It’s fair to say the world of keeping pigeons is not seen by everyone as sexy. When we think of men and their doos (and it’s almost invariably men) we think of wartime misery, of s***-splattered crumbling huts and older blokes with bunnets gently pecking the mouths of creatures whom they’ve become overly fond of, perhaps even hypnotically controlled by. It’s also fair to generalise that those who keep doos tend not to be life’s extroverts, the types who in fact like to spend lots of quiet time in personal reflection.

All that suggests this not to be the world of the young playwright - but that isn’t the case at all. Laurie Motherwell has come up with Roost, a new play set in the world of the doocot. “I grew up in the south side of Glasgow and saw quite a few doocots around, and I’ve always been quite fascinated by them,” explains the writer, smiling.

“I really wondered what was going on with them, and I guess I collected information over the time. Then, a few years ago I had the idea of setting a play in this world and dived into it.”

The playwright came to appreciate that the doocot, over the years, has cut across social divides, it was a sport/pastime practised by kings and commoners across the world and pigeon fanciers have been around for 5,000 years. (Have anoraks really been around all this time?) “At the same time, I liked the idea of hobbies bringing people together, whether arts or sport.”

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Motherwell knew he had a world in which to play out his drama which focuses on the life of Bingo, a ‘doo man’, whom we learn has such an addiction to this hobby, to the extent that it causes him to neglect his daughter. But into this world comes real conflict in the form of Hana, a social worker, who has to deliberate upon Bingo’s case for the custody of his little girl.

The feathers begin to fly when the relationship between Bingo and Hana become all the more complicated. We learn that Hana is especially familiar with the world of doo keeping, given her father was also a ‘doo man’. And Bingo makes the most of this connection.

Can Bingo manage to maintain a relationship with his daughter? And can Hana hold onto her professional integrity, while allowing Bingo to flap his own wings where his doos are concerned? “Hana is an idealistic young social worker. She wants to create good in the world. But her previous history with pigeon-keeping causes her difficulties.”

Laurie Motherwell, who grew up in a world surrounded by his mum’s actor school friends, major talents such as Great Smeaton and Ross Stenhouse, is keen to illustrate that the world of pigeon keeping these days may seem old-fashioned but is nonetheless populated by the passionate. “These birds can live for 15 years. And every day the doo keepers let them go, and hope that they will come back. So, there is a lot at stake. A lot of emotions are involved and there is the competition element, with your bird attracting other birds back to your loft.”

The Herald: Laurie MotherwellLaurie Motherwell (Image: free)

Yes indeed. Heady stuff for some. But all the more dramatic when you weave around this world a tale of personal consequences. Laurie Motherwell has already revealed himself to be skilled in entering the small, localised world in Scotland in which dullness may be assumed, but never taken for granted.

His comedy play Sean and Daro Flake It ‘Till They Make It, set in an ice cream van and populated by two likely lads, was a hit at the Fringe Festival last year. There is no reason why he can’t gain the same impact from insight into the doo world. “I like the doo backdrop,” says the writer who gained an MSc in Playwriting at Edinburgh University. “And my mother was a social worker, so there’s this realisation of what people have to do create harmony. It’s a hard profession.”

What Motherwell has cleverly done is bring together two very unlikely people, both somehow bound by a passion for locking birds up in lofts - and releasing them every day.

But it’s not just a small world play about feathers and flight. It’s a play about fathers and daughters. And you can’t go wrong with a theme so universal, can you?

Hannah Yahya Hassan and Conor McLeod star in Roost, A Play Pie and a Pint, Oran Mor, Glasgow, May 14 -19, and co-presented with Dumfries and Galloway Arts Centre.

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The King’s Theatre, Glasgow, May 21-25.