Meet Moira Bell, cleaner, single mother, the hardest woman in Falkirk and the star of Alan Bissett’s ‘one woman show’. Whether defending her wee dog Pepe from the local rottweiler, attempting to seduce a teacher, or belting out Diana Ross for the Scotia karaoke night, Moira is hilarious, hypnotic, frightening and heart-warming company. Based on the women in Bissett’s family, from when he was growing up in Falkirk, Moira, her long-suffering pal Babs, her neighbour (Bawface), her laddies (‘they’re gid laddies, but they canny take their hash’) and her wee dug Pepe, have left audiences all over the country weak with laughter.
Alan Bissett is a playwright, novelist and performer, originally from Falkirk. He has published four novels, including Death of a Ladies’ Man(2009) and Pack Men (2011), both of which were shortlisted for the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Fiction of the Year Prize. In 2015 Alan had a street named after him in Falkirk and in 2016 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Stirling for his contribution to Scottish culture. In 2012 he was named Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Writer of the Year and in 2013 was shortlisted for the Creative Scotland /Daily Record Literature Award. His plays include his ‘one woman show’The Moira Monologues (2009) and its sequel More Moira Monologues(2016), which was shortlisted for Best New Play at the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) and won a Fringe First, Ban This Filth! (2013), shortlisted for an Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award, and Turbo Folk (2010) which was also shortlisted for Best New Play at the CATS. The short film which he wrote and narrated, The Shutdown (2009), won numerous awards at international and domestic film festivals.