Plot summary
McGrath explores the socio-economic history of the Highlands, from the Clearances to the discovery of oil in the North Sea in the 1960s. He presents this story in an accessible way using traditional and popular forms that the audience would recognise instantly.
In the play鈥檚 opening monologue, the Master of Ceremonies (M.C.) introduces the story as having a beginning, a middle, but, as yet, no end
.
The play is without distinct 鈥楢cts鈥, but broadly speaking it can be divided into three separate sections:
- the
beginning
deals with the Cheviot - a breed of sheep that people were removed from the land to make room for - the
middle
deals with the stag 鈥 representing the hunting estates created in a second wave of clearances - the
end
of the play deals with the black, black oil - the playwright speculates as to what the future (theend
?) might hold in store for the Highland people when the oil boom has led to economic uncertainty