SEASON RELEASE 2016
THE NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND’S 10th BIRTHDAY YEAR 2016
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2016 IN BRIEF
January

National Theatre of Scotland’s Artistic Director Laurie Sansom hosts Meet the Artists, an
evening of conversation and performance as audiences have the chance to preview the
Company's upcoming productions and to hear more about the work from many of the
theatre-makers involved. Sunday 24 January 2016 at The Lyceum, Edinburgh.

National Theatre of Scotland’s award-winning production Let the Right One In arrives in
South Korea for an ambitious new Korean-language restaging, courtesy of Sensee Theatre
Company. John Tiffany directs, with associate directors Vicki Manderson and Jessica
Richards. (Seoul, South Korea from 21 January 2016.)
Opening February

The mighty The James Plays return to the stage, as Rona Munro’s ground-breaking historical
trilogy embarks on a five month Scottish, UK, and international tour, directed by Laurie
Sansom. Three generations of Stewart kings rule Scotland through blood and betrayal, with
audiences once again invited to view the plays as a day-long triple bill of performances.
Opening at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre before touring to Inverness, Glasgow, Northampton,
Salford, Newcastle, Sheffield, Norwich, Canterbury, Plymouth, Nottingham, Adelaide,
Auckland and Toronto (3 February to 26 June 2016)

The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, one of the National Theatre of Scotland’s most
successful touring shows, hits the road again. David Greig and Wils Wilson’s seminal folk
theatre fable heads back to the USA (10 February to 8 May 2016) before returning to
Scottish town halls and barns (17 May to 11 June 2016).

Acclaimed theatre-makers Told by an Idiot present I Am Thomas -a brutal new comedy with
songs, co-produced with National Theatre of Scotland and The Lyceum, Edinburgh in
association with Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse. Opening at Liverpool Playhouse before
touring to Salford, Salisbury, Edinburgh, Inverness and London. (18 February to 30 April
2016) A world premiere.
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Opening March and April

Aberdeen’s famous Marischal College will provide a fittingly majestic backdrop to the epic
theatrical finale of Granite, an eight-month participatory arts project celebrating the history
and character of the Silver City and its people. The National Theatre of Scotland has
collaborated with some of the City’s leading cultural groups to collect stories that will be
woven into the final performances (31 March to 2 April) . A world premiere.

This Restless House, a new trilogy of plays by acclaimed writer Zinnie Harris, inspired by
Aeschylus’ Greek tragedy The Oresteia, presented in a co-production with the Citizens
Theatre. Dominic Hill directs the bloody saga of a family torn apart by a succession of
murders and betrayals. At the Citizens Theatre (15 April to 15 May 2016). Three world
premieres.
Opening May and June

The 306: Dawn, the first part in a brand-new cycle of three music pieces commemorating
the First World War, written by Oliver Emanuel with music composed by Gareth Williams,
co-produced with Perth Theatre and 14-18 NOW, in association with Red Note Ensemble.
Laurie Sansom directs the first part of this trilogy exploring the stories of the 306 men shot
for cowardice and desertion during the First World War. Dawn is set around the Battle of the
Somme in July 1916, and will be ambitiously staged in the Perthshire countryside (24 May to
11 June 2016), with parts two and three to follow in 2017 and 2018 respectively. A world
premiere.

Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour burst back onto the stage following their award-winning
debut in 2015. Based on Alan Warner’s hit novel The Sopranos and directed by Vicky
Featherstone, Lee Hall’s raucous and life-affirming piece of music theatre about six girls on
the cusp of change was an unparalleled hit with audiences and critics alike, and returns for
performances in Scotland, the UK, Ireland and USA including a return for the National
Theatre of Scotland to the National Theatre of Great Britain (May to September 2016).

Now in its eighth year, the National Theatre of Scotland’s vibrant Exchange programme
brings together groups of young theatre-makers (aged 16 to 25 years old) from Scotland and
across the world, to facilitate a national and international exchange of new theatre works.
Exchange 2016 features eight groups of theatre-makers from Scotland, the USA, and New
Zealand, who will present their pieces at Stirling’s Macrobert Arts Centre ( 5 to 9 July 2016).
July
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Opening August

The TEAM, Edinburgh International Festival and the National Theatre of Scotland form an
exciting new alliance to premiere Anything That Gives Off Light exploring the relationship
between Scotland and the USA, past and present, featuring a Scots-American cast and
music. Directed by the TEAM’s Rachel Chavkin, with Associate Direction from Davey
Anderson, at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2016.
Opening October

Trans lives are shared in a timely and insightful double-bill, Eve/Adam, introducing two new
plays, Eve and Adam, created by leading UK theatre artists Cora Bissett, Jo Clifford and Chris
Goode and featuring a digital global trans choir. Touring to Glasgow and Edinburgh in
October 2016.

Aboriginal hip-hop, Jamaican parkour, Urban and Island Gaels and Brazilian circus theatre
join forces at a major new international community arts festival at Tramway, Glasgow, from
8 to 13 October 2016. Home Away features ten new productions from Scotland, Brazil,
Jamaica, Australia, India and USA, and a symposium for the participatory arts community.
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NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND INTERNATIONAL REPERTOIRE
A REPLICA PRODUCTION
Sensee Company Inc presents the National Theatre of Scotland’s production, by arrangement with
Marla Rubin Productions Ltd and Bill Kenwright, of
Let the Right One In
A stage adaptation by Jack Thorne based on the Swedish novel and screenplay of the film by John
Ajvide Lindqvist, Directed by John Tiffany, Associate Directors Vicki Manderson & Jessica Richards,
Associate Designer- Bret Banakis; Lighting Designer- Chahine Yavroyan; Sound Designer- Gareth Fry;
Associate Costume Designer- Aileen Sherry; Special Effects Designer- Jeremy Chernick,
Associate Special Effects Designer- Niamh O’Meara; Technical Consultant- Martin Woolley.
At Seoul, South Korea from 21 January to 28 February 2016.
Let the Right One In is a stage adaptation of the hit Swedish novel and film, a brutal and tender
vampire myth told through the turbulence of a coming-of-age romance. Oskar, a lonely boy from a
broken home, is bullied at school and longing for friendship. Eli, the young girl who moves in next
door, doesn't attend school and rarely leaves home. When a series of mysterious killings plagues the
neighbourhood, these two young misfits, sensing in each other a kindred spirit, forge a deep
connection. But the shocking truth about one of them tests their young friendship and love beyond
all imaginable limits.
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First presented in Scotland in 2013, the original production was directed by Tony and Olivier Awardwinning director John Tiffany (Black Watch, Once), and was adapted for the stage by Jack Thorne
following the international success of the original Swedish movie and the subsequent Hollywood
film, based on John Ajvide Lindqvist's hit novel. The original creative team also included Olivier
Award-winning associate director Steven Hoggett (Black Watch, Beautiful Burnout, American Idiot),
music by Icelandic composer by Ólafur Arnalds, set design by Tony Award winner Christine Jones,
lighting design by Chahine Yavroyan, sound design by Gareth Fry and special effects design by
Jeremy Chernick. The production enjoyed a critically acclaimed run at Dundee Rep Theatre before
touring to London's Royal Court Theatre, and Apollo Theatre, London, as well as St Ann's Warehouse
in New York. In 2014 it won the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Best Theatre.
This ambitious new restaging by South Korea’s Sensee Company will be performed entirely in
Korean, with an all-new cast taking on the roles. It follows on from a Japanese production of
National Theatre of Scotland’s one-man production of Macbeth in 2015, with celebrated actor
Kuranosuke Sasaki inheriting the role played by Alan Cumming in 2012. Director John Tiffany returns,
alongside Associate Directors Vicki Manderson and Jessica Richards.
Touring to Seoul, South Korea from 21 January to 28 February 2016.
Opening performance in Seoul on Saturday 23 January 2016.
NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND REPERTOIRE
The National Theatre of Scotland, the Edinburgh International Festival and the National
Theatre of Great Britain present
The James Plays
Three plays about James I, II and III of Scotland by Rona Munro, directed by Laurie Sansom
James I: The Key Will Keep The Lock, James II: Day of the Innocents, and James III: The True Mirror
Design by Jon Bausor, Lighting Design by Philip Gladwell; Sound Design by Christopher Shutt (James
I and II) and Nick Sagar (James III); Movement Director Neil Bettles; Music Composed by Paul
Leonard Morgan (James I and II) and Will Gregory (James III).
Ensemble cast: Rosemary Boyle, Daniel Cahill, Ali Craig, Malin Crepin, Blythe Duff, Nick Elliot, Peter
Forbes, Andrew Fraser, Dani Heron, Brian James Sian Mannifield, David Mara Steven Miller, Callum
Morrison, Matthew Pidgeon, Sally Reid, Andrew Rothney, John Stahl, Andrew Still and Fiona Wood
The three kings are played by Steven Miller (James I), Andrew Rothney (James II) and Matthew
Pidgeon (James III).
Touring to Edinburgh, Inverness, Glasgow, Northampton, Salford, Newcastle, Sheffield, Norwich,
Canterbury, Plymouth, Nottingham, Adelaide, Auckland and Toronto from 3 February to 26 June
2016.
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Following critical acclaim and box office success in 2014, The James Plays by Rona Munro, and
directed by Laurie Sansom undertake a major UK and international tour in 2016, visiting 11 venues
across England and Scotland, as well as performing at international festivals in Australia and New
Zealand. The 2014 productions originally co-produced with the Edinburgh International Festival and
the National Theatre of Great Britain, opened at the Festival Theatre Edinburgh during the
Edinburgh International Festival on 10 August, and then subsequently played at the Olivier Theatre,
National Theatre, London, selling out both runs and playing to over 88,000 people. The plays went
on to win the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best New Play and the Writers Guild Award for
Best New Play (James I)
Described by The Telegraph as “better than Shakespeare” and ‘Rona Munro's thrilling trilogy could
be the finest history plays ever penned ’ The James Plays , exhilarating and vividly imagined, bring to
life three generations of Stewart kings who ruled Scotland from 1406 to 1488.
Each play stands alone as a unique vision of a country tussling with its past and future, with its own
distinct theatrical atmosphere. Viewed together they create a complex and compelling narrative on
Scottish culture and nationhood.
The James Plays are historical drama for a contemporary audience, served up with a refreshing
modern directness. Audiences are invited to view the performances from the actual stage and share
the performer’s perspective of the space. These on-stage seats, built into the set, are at heart of the
action, as an ensemble of actors takes the audience through a rarely-explored period of history with
playful wit and boisterous theatricality.
Audiences responded enthusiastically to the opportunity of viewing the plays as a complete trilogy,
seen over the course of a day. This 2016 production will pioneer a new bespoke touring pattern,
with English venues offering audiences the chance to see all three plays together, on a Saturday or
Sunday. The Scottish venues performance schedules vary with individual James Plays performances
as well as a triple bill of plays on offer.
