Elton John and Bernie Taupin met in the most unusual circumstances, coming to create, arguably, the most successful songwriting partnership ever, as a result of an ad placed in the New Musical Express.

Fascinatingly, a new, powerful collaboration in Scottish theatre has emerged, not emanating from a music paper ad but the modern version, which is a social media Tweet.

In 2021, Andy McGregor put out a Tweet asking for someone to work with him on a new play; ideas welcome. And there were many replies, but Isla Cowan’s submission stood out. But would they prove to the Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy of Scottish theatre?  “A friend of mine was saying the other day that of all the people in Scottish theatre she thought may become collaborators, me and Andy would not be a natural match up,” says Cowan, smiling.

The reason for the suspected incongruity? Andy McGregor is recognised for a string of hugely popular plays and musical comedies such as his chip shop drug dealer comedy Spuds and the semi-autobiographical pop band story Battery Park.

Yet, Isla Cowan is considered to come from the serious subject content world, of environmental issues, ecology and ecofeminism, revealed in plays such as to The Bone and The View from Portobello.  “Yet, while it was an unexpected pairing it’s really worked well together,” says Cowan.

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"I hadn’t seen any of Andy’s work previously although I was aware of it. But in this lockdown time I was keen to work with anyone I could and so we decided to have a go.”

Cowan pitched a story idea about the Brent Spar occupation of 1995, whereby a group of Greenpeace activists occupied a vast oil store in the middle of the North Sea in protest at Shell's plans to dump it at sea. McGregor  loved the idea. But could she co-write a musical? The pair agreed to write one song, as a tester to see if they were in tune with the idea and the result was the opener To Save The Sea. “It really works,” says Cowan, recalling the excitement of the moment.

And the pair set to work on what was to become a new sung-through Scottish musical, backed by the National Theatre of Scotland. “The core of the play is based around the activists,” says Cowan, “and it traces how it all became a world story with John Major and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl becoming involved. And we have three different groups competing; the activists, the oil company bosses and the politicians.”

The problem the pair had to face initially however was that these were lockdown months. As a result, their chats and meetings took place on Zoom, (not a million miles away from the Elton-Bernie strategy when the Lincolnshire teenager would post off lyrics to his new chum.) And over the months Cowan and McGregor felt entirely in tune. “The scale and the spectacularity of a musical somehow felt right for this story,” she offers. “I’d never been involved in writing a musical before, but I’ve been to see lots and been really interested in them. And I wrote songs as a kid.”

Isla Cowan grew up in a single parent household in Edinburgh and studied English Literature at Cambridge, followed by a master’s degree in writing for performance at the University of St Andrews. Since then, she has written acclaimed plays such as She Wolf, her own one-woman Fringe show, described as a ‘howl of rage about a young city-based professional driven to animal extremes by a system weighed against her.’

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Now however, their new musical To Save The Sea will feature "heartbreaking ballads, outrageous villains, rock music and comedic cabaret.”

That content suggests a serious piece of entertainment?  “I’ve found that writing lyrics which feature drama, comedy and pathos to be completely liberating,” Cowan claims. “And while I’ve brought the research, the knowledge of the environment, Andy has brought his background of music and comedy - and it seems we’ve brought our powers together.”

The first few months involved sending lyrics back and forward using Googledocs, and “bits of melody” and Cowan offered up her own musicality experience. “Andy still has some voice notes of me singing down his phone,” she says, grinning, “but this virtual writing process really worked well, although the first draft of the musical was three and a half hours long, which suggested the epic scale of the story.”

Eventually, Cowan and McGregor met up, at the National Theatre of Scotland’s HQ. “There was a wee bit of nervousness, a wonder if we would get on in person, would we have that collaborative chemistry, but it all worked out and we agreed we would direct the musical together.” She laughs. “Yes, sometimes we disagree but we manage to find the middle ground that works for the show. And any problems can be sorted with biscuits.”

The musical, with pop rock, Broadway styles and little bits of burlesque, has a grand cast of eight, and has a strong humour content, in spite of the subject matter being incredibly serious. “Yes, it is,” she considers, “but the protest on the Brent Spar was about stopping oil being dumped which I think that helps in that the 1975 protest wasn’t entirely despairing about the future. And it’s an incredibly inspiring story. It reinforces beliefs that ordinary people can make a change. It’s uplifting, it shows that big companies can be challenged successfully.”

But how successful, given 24 new North Sea oil development licenses have been granted? “Yes, it’s quite despairing. But there has to be a sense of hope, and I think that’s what we can really take from this story.”

The writer adds; “Yet, what we’ve never forgotten is that why the musical has such a strong environmental message, we’ve always wanted it to be a good night out.”

To Save The Sea, The Tron Theatre, Glasgow, September 25 – 28, followed by a Scottish tour in October and November.