Geordie Plays can be found in good book shops in Britain. In the USA, copies can be found on Amazon.com.