Touring to Festival Theatre Edinburgh: James I - Wed 3 & 10 February 2016; James II - Thurs 4 & 11
February 2016, James III – Friday 5 & 12 February 2016; Trilogy Day: Saturday 13 February 2016
Adelaide Festival Centre(Friday 26 February – Tuesday 1 March 2016); ASB Theatre, Auckland Arts
Festival ( 5 to 12 March 2016); Eden Court Theatre, Inverness: (James I - Wed 30 March 2016; James
II: Thu 31 March 2016 & James III: Fri 1 April ;Trilogy Day: Sat 2 April 2016); King’s Theatre, Glasgow
( James I - Fri 8 April 2016 Trilogy Days: Sat 9 and Sun 10 April 2016); Royal & Derngate (Saturday
16 and Sunday 17 April 2016); The Lowry, Salford Quays (Saturday 23 and Sun 24 April 2016);
Newcastle Theatre Royal (30 April & Sun 1 May 2016); Sheffield Theatres (Saturday 7 and Sun 8
May 2016); Norwich Theatre Royal (Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 May 2016) Marlowe Theatre,
Canterbury (Saturday 21 and Sun 22 May 2016); Theatre Royal Plymouth (Saturday 28 and Sunday
29 May 2016); Nottingham Theatre Royal (Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 June 2016); Luminto Festival,
Toronto (12 to 26 June 2016)
Join the conversation: #JamesPlays
On sale: all booking information available at nationaltheatrescotland.com
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NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND REPERTOIRE
The National Theatre of Scotland presents
The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart
Supported by Benromach Single Malt Whisky
Created by David Greig (Writer) and Wils Wilson (Director) with Designer Georgia McGuinness ,
Composer Alasdair Macrae and movement by Janice Parker.
The full cast is Annie Grace, Jessica Hardwick, Alasdair Macrae, David McKay and Paul McCole
David Greig and Wils Wilson’s folk theatre fable has proved hugely popular with audiences from
Govan to Rio. The production has been part of the National Theatre of Scotland’s touring repertoire
since 2011 and has travelled extensively across the UK and internationally, spanning four continents,
nine countries and 50 different venues.
In 2016 the production will initially tour the USA from 9 February to 7 May, taking over theatre
stages and non-traditional theatre spaces in Virginia, Richmond, Illinois, Vermont, Winchester and
Arkansas. The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart will then return home, touring to Fife, Perthshire,
Aberdeenshire, Dundee, South Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders from
17 May to 11 June 2016.
The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart premiered in the Victorian Bar at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow
in 2011, before achieving phenomenal success and critical acclaim at the 2011 Edinburgh Festival
Fringe. In keeping with the site-specific origins of the show, the production has been staged in a
tavern, breweries and village halls and studios with bars built in. In 2016 the production will tour
town halls and to a barn in central Scotland as well as to a host of playing spaces in the US.
Annie Grace, Alasdair Macrae, David McKay, Paul McCole from the 2014 tour are all returning to join
the ensemble cast and will be joined by acclaimed young Scottish theatre actress Jessica Hardwick,
most recently seen in Lanark (Citizens Theatre and Edinburgh International Festival).
“my heart is lost to Prudencia Hart. ” ***** The Guardian (Adelaide)
“it should tour for eternity” **** The Guardian (London)
One wintry morning, Prudencia Hart, an uptight academic, sets off to attend a conference in Kelso in
the Scottish Borders. As the snow begins to fall, little does she know who or what awaits her there.
Inspired by the Border Ballads - and delivered in a riotous romp of rhyming couplets, devilish
encounters and wild karaoke - Prudencia’s dream-like journey of self-discovery unfolds among and
around the audience.
The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart takes theatre into pubs and other unlikely venues, where
stories are told, re-told, sung and passed on. Audiences are invited to share a lock-in with the
National Theatre of Scotland's company of actors and musicians and to indulge in an evening of
supernatural storytelling, music and theatre inspired by the Border Ballads, Robert Burns and the
poems of Robert Service.
Benromach Single Malt Whisky is delighted to announce that it is continuing its ongoing partnership
with the National Theatre of Scotland in sponsoring The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart.
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The sponsorship is part of Benromach’s venture into the arts and will enable each audience member
(18 years and above) to share a dram of Benromach whisky during the show, in licensed venues.
Join the conversation: #PrudenciaHart
Touring USA - Shenandoah University at Brewbakers Restaurant, Winchester (10 to 14 February
2016); Modlin Center at the Rare Olde Times Pub, Canterbury Shopping Center, Richmond (17 to
21 Feb 2016); Krannert Centre , University of Illinois (24 to 27 February 2016); Factory Luxe, Seattle
Theatre Group (2 to 20 March 2016); Flynnspace, Flynn Center, Burlington, Vermont (8 to 10 April
2016) Virginia G. Piper Theatre, Scottsdale Center for Performing Arts, Arizona (19 to 24 April
2016); The Parlor on Granby Virginia Arts Festival (28 April to 1 May 2016); Starr Theater at Walton
Arts Center, Fayettesville, Northwest Arkansas (4 to 8 May 2016).
Touring Scotland - Blairgowrie Town Hall (17 May 2016); Montrose Town Hall (18 May 2016); St
Andrews Town Hall (19 May 2016); Strathearn Artspace, Crieff (20 May 2016); Alyth Town Hall (21
May 2016); Aberfeldy Town Hall (23 May 2016); Kirriemuir Town Hall (24 May 2016); Carnoustie
Beach Hall (25 May 2016); Castle Green Centre, Broughty Ferry (26 May 2016); Bonar Hall, Dundee
(27 May); The Byre at Inchyra (31 May 2016); Woodend Barn, Banchory (1 June 2016); Biggar
Municipal Hall (3 June 2016); McMillan Hall, Newton Stuart (7 June 2016); Sanquhar Town Hall(8
June 2016); Carlops Village Centre (10 June 2016); Stichill Village Hall (11 June 2016).
Opening Performance: Blairgowrie Town Hall on 17 May 2016
On sale: Book online via nationaltheatrescotland.com. Please note, online ticket sales will carry a
booking fee. Tickets will also be available to purchase locally at a later date; see website for details
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WORLD PREMIERE
Told by an Idiot, National Theatre of Scotland and The Lyceum, Edinburgh in association with
Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse present
I Am Thomas - a brutal comedy with songs
Written by Told by an Idiot, music by Iain Johnstone, lyrics by Simon Armitage, directed by Paul
Hunter, designed by Laura Hopkins, sound by Adrienne Quartly and lighting by Paul Anderson.
Touring to London, Liverpool, Salford, Salisbury, Edinburgh and Inverness from 18 February to 30
April 2016
Using Told by an Idiot’s trademark anarchic physicality and inventive storytelling, I Am Thomas
glimpses into Edinburgh’s dark past to bring out the black humour in the true story of Thomas
Aikenhead, a Scottish student who was the last person in Britain to be executed for blasphemy. With
original lyrics by award-winning poet Simon Armitage, the show is first-time collaboration between
The Lyceum, Edinburgh, the National Theatre of Scotland and Told by an Idiot.
Resonating across time and cultures, this riotous and unsettling comic drama shifts between 1696
and present times to explore notions of freedom of speech. With a live score performed by a cast of
eight, the show weaves together eclectic references from the Last Passion of Christ to Archie
Gemmell’s goal for Scotland, against Holland, at the 1974 World Cup. I Am Thomas - a brutal
comedy with songs is inspired by fact, fantasy and an original short story by James Robertson.
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Told by an Idiot’s recent production of My Perfect Mind returned for a second UK tour in autumn
2014 prior to transferring to 59E59 Theater, New York in June 2015, as part of 59E59's Brits Off
Broadway season. In May and June 2015, The Ghost Train by Arnold Ridley and directed by Paul
Hunter, was presented at, and in collaboration with, the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. Get
Happy, the company’s first show for children returns for a second run at the Barbican in December
2015.
Simon Armitage is one of UK’s foremost poets, playwrights and novelists. His production of The
Odyssey: Missing, Presumed Dead opened at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool in October 2015.
Paul Hunter, co-Artistic Director of Told by an Idiot and director of I am Thomas says
“Told by an Idiot is thrilled to partner with the National Theatre of Scotland and The Lyceum,
Edinburgh for the first time, to bring this extraordinary episode of hidden history to life. This is a
highly pertinent piece, examining the notion of freedom of speech in a surprising, provocative and
unsettling manner. We are delighted to collaborate with Simon Armitage alongside Associate Idiot
Iain Johnstone to create a vibrant theatrical musical form to tell the universal story of Thomas
Aikenhead.”
Cast: John Cobb, Amanda Hadingue, Myra McFayden, John Pfumojena, Hannah McPake, Dominic
Marsh, Charlie Folorunsho and Iain Johnstone
Join the conversation: #iamthomas
Touring to Liverpool Playhouse (18 to 27 February 2016); The Lowry, Salford (1 to 5 March 2016);
Salisbury Playhouse (8 to 12 March 2016); The Lyceum, Edinburgh (23 March to 09 April 2016); One
Touch, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness (12 to 16 April 2016); Wilton’s Music Hall, London (20 to 30
April)
Opening performances on 23 February 2016 at Liverpool Playhouse and The Lyceum, Edinburgh on
24 March 2016
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WORLD PREMIERE
The National Theatre of Scotland and Aberdeen City Council present
Granite
The theatrical finale to a major participatory arts project, co-created with the people of Aberdeen
and performed in the courtyard of the world’s largest grey granite building
Performances at Marischal College, Aberdeen: 31 March to Saturday 2 Apr 2016
Directed by Simon Sharkey; Dramaturg – Peter Arnott; Costume and Set Design - Becky Minto;
Lighting Design – Colin Grenfell; Sound Design – Philip Pinsky; Video Design – Graeme Roger;
Associate Director – Phil McCormack; Movement Director – Brigid McCarthy
Headline sponsor: Deloitte
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Supported by Aberdeen Inspired, Arts & Business Scotland, Balmoral Group, Mackie’s of Scotland
and Creative Scotland
Produced in association with Aberdeen Performing Arts, ACT Aberdeen, Citymoves Dance Agency,
Sound Festival, Station House Media Unit and University of Aberdeen Music
The majestic quadrangle of Aberdeen’s famous Marischal College will provide a fitting backdrop to
the epic theatrical finale of Granite, an eight month participatory arts project celebrating the history
and people of Aberdeen. Presented with Aberdeen City Council, Granite has seen the National
Theatre of Scotland collaborate with some of the city’s leading artists and cultural groups, using the
theatre arts to explore stories of people and events both famous and unknown, and the influence of
the city – and its famous stone - around the world. The stories collected along the way will be woven
into the narrative of the final production, to be performed by a cast of professional and community
actors, musicians and dancers on a huge outdoor set at Marischal College. Tickets for the three
performances on Thursday 31 March, Friday 1 and Saturday 2 April are on sale Friday 29 January
2016.
The project was originally inspired by the true story of a native Aberdonian granite cutter who, in the
late 19th Century, travelled with his wife to Odessa, in Ukraine. At this time, granite was being
exported for building purposes on an unprecedented scale and skilled granite cutters from Aberdeen
were in high demand. They followed the stone across the globe, literally changing the face of the
planet wherever they went. This particular cutter took with him his fiddle and his book of Burns
poetry and started to host regular ceilidhs in Odessa. He was swiftly expelled by the Tsarist regime
on suspicion of sedition. The man and his wife, now with a young baby, then started an epic journey
back across Europe to Aberdeen, on foot and by ship, with the man playing his fiddle and cutting
stone along the way in exchange for food and lodgings. This tale of tenacity and poetry, of grit and
glint, reflects the qualities of the Aberdonian character, and the qualities of granite itself – tough,
resilient, but with an underlying sparkle.
