James Ley is a Scottish playwright and screenwriter based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. He is best known for the play ''Love Song to Lavender Menace'' which premiered at

Royal Lyceum Theatre The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by a ...

, Edinburgh in 2017. Ley’s previous works include ''I Heart Maths'' for Oran Mor, ''SPAIN'' for Glasgay! and ''UP'' for The Vault, Edinburgh Fringe. Written as an LGBT History Month Scotland Cultural Commission Ley's play ''Love Song to Lavender Menace'' . the play explores the story of the

Lavender Menace Bookshop The Lavender Menace Bookshop was an independent gay bookshop in Edinburgh from 1982 to 1986. It was the first gay bookshop in Scotland and the second in the United Kingdom. As of 2019, the Lavender Menace now operates as The Lavender Menace Qu ...

in Edinburgh which operated between 1982 and 1987. The play was first performed at the Village Pub Theatre,

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

which presents readings of short plays and was co-founded by Ley. In 2022 Ley's surreal romantic comedy Wilf, a play about a man who falls in love with his car was performed at

Traverse Theatre The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded as The Traverse Theatre Club in 1962 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes, Richard Demarco, Terry Lane, Andrew Muir, John Martin and Sheila Colvin. The Traverse Th ...

as part of their

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

season. Also in 2022 Ley wrote and directed Ode to Joy (How Gordon got to go to the nasty pig party) which was performed at

Summerhall Summerhall is an arts complex and events venue in Edinburgh, Scotland. Formerly home to the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies of the University of Edinburgh, it is now a major Edinburgh Festival Fringe visual and performing arts venue. ...

as part of the Made in Scotland Showcase at the

and it won a Scotsman Fringe First Award

Selected works

* ''The Ego Plays'', Oberon Books, 2011, * ''Love Song to Lavender Menace,'' Oberon Books, 2017, * ''Wilf'' (

, 2022) * ''Ode to Joy (How Gordon got to go to the nasty pig party)'' (

, 2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ley, James 21st-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights Scottish LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights Writers from Edinburgh Living people Year of birth missing (living people)