Politics and friendhip collide in the tale of the Glasgow Girls

The tale’s relevance to modern Scotland, however, has not changed.

“It has become a different story, almost, in the light of how Scotland has changed since we first performed it in 2012,” explains its creator, Cora Bissett.

“Then, it was an expose of something truly awful going on in our midst, that most people weren’t aware of and the frustration felt by the community who wanted to do something about it.”

She adds: “Now, it’s a more global play, in a sense – everyone is talking about refugees and asylum seekers and immigration has become the most urgent issue of our times.

“There has been mass displacement of people because of wars the UK has often had a hand in – this is not some remote problem, happening in a wee, far-away niche of the world.

“This is our problem and we have to deal with it.”

Glasgow Girls is set in 2005, when seven schoolgirls from Drumchapel High supported by community members and teachers fought for the rights of their friend, who had fled from war-torn Kosovo, to stay in Scotland.

As more and more families were dawn-raided and deported, the girls publicly challenged politicians and rallied support from their neighbours – including Noreen Real and Jean Donnachie, who were subsequently crowned Evening Times Scotswomen of the Year – to defend the rights of all refugee children.

“Noreen and Jean are formidable, and fantastic – they still speak of their Evening Times SWOTY awards with love and pride,” says Cora.

“The story is as much about them – and the teachers and wider community – as it is about the incredible teenagers. People say community doesn’t exist any more but it does – it is alive and well in Glasgow.”

Despite successful runs in Glasgow and London, the play has never toured before so Cora, whose own company, Pachamama Productions, is staging this run with support from National Theatre of Scotland, is delighted it will reach a wider audience.

“It’s a lot of hard work to get a tour together, but we believe in it so much,” she says. “It feels like this story has not had a fair life yet – it needs to reach more people.”

When the play was revived in 2014 for a short run, it was just before the Scottish independence referendum.

“At that point, there were obvious questions around our immigration laws and how we could have more control – immigration is still not a devolved power,” explains Cora.

“This time, we have just voted to leave Europe and suddenly, there is a worrying undercurrent of emerging racism happening again.

“I have seen it myself – my partner and I saw a woman screaming ‘go home’ at a young black mother and her child on an Edinburgh street.

“We went up to her and said – what are you doing? Shut up! People need to take a step back and think about what they are doing….”

She adds: “But at the same time, there has been such massive grass roots activism generated on social media and elsewhere – people who, like the Glasgow Girls, see the injustice and want to do something about it.”

For that reason, Glasgow Girls remains as topical and as important as it was in 2012 – this week, it won the prestigious Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award, presented at the Edinburgh Fringe - and with many schools approaching Cora for permission to stage the play on their own, the story looks set to resonate for years to come.

“So many teachers have asked me, after seeing the show, if they can get the script and stage their own productions that we’re looking in to how to do that – it’s complicated, because of all the rights involved, but hopefully we can make it happen,” she adds.

“It’s almost as if the story has become bigger than the real event it was based on – it’s become an allegory. People want to see it, and use it, because within it, they can see the beauty and the hope.”

Glasgow Girls returns to the Citizens Theatre from August 30 to September 3.