Granite creative teams and participants have excavated many fascinating stories and have been
engaging the people of present-day Aberdeen, to find out what they think it “means to be
Aberdeen.” These responses have led to the creation of four “trailblazer” events – Granite Sound,
Granite Theatre, Granite Video and Granite Dance. These free, pop-up city centre events take place
across November and December 2015 and will use different artforms to present stories and ideas on
the themes of Granite. Further discussion, including video, photography and audio content, will be
presented on a dedicated website, graniteaberdeen.com.
Acclaimed playwright and Granite dramaturg Peter Arnott has been leading a group of local writers
in the research and development of Aberdeen stories that may form part of the final production. A
special one-off event on Tuesday 23 February 2016 will offer audience members a preview of some
of these stories, brought to life by professional actors, and a taste of some of the music from
Granite.
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Granite Director Simon Sharkey says:
“Having grown to know and love this city since we launched National Theatre of Scotland there ten
years ago, I am thrilled to have the privilege of bringing together the artists and people of Aberdeen
to tell their story in a spectacle that will be housed in one of the most beautiful buildings in the UK. I
can't wait."
Cast: Joyce Falconer and Alan McHugh.
On sale: Tickets for Granite on sale from Friday 29 January 2016 at graniteaberdeen.com.
Ticket information for the Granite Writers’ Event on Tuesday 23 February 2016 to follow.
Join the conversation: #GraniteAberdeen
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WORLD PREMIERES
The Citizens Theatre and the National Theatre of Scotland present
This Restless House
A trilogy of new plays based on Aeschylus’ The Oresteia, written by Zinnie Harris, directed by
Dominic Hill, designed by Colin Richmond and music composed by Nikola Kodjabashia
At the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow from 15 April to 14 May 2016
Harris’ plays tell the bloody saga of a family torn apart by a succession of murders and betrayals, set
against the backdrop of a society on the brink of a revolution and learning to operate within a
nascent and flawed justice system. First performed in 485 BC, today’s audience will find that
Dominic Hill’s raw and brutal productions bring the universal themes of justice, revenge, loyalty and
the evolving relationships between teenagers and their parents to the fore in his trademark
theatrical style. Nikola Kodjabashia, composer on the Citizens’ A Christmas Carol, Hamlet and
Crime and Punishment returns to create new music for the plays, with Colin Richmond, designer on
the Citizens Theatre's Crime and Punishment and Doctor Faustus and the National Theatre of
Scotland's Men Should Weep, returning to the Citizens.
This Restless House: Part 1 Agamemnon’s Return, Part 2 The Bough Breaks and Part 3 Electra and
her Shadow form a trilogy of original new plays based on Aeschylus’ The Oresteia. Together they tell
a story originating from the root of modern theatre in ancient Greece with a thrilling and
contemporary bite.
Audiences will be offered the opportunity to see all three plays in the trilogy over the course of two
evenings: Part 1 on the first evening, Parts 2 and 3 form a double bill on a subsequent evening, or on
special trilogy days.
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Zinnie Harris is reunited with Dominic Hill following the Citizens’ production of Miss Julie and Fall for
the Traverse Theatre. This is the National Theatre's fifth collaboration with Zinnie Harris. Previous
productions include Julie (Scottish tour); The Wheel (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), a new version of A
Doll's House (the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh) and Gallery 9 (Dear Scotland at the Scottish
National Portrait Gallery).
Dominic Hill, Artistic Director of the Citizens Theatre and director of This Restless House says
“Our new version of this classic Greek trilogy will be a major theatrical event at the Citizens that I
hope audiences will find exhilarating. I am delighted that we will be co-producing with the National
Theatre of Scotland to enable us to present a memorable production that people from all walks of life
will find exciting and relevant.”
Zinnie Harris, writer of This Restless House says
“I am delighted to be working with the National Theatre of Scotland again, and Dominic and his team
at the Citizens on this huge project. Being asked to adapt Aeschylus' extraordinary trilogy of plays has
been a gift, and these stories of familial murder, faith and revenge, have the power to enthral
audiences as much now as they did over two and half thousand years ago”
Join the conversation: #restlesshouse
At the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow from 15 April to 14 May 2016
Opening performances on Thursday 28 April 2016 (Agamemnon’s Return), Friday 29 April 2016 (The
Bough Breaks) Saturday 30 April 2016 (Agamemnon’s Return, The Bough Breaks and Electra and
her Shadow.)
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WORLD PREMIERE
The National Theatre of Scotland, 14-18 NOW and Perth Theatre,
In association with Red Note Ensemble, present
The 306: Dawn
Written by Oliver Emanuel and composed by Gareth Williams; directed by Laurie Sansom; costume
and set designed by Becky Minto; lighting Design by Simon Wilkinson; musical direction by
Jonathan Gill.
Dalcrue Farm barn in the Perthshire countryside from 24 May to 11 June 2016
The 306: Dawn is a new piece of music theatre directed by National Theatre of Scotland’s Artistic
Director, Laurie Sansom, written by Oliver Emanuel and composed by Gareth Williams.
Based on real events, it charts the heart-breaking journey of three of the 306 British soldiers who
were executed for cowardice, desertion and mutiny during World War I (1914-18). The work is a cocommission with 14-18 NOW, the UK’s First World War centenary cultural programme.
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The 306; Dawn is Part I of a trilogy of new plays, with live music, commemorating the First World
War, to be presented in 2016, 2017 and 2018. These plays will explore personal stories of the 306,
as well as looking at how the war affected women, families and communities on the home front.
The first part of the trilogy is set in France, around time of the Battle of the Somme and will mark the
100th anniversary of this Battle.
Joseph Byers (17) from Glasgow. Too young to enlist, Joe, like so many at the time, has lied about his
age to join the other men at the Front. However, his dreams of being a solider are quickly destroyed
by the brutal realities of trench warfare and he soon finds himself in trouble with the authorities.
Private Harry Farr (25) from London. Traumatised by the things he has seen and lived through as a
serving soldier, Harry is suffering from shell-shock and is now unable to fight. He has subsequently
been convicted of cowardice and, as he waits to hear his fate, he dreams of his wife and hopes for a
last minute reprieve.
Lance-Sergeant Joseph Willie Stones (24) from Durham. Having used his rifle to block the entrance to
a trench during fierce fighting, Joseph stands accused of casting away his arms in combat - an
offence punishable by death. He thought he was protecting his men, but the top brass want to make
an example of him to maintain discipline in the ranks.
With a contemporary score performed live by the Red Note Ensemble, the songs explore the
vulnerability and devastation of the battlefields, alongside the inner struggles of the men. Composer
Gareth Williams is a long-term collaborator with both Red Note and Oliver Emanuel; the pair
previously worked on The End of the World (for One Night Only) which Red Note commissioned,
developed and staged in Edinburgh in December 2012.
Poignant and powerful, The 306: Dawn will be performed in a transformed barn in the Perthshire
countryside, exploring the lives of these unknown soldiers - who appear on no war memorials, to
give them back their voices, stories and names.
The 306: Dawn will open with a special dawn performance.
The production is being presented in Perthshire as part of the Perth Festival of Arts.
The 306 is written by the celebrated Scottish-based writer Oliver Emanuel whose work for the
National Theatre of Scotland includes Dragon (winner, Best Production for Families, UK Theatre
Awards 2014) and The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, based on Neil Gaiman’s book of the
same name. The music for The 306 is composed by Gareth Williams, whose work has featured in the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival, St. Magnus Festival, Sound Festival, 5:15, Tête à Tête Opera Festival,
Sonorities, Opera to Go, and the York Late Music Festival. Laurie Sansom directs, whose awardwining The James Plays trilogy also tours throughout the UK in 2016.
Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, says:
“This is a fantastic project highlighting one of the less acknowledged aspects of the First World War,
and I’m pleased the very best of our creative talent will be helping to illuminate Scotland’s
commemorations. The 306: Dawn is just one of many projects taking place across the country to
encourage the people of Scotland to reflect on the significant impact the First World War had on our
nation and its lasting effects on life today.”
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Oliver Emanuel, writer of The 306:Dawn says
“In 2012, Gareth Williams and I were looking at all the planned memorials for the First World War. It
felt like all the stories were about bravery and sacrifice and heroism. And whilst these were powerful
testimonies, it seemed as if there was something missing. What about those who failed to live up to
this ideal? When we found out about the 306 men shot for cowardice, desertion and mutiny – and
the story of their families and the hundred year campaign for their pardon – it was an instant
connection. This story challenges what we think about the war and how we memorialise the dead”
Gwilym Gibbons, chief executive of Horsecross Arts, the creative organisation behind Perth Concert
Hall and Perth Theatre says
“We are delighted to partner the National Theatre of Scotland for this, the first in what will surely
become a series of iconic plays. While Perth Theatre undergoes restoration and redevelopment we
are committed to taking theatre out and about to different venues across the community. The 306
fits perfectly with this approach, taking place as it does in a barn in the heart of the Perthshire
countryside. The setting will serve to illustrate and enhance this poignant story and we look forward
to welcoming audiences from across Scotland to witness what will truly be a unique piece of
theatre.”
Venue: Dalcrue Farm, Pitcairngreen, Perth
Dates: 24 to 26 May (previews) 27 May (school performance) and 28 May to 11 June 2016
Travel: Audiences will be transported from Perth Concert Hall to the farm.
Age guide: 14+
Opening Performance on Sat 28 May at Dalcrue Farm, Pitcairngreen, Perth at 2.15am (dawn).
Cast: Scott Gilmour, Josh Miles, more to be announced.
On sale info: Tickets are available from Perth Theatre Box Office - 01738 621031. Full ticket
information is available from nationaltheatrescotland.com. Please note that all tickets need to be
purchased in advance, and are not available to buy from the farm.
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NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND REPERTOIRE
National Theatre of Scotland and Live Theatre present
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour
Adapted by Lee Hall from the novel The Sopranos by Alan Warner.
Directed by Vicky Featherstone, Music Supervisor, Martin Lowe, Designed by Chloe Lamford,
Lighting Design by Lizzie Powell and Choreography by Imogen Knight.
Full cast: Melissa Allan, Caroline Deyga, Karen Fishwick, Kirsty MacLaren, Frances Mayli McCann
and Dawn Sievewright.
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Touring to International Festival of Arts & Ideas, New Haven, Connecticut (North American
premiere); Dundee Rep Theatre; Palace Theatre, Kilmarnock; Newcastle Theatre Royal; Galway
International Arts Festival, Ireland and the National Theatre in London (London premiere) from
May 2016.
National Theatre of Scotland and Live Theatre are thrilled to announce the return of Our Ladies of
Perpetual Succour, the critically-acclaimed stage adaptation of Alan Warner’s cult Scottish novel The
Sopranos, by Lee Hall and directed by Vicky Featherstone, coming back to stages in Scotland and the
UK, and touring for the first time to London and the USA in 2016.
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour will receive its London premiere at the Dorfman Theatre, at the
National Theatre of Great Britain, opening in early August and playing through until late September.
This marks the National Theatre of Scotland’s return to the National Theatre in London, following
the sell-out run of The James Plays, co-produced with the National Theatre of Great Britain in 2014
and touring again in 2016.
Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre of Great Britain says “We’re delighted to be welcoming
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour to the National – not simply to give London audiences the chance to
see this exhilarating play, but also because it reunites us with so many friends and neighbours: the
National Theatre of Scotland, Live Theatre, Lee Hall and Vicky Featherstone. It will be a joy to have
the uproarious Ladies at the Dorfman.”
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on 19 August 2015, and
enjoyed a successful sell-out run at the Traverse Theatre, earning critical and audience acclaim, and
picking up four awards before embarking on a sell-out Scottish tour and run at Newcastle’s Live
Theatre.
Alan Warner’s novel and Lee Hall’s stage play tell the story of six girls on the cusp of change. Love,
lust, pregnancy and death all spiral out of control in a single day. Warner's blisteringly funny
dialogue ends in fireworks (literally). Warner, whose 1995 debut novel Morvern Callar became a
literary phenomenon, continues his themes of being young, lost and out of control in this musical
play about losing your virginity and finding yourself. With a soundtrack of classical music and 70s
pop rock, featuring music by Handel, Bach and ELO, Our Ladies… is a raucous and life-affirming piece
of musical theatre.
Vicky Featherstone, Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre, collaborates with Lee Hall,
(Shakespeare in Love, Billy Elliot and The Pitmen Painters), to create a funny, sad and raucously rude
production about singing, sex and sambuca.
Alan Warner wrote The Sopranos in 1998, followed by its sequel The Stars in the Bright Sky which
was long listed for the 2010 Man Booker Prize. He has written eight novels and is best known for
Morvern Callar which was made into a film starring Samantha Morton in 2002. His most recent novel
is Their Lips Talk of Mischief, published by Faber in 2014.
The UK and international tour of Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour will commence in May 2016, with
additional UK and international dates to be announced.
Join the conversation: #OurLadies
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Touring to International Festival of Arts & Ideas, New Haven, Connecticut (9 to 25 June 2016);
Dundee Rep Theatre (30 June to 2 July 2016); Palace Theatre, Kilmarnock (6 to 9 July 2016);
Newcastle Theatre Royal (12 to 16 July 2016); Galway International Arts Festival, Ireland (18 to 24
July 2016); The Dorfman, National Theatre of Great Britain (August – September 2016. dates tbc).
On sale: please check nationaltheatrescotland.com for details. Additional tour dates to be
announced.
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A NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND FESTIVAL
The National Theatre of Scotland in partnership with Macrobert Arts Centre presents
Exchange 2016
Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling from 4 to 10 July 2016
The National Theatre of Scotland’s international theatre festival for 16 to 25 year olds
Now in its eighth year, the National Theatre of Scotland’s vibrant Exchange programme brings
together groups of young theatre-makers (aged 16 to 25 years old) from Scotland and across the
world, to facilitate a national and international exchange and to enable the groups to create and
perform new pieces of theatre with the help and support of a professional creative team. Ten groups
of young theatre-makers have been selected to take part in Exchange 2016; eight groups from
Scotland and two international groups.
The groups are each supported artistically and financially in the creation of an original work of
quality contemporary theatre. The creative partners for this instalment of Exchange are Colin Bradie
and Fiona Manson. Each theatre piece is initially performed in the group’s home area before it is
staged as part of the week-long Exchange festival at Macrobert Arts Centre in July 2016. During that
residential week on campus at the University of Stirling, participating groups are encouraged to
develop their skills through stimulating master-classes and workshops with leading national and
international theatre-makers. The popular Exchange TV returns for a fourth year.
The Scottish theatre groups taking part in Exchange 2016 are:
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Beacon Youth Theatre, Inverclyde
Collision Theatre, Buckhaven
Creative Electric in collaboration with Dance Base and #Artcore, Edinburgh
Eden Court Collective, Inverness
Ignite Theatre, Glasgow
Macrobert Collective, Stirling
Paperdog (Firefly Arts Youth Theatre), West Lothian
Strange Town, Edinburgh
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The international groups taking part in Exchange 2016 are:
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Epic NEXT, Harlem, Manhattan, USA
Massive Company, Auckland, New Zealand
National Theatre of Scotland's Learning and Outreach Manager Gillian Gourlay says:
“From its inception in 2006, I have been delighted to see how not only the festival itself has grown
and flourished, but also how the young theatre -makers involved have developed over the years,
raising the bar year on year. To be able to bring such a mix of ideas, talent and enthusiasm together
from all over the world, and to see them immerse themselves in sharing and creating their own form
of theatre, is just amazing to witness. Exchange is an opportunity for everyone to bring something
with them to the festival as well as to go away with not just new skills and experiences, but genuine
friendships too - and you just can’t buy that.”
Venue: Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling
Performances: Two groups each evening at 7.30pm and 9.00pm from 5 to 9 July 2016.
WORLD PREMIERE
The TEAM, the National Theatre of Scotland and Edinburgh International Festival
present
Anything That Gives Off Light
Written by Rachel Chavkin, Davey Anderson, Brian Ferguson, Sandy Grierson and Jessica Almasy
Directed by Rachel Chavkin with Associate Director Davey Anderson
Every light casts a shadow...
The National Theatre of Scotland, the TEAM and the Edinburgh International Festival are delighted
to announce the world premiere of a new co-production Anything That Gives Off Light, which will
premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2016.
Anything That Gives Off Light uses the Scottish Enlightenment as a lens through which to examine
the contrasting and overlapping national myths of Scotland and America. This new collaboration is
set to premiere in August 2016 and marks the debut of the TEAM at the Edinburgh International
Festival.
Written collaboratively, Anything That Gives Off Light, is led by Rachel Chavkin, the TEAM Artistic
Director, and Davey Anderson, whose work as Associate Director with the National Theatre of
Scotland includes Enquirer, To Begin, Black Watch and Home.
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Anything That Gives Off Light follows the story of a Scottish man who, after years of living in
London, catches the sleeper train north to the heart of Scotland for a homecoming he's been putting
off for years. In a pub, an American woman drinks alone, trying to remember who she is while
forgetting where she came from. When their paths collide they set off on a tour of the Highlands,
slipping through the cracks between present and past, waking and dreaming, the real and the
imagined. But as they shed the layers of their national identities, the ghosts of dead philosophers,
crofters, cowboys, myth-makers and soothsayers get ever closer.
Featuring live music from the Scottish-American folk tradition, and the TEAM’s trademark athletic
performance style, this foot-stomping collaboration explores the tension between self interest and
sacrifice and the individual and the collective in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.
The TEAM is a Brooklyn-based ensemble dedicated to creating new works about the experience of
living in America today, crashing American history and mythology into modern stories to illuminate
the current moment. Recent productions in the UK include RoosevElvis at the Royal Court Theatre,
London (2015) and Mission Drift at the National Theatre in London (2013).
The National Theatre of Scotland and the TEAM reunite, having previously collaborated on the
award-winning Architecting in 2008, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before touring
to the Barbican Centre, London, and to Europe, the US, and Canada. Turning attention to the
relationship between Scotland and the USA, Anything That Gives Off Light brings a mix of
performance and live Scottish and American folk music to tell the tale of two nations reshaping,
rebuilding, and wrestling with their own identities and heritage. An early version of this production
was shared as a work in progress, billed as "The Scottish Enlightenment Project," at the Edinburgh
Festival Fringe in 2014. This is the TEAM’s first production at the Edinburgh International Festival,
having previously visited the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on five occasions, winning four
Scotsman Fringe First Awards, a Herald Angel, an Edinburgh Total Theatre Award, and the Edinburgh
International Festival Fringe Prize in 2011.
This is the eighth partnership between Edinburgh International Festival and the National Theatre of
Scotland. Previous productions at the Festival include Dragon, Paul Bright’s Confessions of a Justified
Sinner, The Bacchae, 365, Realism and Caledonia. The James Plays, premiered at the Festival in 2014
and is embarking on a major UK and international tour in 2016.
Rachel Chavkin says
“This piece began in a pub one night, when several Scottish friends started riffing on American movie
endings, where the underdog snatches victory from the jaws of defeat. One of them said, "If The
Karate Kid was made in Scotland, it would end when Daniel-san breaks his leg”.
The TEAM has always been obsessed with the gap between inherited mythology and lived
experience. And the Enlightenment ideals of personal liberty and self-determination are responsible
for both the most utopian and most divisive American values today, embodied in our first and second
amendments, i.e. freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. As our Scottish friends and their
country were wrestling with the possibility of independence and the question of what kind of
democracy they wanted to be, it seemed like the perfect time to begin a collaboration about parallel
national and personal narratives. The National Theatre of Scotland has played an enormous role in
the TEAM's growth, giving us our first major commission in 2006 to create Architecting. And
sometimes it feels we have spent as much of our life as a Company in Scotland as in New York City. So
it feels right that this is our first time using our consensus-driven writing process to interrogate
another country's past and present alongside our own.”
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Join the conversation: #Anythingthatgivesofflight
On sale information available at : www.nationaltheatrescotland.com www.eif.co.uk
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WORLD PREMIERES
The National Theatre of Scotland presents
EVE/ADAM - two stories about trans lives
Supported by the Mental Health Foundation
The National Theatre of Scotland is proud to announce the world premiere of Eve/Adam, a new
double bill of productions exploring two extraordinary lives in transition, created by a team of
leading Scottish and UK theatre artists including Cora Bissett, Chris Goode and Jo Clifford.
Eve/Adam is a timely and theatrical exploration of the complexities and challenges facing trans
people, using an innovative intertwining of personal testimony, storytelling, composition and mass
digital media.
Touring to Glasgow and Edinburgh in October 2016
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EVE
Written by Jo Clifford and Chris Goode
Performed by Jo Clifford
Eve, performed by acclaimed playwright and performer Jo Clifford, offers audiences an authentic
and intimate insight into the real life experiences of a trans person. The performance is a profound
reflection on one trans woman's life, from an oppressive 1950s boyhood to the present day.
Following her turbulent life journey through a time of huge personal, social and political change, Eve
celebrates the victories of survival and self-actualization.
A deeply personal piece that speaks generously to, and for, a much wider community, Eve is a
performance in which the smallest details of everyday life can open up cracks through which
memories, dreams and reflections flood in. Performed with warmth and humour, passion and anger,
Eve invites audiences into the most intimate relationship with the story of an individual’s life.
Eve is created by ground-breaking writer and performer Jo Clifford (The Gospel According to Jesus
Queen of Heaven) and the award-winning theatre-maker Chris Goode (Men in the Cities and Sisters).
Jo was the first openly transgendered woman playwright to have had a play produced on London’s
West End stage. Jo Clifford and Chris Goode are also collaborating on Jo’s play Every One which
receives its English premiere at Battersea Arts Centre, London in March 2016.
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ADAM
Conceived for the stage and directed by Cora Bissett, written by Frances Poet, music score
composed by Jocelyn Pook and video design /set design by Jack Henry James
Adam is directed by award-winning theatre director Cora Bissett (co-creator of Glasgow Girls, Rites
and Roadkill) with a score composed by Jocelyn Pook (Stage Works British Composer Award winner
in 2012 for her soundtrack to DESH) and written by playwright and dramaturg Frances Poet. The
production delves into the true story of a young trans man and his journey to reconciliation, with
himself, those closest to him, and the world as he knows it.
Adam was born into a girl’s body in Egypt. But Adam always knew that he was really a boy. A boy,
trapped in a girl’s body. In a deeply conservative society, Adam had no way to describe this feeling.
