Style and Technique: Mixing Fiction and Fact
Style and Technique: Mixing Fiction and Fact
Overview
- The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil adeptly uses a blend of historical fact and fiction to engage audiences and communicate important socio-political messages.
- This style allows the playwright to weave together historical narratives that span centuries, grounding the contemporary issues addressed in the play in historical context.
Technique
- The structure of the play is episodic, moving between different periods and places, each of which works to highlight a specific issue related to exploitation and displacement.
- The characters in the play are often composite figures, combining characteristics from historical figures and fictional characters to emphasise their symbolic nature.
- Real historical events and characters such as the Clearances, represented by Patrick Sellar, are interwoven with fictional counterparts.
Function
- The mixing of fiction and fact allows the play to explore bigger themes of social justice, economic exploitation, and historical oppression.
- The fact-based elements give the play its historical authenticity, drawing attention to important historical events and their impact on the current context of the Highlands.
- Fictional elements provide emotional engagement, making it more relatable and engaging for the audience.
Impact
- This style invites the audience to reflect on history, revealing the connections between the past and present issues faced by the Highlanders and their land.
- The fact-fusion approach makes the issues discussed in the play relevant, highlighting the pervasive nature of exploitation and its continuity over time.
- The blending of fact and fiction also supports the play’s satiric element, adding a layer of humour to the critique of established power structures and greed.
Significance
- The mixing of fact and fiction is, therefore, a powerful narrative tool that enables The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil to deliver a compelling critique of exploitation and injustice.
- This innovative approach to storytelling has marked the play as a significant contribution to political theatre, providing a template for discussing complex socio-political issues through dramatic work.