A MUSICAL about the historic equal pay dispute involving Glasgow City Council is set to begin this month.

'Oor Frances' follows the true story of carer Frances Stojilkovic who set up a Facebook group called 'Equal pay for equal work' which began with a handful of her colleagues before acquiring thousands of members. 

The group formed the basis of what would turn into 8000 women going on strike for two days in 2018, in the fight for equal pay after campaigners said workers in roles such as catering or cleaning were receiving up to £3 an hour less than those in male-dominated areas such as refuse collection.

Glasgow City Council announced in November 2022 that they had agreed to pay out a total of around £770million to settle the long-running equal pay dispute.

Payments were made to about 19,000 claimants, both current and former employees, by the end of last year.

The case was originally settled at an estimated cost of £500m in 2019, but some claims were made too late to be included in the earlier deal.

And the production looks to capture the historic moment through the eyes of one of the key players, Frances.

The play is written and directed by Paul Moore.

Roger Clifford, an actor and schoolteacher from Clydebank, who features in several roles throughout the play, was keen to highlight the importance of the subject. 

He said: "We are currently in rehearsals, and they have been going on for a couple of weeks. I am the only guy in the production.

"There are eight women in it, and I play several different roles in the play from a councillor to a newsreader.

"Frances is the main character. There are not any small parts in the production.

"Everyone has an important role. It is important to remember that Frances had an army of women behind her.

"Glasgow City Council was on its knees as several services closed. I didn't know all the history but eventually, through rehearsing, I started to learn more and more about it.

"Eventually, you can't help but become inspired by it all."

'Oor Frances' opens on Thursday, April 25 from 7.30pm until 10pm at Websters Theatre, Glasgow.

The production is also running on Friday, April, 26 and Saturday, April 27 at the same time, with additional performances taking place on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

You can buy tickets for the show by clicking here.