In a place where falling in love with the wrong person can get you killed, Adam had to escape.
Fleeing alone, Adam finds himself in a tiny room in Glasgow on the edge of despair. He manages to
get online and ask the question; ‘Can the soul of a boy be trapped in the body of a girl?’ What
happened was beyond Adam’s wildest dreams. A catalyst to begin the epic journey for the right to
change his body, to the boy he knows himself to be. Adam is the remarkable, true story of that
journey.
Featuring a score sung by a virtual choir of trans and non-binary individuals from across the world,
Adam is both a bold exploration of the experience of a young transgender person and an ambitious
experiment with theatrical form, blending storytelling, classical composition and mass digital
elements from participants from around the globe.
The National Theatre of Scotland is inviting trans and non-binary individuals to take part in the
production. The Company is seeking to create a global digital community choir – The Adam World
Choir. The Adam World Choir will bring together voices from the online trans community to be an
integral part of Adam.
All Singers are welcome to join, whatever their level of experience. The deadline is 21 March 2016.
For any questions regarding participation in The Adam World Choir, and for details on how to join,
please contact the Choir Project Manager, Leonie Gasson leonie.gasson@nationaltheatrescotland.com
Transgender experiences, and stories of trans men and women have become increasingly
highlighted in recent times through the media and high profile TV programmes and films including
biographical-drama film The Danish Girl and the Amazon TV Series Transparent. Eve/Adam is
supported by the Mental Health Foundation and will be part of the tenth year programme for the
Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, which runs from 10-31 October. Further details about
the partnership will be announced later this year.
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Cora Bissett, director of Adam says
“I first saw Adam perform a short monologue about his incredible journey as part of the 'Here we
Stay' Community performance organised by the Scottish Refugee Council and the Citizens learning
team at the Citizens Theatre in 2013. It made a deep impression on me and I approached Adam and
maintained contact over these years.
I am delighted to bring Adam’s story, which is one not only of struggle, but inspiration, bravery,
survival and love, back to the Citizens to a far wider audience at this pertinent time in our society's
evolution.”
Jo Clifford –writer and performer – Eve says
Being trans has informed all my work in the theatre but this opportunity to share my own story as a
writer and performer is unique. I am so fortunate to have the gifted theatre-maker Chris Goode to
guide me through the challenging experience of creating this incredibly personal piece of work. It
matters so much to me that my story should be told the same evening as Adam’s, and that this
amazing project is being produced by the National Theatre of Scotland. As a nation, Scotland is also
on a journey of discovery and grappling with the issues of how to create a welcoming country that is
committed to ending all forms of discrimination.”
Andrew Eaton-Lewis, arts lead for the Mental Health Foundation, says “The negative impact of
stigma and prejudice on the mental health of transgender people is well documented, so we’re
delighted to support a project which is about telling stories of transgender lives in a positive and
empowering way. We will be working with the National Theatre of Scotland throughout this year to
find ways of telling even more of these stories – and to highlight issues around community,
representation, human rights and mental health.”
Join the conversation: #EveAdam
On sale and venue information available at www.nationaltheatrescotland.com .
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A NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND FESTIVAL
The National Theatre of Scotland presents
HOME AWAY
AN INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF PARTIPATORY ARTS
Supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
In association with Glasgow Life
The National Theatre of Scotland’s first international programme of participatory performing arts,
culminating in a festival of public performance and a symposium for the international
participatory arts community
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Tramway, Glasgow, Saturday 8 to Thursday 13 October 2016
Ten years on from its inaugural, trailblazing production Home, the National Theatre of Scotland
presents Home Away, an international programme celebrating participatory arts practice and
performance. This project, spanning five continents, sees the National Theatre of Scotland partner
with theatre artists and community arts organisations from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Brisbane
(Australia), Chicago (USA), New Delhi (India) and Kingston (Jamaica). Five international organisations
will come together with five companies from Scotland, including Artlink (Edinburgh), a new
Highlands Gaelic arts collective (Uist) and the Bangladeshi Association of Glasgow.
As part of the programme, ten original theatre pieces, commissioned by the National Theatre of
Scotland, will be created by professional artists working with community participants. Each
production will premiere within the community where it has been created and will subsequently be
showcased at the Home Away Festival in Glasgow in October 2016.
The National Theatre of Scotland’s launch project, Home, invited ten Scottish communities to
explore the meaning of belonging and identity within particular regions of Scotland in 2006. Ten
years on, Home Away asks participating groups from five different continents to consider their place
in the world, at a time when the boundaries of “Home” are being increasingly stretched by
geopolitical, social and cultural forces. Alongside a programme of new theatre productions, the
Home Away Festival will host a participatory performance arts symposium and practical workshops
for leading organisations, practitioners, artists, funders, policy-makers and commentators from
around the world. Symposium events will take place by day, with a double-bill of performances
scheduled for each evening.
Within its first decade, the National Theatre of Scotland has built an international reputation for its
pioneering approach to participatory theatre projects. The Company is now in a position to lead an
international project involving some of the world’s most dynamic and highly regarded artists and
organisations working today in this socially and artistically important field of theatre practice.
Participating companies, countries and theatre projects include:
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Led by world-renowned theatre and circus director Renato Rocha, working
alongside companies Nós do Morro and AfroReggae, a new piece will be created with participants
from two Rio favelas.
Brisbane, Australia: Working with participants from several Aboriginal tribal groups who reside in
the city of Brisbane, award-winning Aboriginal hip hop artist, artistic director, traditional dance
leader and facilitator Fred Leone will lead a story and traditional dance based performance,
developed around the Dreaming Stories of a 40,000 year old culture. Three generations will come
together to dance, sing, tell stories and produce new forms of expression. Fred’s group will then
bring the outcomes to Scotland, to share this model of inter-generational dialogue.
Chicago, USA: Theatre director and Fulbright Fellow Sarah Rose Graber will lead Adventure Stage
Chicago, a theatre company based at the Northwestern University Settlement House, a community
service organisation for migrants and those battling poverty. They will create a piece exploring the
ways migrants establish a sense of home in a multi-cultural community.
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New Delhi, India: The Yuva Ekta Foundation works to integrate street kids into society through
placements in their theatre company. Led by director Puneeta Roy, the Company will engage with a
slum community where youth crime rates are particularly high. They have connected with the
mothers and siblings of the youth offenders to explore the impact of unemployment, drugs and
crime on their lives.
Kingston, Jamaica: Pioneering social enterprise Manifesto JA work with young men in the shanty
towns of Kingston. Based on the National Theatre of Scotland’s 2012 Jump project, which used
parkour and physical theatre as a creative platform for young men in Fife and the East End of
Glasgow, Manifesto’s group have started work on a production called Run Free, which will be
developed and refined before coming to Scotland.
Edinburgh, Scotland: Acclaimed arts and disability organisation Artlink will work with older people
in the community who have become isolated as a result of their hearing loss. Musician Greg Sinclair
and visual artist Kate Temple will collaborate with the group to create a performance to share with
isolated elderly people.
Uist and Glasgow, Scotland: Artists Rona MacDonald, Gillebride MacMillan and Judy Parrott will
work with Glasgow-based director John Binnie to explore the relationship between Island and Urban
Gaels, using a traditional ceilidh as their format. This production will connect with the Aboriginal
coroboree, as they explore similar issues around the indigenous people’s relationship with the land
and the effects of displacement.
Glasgow, Scotland: The Bangladeshi community in Glasgow has a proud cultural tradition which, as
they settle into their third generation of relocating to Scotland, promotes humanitarian values of
equality and peace. They feel a growing responsibility to share their story and highlight the positive
possibilities for new migrants arriving in Scotland. The Bangladeshi Association of Glasgow has
invited Sudip Chakraborthy, Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of Dhaka, to work with
their community to explore the connections between “Home” and “Away.” Their production will be
based on verbatim stories from three migrant families who settled in Glasgow over 40 years ago.
Two additional Scottish groups to be confirmed.
National Theatre of Scotland Associate Director Simon Sharkey says:
“This is an unprecedented opportunity for us to share and explore our humanity and our place in the
world. Our sense of who we are, where we come from and where we belong is being challenged
every day. I am terrifically excited by the artists and communities who have agreed to join us in an
exploration of who we might become.”
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation UK Director Andrew Barnett says:
“The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch) is proud to support Home Away as part of its
Sharing the Stage initiative, which supports innovation in the field of participatory performing arts.
National Theatre of Scotland’s ambitious approach to exploring place and belonging, by working
across national and international boundaries, inspires positive social change and reveals the power
of the arts to create a platform for the voices that are seldom heard.”
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Tickets for Home Away will go on sale in April 2016.
To register interest in attending the symposium, please email your name and contact details to
homeaway@nationaltheatrescotland.com.
Join the conversation: #NTShomeaway
ROCKVILLA AND LIGHT A BEACON
On 26 October, construction work started on National Theatre of Scotland’s new permanent
headquarters on the canal-side area of Speirs Wharf in north-east Glasgow. Designed by awardwinning Hoskins Architects, the new building will be named Rockvilla, in recognition of the industrial
and social heritage of the surrounding area, and is due to be completed in summer 2016.
The Company simultaneously launched a campaign to raise the remaining £1.9 million of the £6.475
million needed to fund the project. People the length and breadth of Scotland are being invited to
donate to the appeal and have the opportunity to engage with and be part of Rockvilla.
Central to the Rockvilla appeal is the creation of an original art work by the award-winning Glasgowbased design studio, Pidgin Perfect. Styled as a large-scale map of Scotland, the finished art work
will be positioned in the entrance foyer of Rockvilla, creating a beautifully arresting affirmation of
the organisation's commitment to the whole of Scotland from the Borders to the Shetland
Islands. Key locations on the finished map will be lit by translucent ‘Beacons’ which friends and
supporters can ‘light up’ in return for a donation.
The campaign has already captured the imaginations of many people from across the communities
the Company serves, with support already received for Beacons in a variety of locations including:
the Italian Chapel in Orkney, Skeabost on Skye, Knightswood in Glasgow, Rhu, Nigg in the Cromarty
Firth, Sma’ Glen, West Linton and Port Seton.
For more information about how to get your community involved, visit
nationaltheatrescotland.com/rockvilla
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND PRESS OFFICE CONTACTS:
Emma Schad - Press Manager – emma.schad@nationaltheatrescotland.com
Tel: +44 (0)227 9016 M: +44 (0)7930 308018
Joe Blythe - Press Officer – joe.blythe@nationaltheatrescotland.com
Tel: +44 (0)141 227 9497 M: +44 (0) )7500 258404
Adam McDougall - Press Officer – adam.mcdougall@nationaltheatrescotland.com
Tel: +44 (0)141 227 9231 M: +44 (0) 773 815 3157
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Sarah Wilson – Touring Communications Manager (The James Plays) –
sarah.wilson@nationaltheatrescotland.com Tel: +44 (0)141 227 9482 Mob: +44 (0)7400 384 983
I AM THOMAS/TOLD BY AN IDIOT publicist
Nancy Poole, 07957 342 850, nancy@nancypoolepr.com
Follow the National Theatre of Scotland’s press office on Twitter @NTS_press
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Press Images: there is a selection of images for current productions available for download from
www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/press - please contact the press office for a password.
