Ego Plays
Includes the plays Spain, I Heart Maths and Up
The theme of self-indulgence unites the three plays in The Ego Plays collection. At the heart of each is a gay man asking a lot of questions… about himself. These questions range from scientififIc and philosophical musings to angst-ridden pleas for enlightenment. They come from men who have become so trapped in their own situations that they can no longer successfully connect with the outside world. Up is a play about despair, I Heart Maths is a play about love and Spain is a play about moving on. Together they present the cognitive processes of three men who have allowed personal problems to grow to monstrous proportions. In each of these plays excessive self analysisleads to the main characters taking desperate measures, though frequently also leading to humorous consequences. But while these plays are comedies, exploring the perils of taking oneself too seriously, they are not intended to be cruel. Instead they set their characters free by making their worst fears come true and then taking them somewhere new.
Edinburgh writer James Ley took his play UP to The Vault for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2009 and to the CCA for Glasgay! in 2010. Mentored through the Playwrights’ Studio Scotland mentoring scheme in 2009/2010 he was a finalist in Glasgay!s Playfest 2010 competition.