First performed in 1552, David Lindsay's play combines broad humour and farce with criticism of the corruption and hypocrisy in the ruling establishment. Alan Spence's contemporary version retains the structure and spirit of Lindsay's script, while giving his language a new lease of life.

David Lindsay's "The 3 Estaites" is - by common consent - Scotland's greatest play. First performed in Cupar, Fife in June 1552, it is the earliest Scottish play to have survived. Full of broad humour and pantomime-like farce, it also deals with dangerous topical issues, hitting out at corruption and hypocrisy in the ruling establishment, denouncing the oppression of the poor and calling for social "reformation". This contemporary Scots version by the leading poet and playwright Alan Spence retains the structure and spirit of Lindsay's script, while giving his language a new lease of life.