For season announcement images please contact the press office (contact details above).
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NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The National Theatre of Scotland is dedicated to playing the great stages, arts centres,
village halls, schools and site-specific locations of Scotland, the UK and internationally. As
well as creating ground-breaking productions and working with the most talented theatremakers, the National Theatre of Scotland produces significant community engagement
projects, innovates digitally and works constantly to develop new talent. Central to this is
finding pioneering ways to reach current and new audiences and to encourage people’s full
participation in the Company’s work. With no performance building of its own, the Company
works with existing and new venues and companies to create and tour theatre of the highest
quality. Founded in 2006, the Company, in its short life, has become a globally significant
theatrical player, with an extensive repertoire of award-winning work. The National Theatre
of Scotland is supported by the Scottish Government. www.nationaltheatrescotland.com
2. 14 -18 NOW. A programme of special commissions by leading artists from Britain and
around the world to mark the centenary of the First World War as part of the UK’s official
centenary commemorations. The first season centred around 4 August 2014 (Anniversary of
the Declaration of War), and the focus of the subsequent two seasons will be July 2016
(anniversary of the Battle of Somme) and November 2018 (centenary of Armistice Day). 14 18 NOW is supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts
Council England and by additional fundraising. 14-18 NOW made 31 commissions in 2014
resulting in 78 artworks across the UK, with over 19 million people experiencing a
commission. LIGHTS OUT marked the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War on 4
August and saw 16.7 million participate. 14-18 NOW aims to reach at least 25 million people
over the course of the centenary.
3. Aberdeen Inspired is Aberdeen’s Business Improvement District within the city centre,
funded by levy payers. Aberdeen Inspired works on behalf of 700 (approx.) city centre
businesses. www.aberdeeninspired.com
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4. Aberdeen Performing Arts is a charitable trust managing Aberdeen’s His Majesty's Theatre,
Music Hall and The Lemon Tree. APA's vision is to reach for the stars in everything we do.
Through staging and producing a wide and diverse range of work we aim to touch emotions,
lift the spirits and expand the minds of both residents and visitors to the North East of
Scotland.
5. ACT Aberdeen is a leading community arts venue run by a small core team of staff and over
80 volunteers, which provides facilities and opportunities for professional, amateur and
youth companies and individuals to enjoy an enriching cultural life through tuition,
performance and participation, regardless of age or social circumstance.
6. Arts & Business Scotland (A&BS) is a national charity which encourages and promotes new
and sustainable collaborations between the creative and business sectors. It fosters dynamic
cross sector relationships to enable Scotland to benefit from a vibrant cultural community.
The New Arts Sponsorship (NAS) Grant scheme encourages private sector sponsorship of
cultural activity in Scotland. Funded by the Scottish Government and administered by A&BS
it offers £1 for £1 match funding to cultural organisations which have secured sponsorship
from an eligible business.In total, over £7 million has been invested in culture through NAS
with Scottish Government investment exceeding £3 million since the grant scheme began in
2006.
7. Artlink believes participation in the arts has an important role to play in realising personal
and social change. Our aim is to increase opportunities to take part in the arts for those who
experience disadvantage or disability in the East of Scotland. We offer practical support so
people can get involved and work with venues, to increase opportunities to enjoy the arts.
Artlink establishes partnerships with artists, venues and organisations to help encourage
positive change.
8. Balmoral Group Holdings Ltd is a privately owned company based in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Employing over 600 people, Balmoral has been providing solutions to the oil and gas,
marine, construction, environmental engineering and processing sectors since 1980.
9. Bangladesh Association Glasgow (BAG) is a charity community organisation helping the
Bangladeshi diaspora and promoting Bengali culture since 1971. In its pursuit to promote
social cohesion, the association partakes in the evolving diversity within Scottish culture
through the practice and teaching of Bengali expressive arts, while also hosting spectacular
celebratory events such as, the 2014 Commonwealth Games Gala Dinner at The Hilton
Glasgow, and the wonderfully colourful Bengali New Year celebrations, held in the
renowned Burrell Collection.
10. Beacon Youth Theatre (BYT) in Greenock is led by Andy McGregor and Marianne Yeomans,
who specialise in facilitating, making and directing theatre with children and young people.
This dynamic and creative group is always adventurous, making every one of their
performances unique. They may decide to take audiences on journeys into fantastical
worlds or they may have a burning desire to explore social media and its effects on young
people. Whatever topic, story or genre, the group decides the creative process will always
be a collaborative one. Participants are encouraged to use their imagination, share ideas, tell
real life stories and together they make them come alive on stage.
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11. Established in 1898, Benromach distillery changed hands many times and was virtually
derelict when bought by Gordon & MacPhail in 1993. Drawing on generations of whisky
expertise, the company carried out a painstaking refurbishment, and the distillery was
officially re-opened by Prince Charles in 1998. Just three men hand-craft Benromach using
the finest Scottish barley and the purest spring water from the nearby Romach Hills. They
fill new spirit into the highest quality casks before leaving it to mature at the distillery for
many years. The Benromach portfolio includes the award-winning Benromach 10 Years Old
and the first fully certified organic single malt – Benromach Organic.Benromach and the
National Theatre of Scotland are committed to promoting responsible drinking messages
within the sponsorship of The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart in accordance with the
guidelines provided by the Scottish Government document 'Alcohol Sponsorship Guidelines
Scotland'.
12. The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is an independent charitable foundation established in
Portugal in 1956 with cultural, educational, social and scientific interests. It is one of the
largest European foundations, with headquarters in Lisbon and offices in London (the UK
Branch) and Paris.The UK Branch’s purpose is to bring about long-term improvements in
wellbeing, particularly for the most vulnerable, by creating connections across boundaries
(national borders, communities, disciplines and sectors) which deliver social, cultural and
environmental value. Our strategy carries forward the main themes of the strategy we
implemented in 2009: cultural understanding; fulfilling potential; the environment; and a
theme of strengthening civil society and encouraging social innovation. We retain these
themes as a frame defining the areas in which we work.
13. Citizens Theatre is an iconic venue and theatre company based in the Gorbals area of
Glasgow. It has been one of Scotland’s flagship producing theatres since 1945 and celebrates
its 70th anniversary in its Gorbals home in 2015. Fondly known as the Citz, it is led by its
Artistic Director, Dominic Hill. Within a beautiful Victorian auditorium that dates from 1878,
the Citizens presents a world-class, contemporary repertory based on bold new
interpretations of classic texts. As its name suggests, it places a strong emphasis on work
that can enhance and transform the lives of citizens of all ages, cultures and social
backgrounds through performance and participation to which everyone has access. For the
latest information on all Citizens Theatre shows, learning and participation activity and the
building redevelopment project. visit citz.co.uk. Find us on Facebook: citizenstheatre. Follow
us on Twitter @citizenstheatre
14. Citymoves Dance Agency nurtures a diverse programme of dance classes, performance
groups, workshops, residencies, targeted partnership projects across Aberdeen and the
North East of Scotland. It produces DanceLive – Scotland's only annual festival of
contemporary dance which is celebrating its 10th birthday in October 2015. Citymoves'
purpose is to make a difference through dance and we aim to forge strong partnerships,
increase participation, develop audiences and nurture talent. Citymoves Dance Agency
receives strong support from Aberdeen City Council and is a Creative Scotland Regularly
Funded Organisation. www.citymoves.org.uk
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15. Collision is a collective of Fife-based young theatre makers and is produced by Claire
Bloomfield. They create work that responds to the everyday and explores the world in which
they live. Since its inception in 2013, Collision has presented work at The Royal Lyceum
Theatre, Rose Theatre London, Edinburgh International Fringe Festival, the Glasgow 2014
Cultural Programme, Glasgow, various theatres across Scotland, and in non-traditional
performance spaces, including parks and nursing homes. The company has created work
with the National Theatre of Scotland, the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, Kingston
International Youth Arts Festival, Hearts and Minds and Scottish Book Trust.
16. Creative Electric is a critically-acclaimed, award-winning theatre company, which creates
contemporary performance based on real experiences. Often their work is interactive,
sometimes it’s personal, at times it’s one-to-one. The company creates socio-political work
with an intentional emphasis on the social and an often unintentional emphasis on the
political. Creative Electric aims to engage with young people who may not traditionally
attend arts events and do so by producing theatre in non-traditional spaces including
nightclubs, skate parks, trains, abandoned buildings and even on rooftops. They are
currently working with a group of young men aged 16-24 to explore the themes of fragility
and masculinity through verbatim and physical theatre supported by Dance Base and
Artcore Edinburgh.
17. Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries
across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable
people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries
in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute
funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. For further
information about Creative Scotland please visit www.creativescotland.com. Follow us
@creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland
18. Deloitte LLP is the United Kingdom member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited
(“DTTL”), a UK private company limited by guarantee, whose member firms are legally
separate and independent entities. Please see www.deloitte.co.uk/about for a detailed
description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms. The information contained
in this press release is correct at the time of going to press. For more information, please
visit www.deloitte.co.uk
19. Eden Court Collective is a group of young actors from all over the Highlands, who were
brought together to participate in a performance project that would challenge us as young
performers and theatre makers. We are an exciting, talented, modest, friendly, cooperative
and awesome group of young people. We are up for anything and we are all committed to
being part of something brilliant, pushing creative boundaries and challenging the common
expectations of what youth theatre can be. We were first brought together in 2014 for a
project called A Century Untold, and we are delighted that Exchange 2016 is our next
challenge.
20. About the Edinburgh International Festival - Every August, the giants of the arts gather in
the stunning city of Edinburgh for the International Festival. For three exhilarating weeks,
the city becomes an international cultural epicentre with the finest creators and performers
from the worlds of classical music, theatre, opera and dance from around the globe offering
intense, personal and exciting experiences to those who come from Scotland, the UK and
overseas.
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As a vibrant, innovative and energetic organisation, involved in commissioning and
producing new work from the very best artists working internationally, while also nurturing
grass roots arts engagement on its doorstep, the Festival contributes to many aspects of life,
be it culture, economy, education and society, and enhances the lives of people not just in
Edinburgh and Scotland, but around the world. The 2016 Edinburgh International Festival
runs from 5-29 August. The full Festival Programme will be announced on Wednesday 6 April
2016, with tickets on sale to priority bookers from this date, and to the general public on 16
April. Find out more at eif.co.uk . The Edinburgh International Festival is supported by The
City of Edinburgh Council and Creative Scotland. Scottish Charity Number SC004694.
21. Firefly provides quality theatre, film and arts activity in venues across West Lothian, working
with over 300 children and young people each week. Our programme embraces classic and
contemporary text, new writing, devised, physical and multi-media work. Recent
productions have included devised pieces These Shores and Humming for Contact and
Chrysalis festivals, adaptations of Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Aristophanes’ Women in Power,
Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Molière’s Tartuffe.
22. Ignite Theatre was founded in 2010 by writer/director Aileen Ritchie and an original group
of young asylum seekers and refugees, and is an award-winning Glasgow based charity
which engages with a diverse range of children and young people who face multiple
challenges in life. Through free weekly workshops and innovative drama projects, Ignite
Theatre offers its members a supported environment in which they can fulfill their creative
potential, develop confidence, forge new friendships and build their life skills.
