Upper Clyde Shipbuilders a new play: Yes! Yes! U.C.S.!

Townsend Theatre Productions in association with Manchester University present the story of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) using their trademark integration of live rock and folk inspired music, sound and visual effects  to enhance the powerful theatrical story-telling, to intensify the emotional engagement and audience enthusiasm for meaningful and important messages of hope, social justice and improvements in quality of life. 

Yes! Yes! U.C.S! is a celebration of the community solidarity, collective resistance and the vital support that made the ‘Work In’ such a massive success. John Lennon and Yoko Ono sent a bunch of roses with message for the people of Glasgow; it read:

 “Power to the People!”

REVIEWS

  • "Come With us, run with us we're going to change the world'
    Lynne Walsh The Morning Star
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  • 'Tells the story of the Clydeside Shipbuilder work-in as a two-hander with excellent writing, innovative staging and amazing attention to detail. ' IKE AWARD for 'OUTSTANDING THEATRE'
    Chris Neville-Smith
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  • " It'll leave you wondering, does it get any better!'

    Ron Simpson Reviews Hub
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  • 'A theatrical triumph of British working-class history.'
    Claire Jenns The Voice Magazine
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  • 'Superbly played and sung ..... compassionate commemoration'
    Joyce McMillan The Scotsman
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  • 'Yes! Yes! UCS! is real, raw, and riveting'.
    Amber O' Connell Yorkshire Live
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  • ‘The balance between human interest & the bigger picture is well struck, & the show’s themes & motifs certainly remain relevant today’
    Sara Smith Musical Theatre Review
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  • 'Inspiring true story of workers’ power'
    Phil Turner Socialist Worker
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  • 'A big story wittily told in word and song'
    Clare Brennan The Observer
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  • 'Tour De Force'
    Jimmy Cloughley (UCS work-in veteran)
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It’s 1971 and Aggy McGraw, straight out of school, gets an office job at Fairfields shipyard in Govan a week before the new Tory government decides to stop any investment in what they call ‘lame duck’ industries, which includes shipbuilding on the Clyde. Facing an uncertain future, she has nothing to lose, except her job, and is swept up into the famous ‘Work In’ to demonstrate to the government that shipbuilding has a future - that the jobs, traditions, skills and communities can be saved.  

Townsend Theatre Productions’ new play Yes! Yes! U.C.S! is a celebration of the community solidarity and collective resistance inspired and led by Upper Clyde Shipbuilders’ shop stewards Jimmy’s Reid and Airlie, attracting massive national and international support that led to victory in the fight for Right to Work. 

John Lennon and Yoko Ono sent a bunch of roses 

with message for the people of Glasgow; it read:

 “Power to the People!”

TOUR DATES