A SHOW created by a talented Largs writer and producer which indulged his own love of Britpop and the 1990s music scene has been nominated for a prestigious award.

Andy McGregor drew on his own experiences from his own band Blind Pew to create the memorable production.

Based on the Britpop era of 30 years ago, the show is set in Greenock and was co-produced by the town's Beacon Arts Centre and Andy's own Sleeping Warrior Theatre Company.

The venue hosted two sold-out performances of the show last October before setting out on a tour of 13 venues across Scotland.

And the show has now been nominated for the 'best sound and music' prize at the 2024 Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) Awards.

Battery Park tells the story of Tommy, a jaded, middle-aged guy from Greenock, and the story of his band from the '90s, Battery Park.

Part theatre and part live music gig, Battery Park took the audience on a journey back to the 1990s when Tommy, his brother Ed, their best pal Biffy and a private school pupil, Robyn, created the band and prepared for the biggest gig of their lives. 

Largs and Millport Weekly News:

Tommy’s nostalgic reminiscing took audiences back to the band members' Greenock lives and how their big time dreams nearly became reality, with a support gig for Oasis at the Barrowland Ballroom.

Andy is a director, composer and playwright who trained at Glasgow University and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and whose career has come full circle from his days as a pop singer.

A spokesperson for Sleeping Warrior Theatre Company said: "We are delighted that Battery Park - our co-production with Beacon Arts Centre - has received a CATS award nomination for Best Sound and Music."

Andy wrote the music for the show and co-wrote the lyrics with Isla Cowan, while the sound design for the production was by Fraser Butler Milroy.


Largs and Millport Weekly News: Andy McGregor in his Blind Pew days which were an influence on Battery Park productionAndy McGregor in his Blind Pew days which were an influence on Battery Park production (Image: Sleeping Warrior Theatre Company)

It's up against Club Life, by Fred Deakin, David Miller and Sita Pieraccini, Jim Harbourne's Ragnarok, and the Dundee Rep and Royal Lyceum production of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Sunset Song.

The awards will be presented in a glittering ceremony at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow on Sunday, June 16.

Other award categories at the ceremony will include best ensemble, best director, best production, best new play, and best production for children and young people. 

Sleeping Warrior Theatre Company was set up by Andy in 2012 to create exciting, original, high quality theatre with a focus on heightened theatricality and original music