23. Live Theatre is recognised as one of the great new writing theatres on the international
stage. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne it is also deeply rooted in its local community. Live
Theatre produces work as varied and diverse as the audiences it engages with. As well as
championing the art of writing for stage by producing and presenting new plays, Live
Theatre uses theatre to unlock the potential of young people and finds, nurtures and trains
creative talent. Through its creative enterprises it is also developing new models of business
sustainability and growth. Founded in 1973, the theatre was transformed in 2007. The
result is a beautifully restored and refurbished complex of five Grade II listed buildings with
state-of-the-art facilities in a unique historical setting, including a cabaret style theatre, a
studio theatre, renovated rehearsal rooms, a series of dedicated writer’s rooms as well as a
thriving café and bar. For more information see www.live.org.uk. Live Theatre is grateful for
the support of Arts Council England and Newcastle City Council and our many other friends
and supporters.
24. About Luminato Festival: Luminato Festival is Toronto’s global multi-arts festival dedicated
to performance, visual art, music, theatre, dance and more. The Festival marks its 10th
anniversary from June 10 to 26, 2016 with a free and ticketed program of local and
international artists delivering adventurous art in adventurous places. In its first decade,
Luminato has become one of the preeminent arts festivals in North America, having
commissioned close to 100 new works of art, with more than 3,000 performances featuring
11,000 artists from over 40 countries. As part of its first-ever residency, this June Luminato
will temporarily transform the Hearn Generating Station, an iconic, decommissioned power
plant and one of Toronto’s unique industrial landmarks, into the world’s largest multi-arts
centre with a 1,200 seat theatre, a music stage, a site-specific performance space,
restaurants, bars and more. To learn more, visit http://bit.ly/TurnOnTheHearn.
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Curated by Artistic Director Jorn Weisbrodt and led by CEO Anthony Sargent, Luminato
Festival is a charitable, not-for-profit, cultural organization. Endlessly inventive for the wildly
curious. www.luminatofestival.com
25. Mackie’s is a pioneering family business from Aberdeenshire which has diversified into
making ice-cream, crisps and most recently chocolate - all under the ‘Mackie’s of Scotland’
brand. Mackie's is a vertically integrated, fourth generation family business who have been
farming at Westertown, Aberdeenshire since 1912 and making ice cream in a "sky to scoop
design chain" since 1986. The award-winning environmental business is powered by
renewable energy from Mackie’s wind turbines and a solar panel farm. The 1500 acre arable
farm supports a 450 cow dairy herd which supplies fresh cream and milk for their real dairy
ice cream. Mackie's now produces over 11 million litres of ice cream per annum in several
tub sizes for both retail and food services markets and also make their own plastic packaging
on the farm. 61 staff, with an average tenure over 12 years, work for the company. Mackie's
ice cream is the No.1 brand in premium ice cream in Scotland. In 2009 Mackie’s diversified
into premium crisps, made in a joint venture company under license and now exporting to
over 20 countries worldwide. Mackie’s are currently building a chocolate factory at the farm
to make their latest new product- a range of four flavours of chocolate – with a hint of
Scotland provided with Scottish malt, Scottish-grown mint and their home-made
honeycomb. Mackie’s chocolate is available in selected Scottish Tesco and Sainsburys outlets
and online at www.mackieschocolate.co.uk Located at the heart of the University of Stirling,
26. Macrobert Arts Centre is a cultural hub for Stirling, the Forth Valley and Scotland. With a
vision is to promote and develop participation in, and enjoyment of, the arts, the
organisation offers a huge variety of activities with over 400 live performances - comedy,
dance, drama, exhibitions, family shows, music, opera - a range of opportunities for all ages
to get involved and a year round cinema programme. Macrobert Arts Centre also produces
and co-produces award-winning new work and is acknowledged as a producer of quality
productions for younger audiences, working in partnership with other companies and artists.
Macrobert Collective is an exciting new opportunity for talented young people from Stirling
and the Forth Valley to get involved. Created especially for National Theatre of Scotland
Exchange 2016 by Macrobert Arts Centre, this new company is open to 16 to 25 year olds.
27. Manifesto Jamaica is a social enterprise committed to educating, exposing and empowering
youth through art and culture. We believe that the creative arts can be used to effectively
guide young people, and our nation, on a positive path toward personal and community
development. Transformation in this direction will alleviate unemployment, poverty,
violence and social exclusion. Our mission is to develop and attract opportunities for young
people that inspire creativity, productivity and elevated consciousness, by harnessing the
talents of nation builders.
28. The Mental Health Foundation is a UK charity aiming to inform and influence the
development of evidence-based mental health policy at the national and local government
level. In tandem, they help people to access information about the steps they can take to
look after their own mental health. The charities work stems from their long history of
working directly with people living with or at risk of developing mental health problems and
wants continue to empower people to take action when problems are at an early stage. The
Mental Health Foundation is a UK charity that relies on public donations and grant funding
to deliver and campaign for good mental health for all. www.mentalhealth.org.uk , For more
information regarding the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival please visit
www.mhfestival.com
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29. The National Theatre of Great Britain is dedicated to making the very best theatre and
sharing it with as many people as possible. We produce up to 30 productions at our South
Bank home each year, ranging from re-imagined classics – such as Greek tragedy and
Shakespeare – to modern masterpieces and new work by contemporary writers and
theatre-makers. The work we make strives to be as open, as diverse, as collaborative and as
national as possible. We want to inspire artists and audiences to think in new ways, to
constantly re-imagine the act of making theatre. The National’s work is also seen on tour
throughout the UK and internationally, and in collaborations and co-productions with
regional theatres. Popular shows transfer to the West End and occasionally to Broadway.
The National Theatre Live programme of cinema broadcasts, introduced in 2009, is now
regularly available in over 600 cinemas across the UK; forthcoming broadcasts include Of
Mice and Men (19 November), Jane Eyre (8 December), the Donmar Warehouse’s
production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses (28 January) and As You Like It (25
February). National Theatre: On Demand In Schools offers three acclaimed, curriculumlinked productions free to stream on demand in every secondary school in the country.
30. Northwestern University Settlement House is social service organization that nurtures,
educates and inspires children, families and seniors in Chigaco. Focusing on changing lives
through education, social services and the arts, Northwestern Settlement programmes
holistically fit the complex needs of its community to break the long-term cycle of poverty.
They offer services including food pantry services, free education for young people,
employment services and social clubs, day care and after school programmes, partnerships
with other organizations that provide healthcare and emergency services.
31. Our PaperDog company is committed to making dynamic and exploratory performance,
developing contemporary practice that both combines and deconstructs theatrical form,
creating work that is physically and visually arresting, and universally readable. PaperDog
performers are keen to take risks and challenge boundaries.
32. Red Note Ensemble is Scotland’s contemporary music ensemble, dedicated to developing
and performing contemporary music to the highest standards, and taking new music out to
audiences around and beyond Scotland. It is the Associate Contemporary Ensemble at the
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, and an Associate Company of the Traverse
Theatre, Edinburgh. Red Note was founded in 2008 by Scottish cellist Robert Irvine, and is
directed by John Harris (Chief Executive and Artistic Co-Director) and Robert Irvine (Artistic
Co-Director). The ensemble is led by violinist Jacqueline Shave. Red Note performs the
established classics of contemporary music; commissions new music; develops the work of
new and emerging composers from around the world; and finds new spaces and new ways
of performing contemporary music to attract new audiences. Red Note’s work in 2016
includes a Reels to Ragas tour of the Highlands and Islands with Indian tabla player Kuljit
Bhamra, The 306: Dawn with the National Theatre of Scotland, a new string quartet for
invented instruments by Francois Sarhan, and a large-scale co-production and tour of Europe
with Antwerp-based wind ensemble I Solisti.
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33. Based at Banchory’s Woodend Barn, Sound organise the annual Sound Festival: Scotland's
Festival of New Music, as well as workshops and performances throughout the year. We aim
to make new music more accessible through a variety of performances, workshops, talks and
other activities, as well as to encourage excellence and experimentation by commissioning
and producing new work, and to nurture local and Scottish talent. We do this in partnership
with a range of local, national and international arts organisations.
34. Station House Media Unit (shmu), established as a charity in 2003, is one of the core
cultural organisations in Aberdeen, and is at the forefront of Community Media
development in Scotland, supporting residents in the seven regeneration areas of the city in
the use of a range of media for a variety of purposes. shmu is actively involved in radio and
video production, traditional and on-line publications, music production and digital inclusion
programmes. The organisation also supports other disadvantaged communities, both
geographic and communities of interest, with an employability and training arm and a
programme for offenders, both pre and post-release. www.shmu.org.uk
35. Strange Town is a performing arts company for 5-25 year olds based at Out of the Blue in
Leith, Edinburgh. Strange Town consists of a “youth theatre that really works” (8-18s); a
“startlingly gifted young company” (18-25s) (Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman); Young Actors’
Agency (5-25s) and schools outreach programme (5-12s). All the plays produced by Strange
Town are original, written by young, emerging writers. These productions (70 new plays to
date) have reached large audiences in Scottish venues (Scottish Storytelling Centre, Rothes
Halls, Royal Lyceum, Traverse, Roxy, Summerhall and Edinburgh Castle) to critical acclaim.
36. The TEAM is a Brooklyn-based ensemble dedicated to making new work about the
experience of living in America today. Crashing American history and mythology into modern
stories to illuminate the current moment, the company combines aggressive athleticism
with emotional performances and intellectual rigor, keeping the brain, eyes and heart of the
audience constantly stimulated. Founded in 2004, The TEAM has created and toured 9 works
at venues throughout the world, including the London’s National Theatre, Edinburgh’s
Traverse Theatre, the Public Theater and PS122 in New York, Lisbon’s Culturgest, the
Salzburg Festival, the Perth International Arts Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Minneapolis’
Walker Art Center, and A.R.T. in Boston. The TEAM are four-time winners of The Scotsman
Fringe First Award, Winner 2011 Edinburgh International Festival Fringe Prize, 2011 Herald
Angel, 2008 Edinburgh Total Theatre Award, Best Production Dublin Fringe 2007, and
were nominated for a 2012 Drama League Award for Outstanding Musical. The TEAM was
cited on “Best of 2013″ lists on 3 continents, and is a recipient of the American Theatre
Wing’s 2014 National Theatre Company Grant. www.theteamplays.org
37. Told by an idiot creates theatre for national and international touring and for specific
spaces. They set out to explore the human condition by celebrating and revelling in a style of
theatre that is bigger than life. The company always seeks to acknowledge the artifice of
theatre and makes no attempt to put reality on stage. They remain, however, fascinated by
the fine line between comedy and tragedy that exists in the real world.
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Through collaborative writing, anarchic physicality and a playful but rigorous approach to
text, the company is committed to creating a genuinely spontaneous experience for the
audience. Using a wealth of imagery and a rich theatrical language, they aim to tell universal
stories that are accessible to all.
