From left to right: Kevin Chapman, Pat Thornhill, Emma Stewart, Gillian Spooner and Audrey Christianson

As the 20th Century drew to a close we joined the company of the ladies as they went about their chores in the pre-laundrette wash house.  Listening to them as they laughed, sang and symphathised with each other and of course had a good old gossip...

This play with music was written by the Scottish actor Tony Roper perhaps best known south of the border for his role as the sidekick of Rab C Nesbitt in the BBC2 television series of that name and also Naked Video.

Set in a Glasgow steamie, the pre-launderette establishments provided for the working class to do their washing, the play looked at the relationships, gossip and the humour of the ladies using them. These public wash houses became a social centre for the working class ladies of the local community to meet and have chat and laugh without the presence of their men folk.

The play was first presented in Scotland in 1987, with subsequent productions in Nottingham, Oldham and then at the Greenwich Theatre under the name of 'Talk of the Steamie'. It was also made into a successful adaptation for Channel 4.