38. Yuva Ekta, under the direction of Puneeta Roy, is an innovative youth theatre company and
part of The Yuva Ekta Foundation in New Delhi. They aim to use theatre and the arts to build
bridges between young people from diverse socio-economic backgrounds.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND – ARTISTS BIOGRAPHIES 2016
Davey Anderson – Associate Director – Anything That Gives Off Light
Davey has previously worked for the National Theatre of Scotland on Enquirer, Architecting (as
Associate Director), Peter Pan and Be Near Me (as Musical Director), Black Watch (as Associate
Director – Music), Transform Orkney: Mixter Maxter (as Co-Director), Rupture and Snuff (as
Writer/Director). In 2006-07 he was the Company’s Director in Residence. As a writer, Davey’s plays
include Blackout, Scavengers, Playback, Clutter Keeps Company, Liar and Wired. In 2010-11 he was
Associate Playwright with the Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland. Davey has also worked as
Composer/Musical Director for the Donmar Warehouse, the Tron Theatre, Scottish Youth Theatre
and Lazzi. He was supported by the Arches Award for Stage Directors in 2005.
Simon Armitage- Lyricist- I am Thomas
Simon Armitage was born in 1963 and lives in West Yorkshire. He has published nine volumes of
poetry, most recently Tyrannosaurus Rex Versus the Corduroy Kid (Faber, 2006) and The Not
Dead (Pomona, 2008). He has won numerous awards and prizes and been shortlisted for the
Whitbread Poetry Prize and the T.S. Eliot Prize. His dramatisation of The Odyssey, commissioned by
the BBC, was broadcast on Radio 4. The book, Homer’s Odyssey – A Retelling, was published by
Faber & Faber in the UK and by Norton in the US. He has written for over a dozen television films,
and received an Ivor Novello Award for his song-lyrics in the Channel 4 film Feltham Sings, which also
won a BAFTA.
His prose work includes two novels, the best-selling memoir All Points North, (Penguin 1998) which
was the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year, and its follow-up, Gig. He was one of the judges for the
2006 Man Booker Prize Simon Armitage has taught at the University of Leeds and the University of
Iowa's Writers' Workshop, and is currently a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University.
His translation of the middle English classic poemSir Gawain and the Green Knight, commissioned by
Faber & Faber in the UK and Norton in the US, was published in 2007. An anthology of bird poetry,
edited with Tim Dee, was published by Viking in October 2009 and his latest collection of
poetry Seeing Stars was published by Faber in 2010.
Armitage's 2012 non-fiction book Walking Home, an account of his troubadour journey along the
Pennine Way, was a Sunday Times best-seller for over a month and is shortlisted for the 2012
Portico Prize.
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Cora Bissett - Director- Adam
Cora is a director, actor, songwriter and Artistic Director of her company Pachamama which she
launched in 2010 with the multi-award winning Roadkill (Pachamama/ Ankur Productions). Roadkill
won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, 2012, as well as various
other awards including an Amnesty International Award for Freedom of Speech. Her production of
Janis Joplin: Full Tilt opens at Theatre Royal Stratford East in February 2016.
Cora has previously worked with the National Theatre of Scotland as co-creator/director of Rites
(2015), Glasgow Girls (Theatre Royal Stratford East, Citizens Theatre, Richard Jordan Productions Ltd
and Pachamama Productions, in association with Merrigong Theatre Company) winner of Best New
Musical 2013 at the Off West End Theatre Awards and as an actor with The Wolves in the Walls.
Other artistic co-creating/directing credits include Whatever Gets You Through the Night (The
Arches) and Janis Joplin: Full Tilt (Òran Mór) and GRIT-The Martyn Bennett Story (Pachamama
Productions), a large scale cross-form production for the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme which
celebrated the life of the late Scottish musical maverick.
Rachel Chavkin –Director- Anything That Gives Off Light
Rachel Chavkin is a director, writer, dramaturg, and founding Artistic Director of Brooklyn-based
experimental ensemble the TEAM, with whom she has co-authored and directed 9 works, which
have been seen all over NYC (including the Public Theater and PS122), nationally (including the
Walker Art Center and A.R.T.), and internationally (including the National Theatre and Royal Court in
London, and festivals across Europe, Australia, and Asia). She collaborates regularly with writers and
composers on new work, including Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Ars
Nova World Premiere, off-Broadway transfer, A.R.T., Broadway transfer upcoming; New York Times,
Time Out NY, and NY Post Critics' Pick), folksinger Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown (NYTW, Spring 2016),
Chris Thorpe's Confirmation (2014 Scotsman Fringe First, national and international tour), Bess
Wohl's Small Mouth Sounds (New York Times Top 10 2015), and Marco Ramirez's The Royale (Lincoln
Center, Old Globe). 2010 and 2013 Obie Award, Drama Desk and Lucille
Jo Clifford - Writer and Performer- Eve
Jo Clifford is the author of about 90 plays, adaptations and translations, many of which have been
performed all over the world. Work Includes Losing Venice, Ines de Castro, Light In The Village, Life Is
A Dream, Celestina, Every One, Faust Parts One & Two, & The Tree Of Knowledg and Great
Expectations. Revivals of her work in 2015 include Great Expectations (Dundee and Tokyo); Anna
Karenina (Manchester’s Royal Exchange and the West Yorkshire Playhouse) ; Ines de Castro The
Opera (music by James MacMillan) at Scottish Opera; The Gospel According To Jesus Queen Of
Heaven (Summerhall, Edinburgh Festival Fringe). Also in 2015, her new play: Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde,
toured the UK, produced by Sell A Door Theatre Company. In 2016 she is performing Jesus Queen Of
Heaven at the Queer Contact Festival in Manchester; at the Festival Internacional de Teatro in Belo
Horizonte, Brazil, and the Outburst Arts Festival, Belfast. She is an Associate Artist of Chris Goode
and Company. She is a proud father and grandmother. She lives in Edinburgh. More info on
www.teatrodomundo.com
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Oliver Emanuel – writer - The 306: Dawn
An internationally award-winning playwright based in Glasgow. His work has been seen across the
UK, Ireland, Europe, Canada, USA and China. His play Dragon won Best Show for Children and Young
People at the UK Theatre Awards 2014. It was also the first play for children ever to be presented at
the Edinburgh International Festival, in 2015. Titus won the People’s Choice Victor Award at IPAY in
Philadelphia 2015. As well as theatre, Oliver writes extensively for radio and has been writer in
residence for BBC Radio 4 and Children in Need in 2011. His play Daniel & Mary was nominated for a
Sony Radio Academy Award for Best Drama in 2010, and he is a leading writer on Emile Zola: Blood,
Sex & Money starring Glenda Jackson for BBC Radio 4 to be broadcast in 2015-16. Oliver is a parttime Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of St Andrews.
Vicky Featherstone- Director - Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour
Vicky is the Artistic Director at the Royal Court Theatre. In this role her directing credits have
included Dennis Kelly’s The Ritual Slaughter of George Mastromas, Abi Morgan’s The Mistress
Contract and Molly Davies’ God Bless the Child, and Zinnie Harris’ How To Hold Your Breath. She
opened her first season at the Royal Court Theatre with Open Court – a festival of plays, ideas and
events, chosen by over 140 writers. At National Theatre of Scotland, her credits included Enquirer
(co-directed with John Tiffany), Appointment With The Wicker Man and 27.
Vicky Featherstone was the inaugural Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Scotland (2004 to
2013) and was previously Artistic Director of Paines Plough (1997 to 2004).
Chris Goode - Writer- Eve
Chris Goode is a writer, director, performer and musician, and lead artist of Chris Goode & Company.
His diverse body of work has been seen in venues ranging from Sydney Opera House and Tate
Modern to the most marginal spaces on the London fringe. His credits include four Fringe First
award-winning shows: Men in the Cities, Monkey Bars, Kiss of Life, and (with Unlimited Theatre)
Neutrino; he also won the Headlong/Gate New Directions Award for his radical version of Chekhov,
...SISTERS, at the Gate Theatre. Chris is a former artistic director of Camden People's Theatre and he
now directs the all-male ensemble Ponyboy Curtis. His first full-length critical book is The Forest and
the Field (Oberon), and he is the host of the theatre podcast Thompson's Live, now in its third
season. In March 2016, Chris will direct Jo Clifford's play Every One at Battersea
David Greig – Co-creator - The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart
David is a playwright, screenwriter and director. His work for the National Theatre of Scotland
includes The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, One Day in Spring, Glasgow Girls, Peter Pan, The
Bacchae, Futurology: A Global Review and Gobbo. His production of Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory opened in the West End in 2013 and his new play The Events premiered at the Traverse
Theatre, Edinburgh in August 2013. Other theatre highlights include The Monster In The Hall,
Midsummer, Yellow Moon, Being Norwegian, Damascus, Pyrenees, San Diego, The American Pilot,
Outlying Islands and The Cosmonaut’s Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former
Soviet Union.
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Lee Hall – Adapter - Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour
Lee was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1966. He studied English Literature at the University of
Cambridge and has worked as a writer in theatre, TV, radio and film. He has been writer in residence
at the Royal Shakespeare Company and Live Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne. Previous theatre work
includes Shakespeare In Love (Noel Coward Theatre), The Pitmen Painters (2007- 2013), Live
Theatre/ Royal National Theatre, Broadway, West End, UK Tours (winner Evening Standard Best Play
Award, TMA Best New Play Award); and Billy Elliot - the Musical, London 2004-, Australia 2006-7,
Broadway, 2008-, Chicago, 2010 (Olivier Award - Best Musical, 9 Tony Awards including Best Book).
Film and television credits include War Horse (2011), DreamWorks; Toast (2010); and Billy Elliot
(2000), Working Title Films (Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay).
Zinnie Harris – writer - This Restless House
Zinnie Harris is a playwright, director and screenwriter. Her plays include the multi-award winning
Further than the Furthest Thing (National Theatre / Tron Theatre), The Wheel (National Theatre of
Scotland), Midwinter, Solstice (RSC), Fall (Traverse Theatre / RSC), Nightingale and Chase (Royal
Court) and a version of A Dolls House (Donmar Warehouse.) She has written episodes of Spooks for
BBC1, Richard is My Boyfriend, Born With Two Mothers for Channel 4, and directed for the National
Theatre of Scotland, Tron Theatre, 7:84 and the RSC. She is currently an Associate Artist at the
Traverse Theatre, and is writing a new series for BBC1.
Dominic Hill – Director - This Restless House
Dominic Hill took up his post as Artistic Director of the Citizens Theatre in Autumn 2011, having
previously held the posts of Artistic Director at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh (2008 – 2011) and
Joint Artistic Director of Dundee Rep (2003 – 2008). Since his first season, his programmes of classic
texts told for contemporary audiences alongside Glasgow stories, as well as his own distinctive
productions, have won praise from public and critics alike and have reaffirmed the Citizens’ role as a
leading producer of courageous new theatre in Scotland.
Highlights of Hill’s tenure at the Citizens so far include: King Lear starring David Hayman; Samuel
Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape with a central performance by the late Gerard Murphy; a new stage
adaptation of Crime and Punishment which won a record six nominations at the Critics Awards for
Theatre in Scotland in 2014, winning four including Best Production and Best Director; a version of
Hamlet, widely acknowledged as one of the boldest and most insightful interpretations of the Bard’s
work in recent times and a 5-star production of A Christmas Carol.
In 2015, he directed two newly-commissioned works at the Citizens Theatre: Douglas Maxwell’s
Fever Dream: Southside and The Choir, a new musical by Paul Higgins and Deacon Blue’s Ricky Ross
in a co-production with Ambassador Theatre Group.
Other credits include Falstaff and Macbeth (Scottish Opera) and The City Madam (Royal Shakespeare
Company). He has directed in theatres in London and throughout the UK.
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Paul Hunter – Director - I am Thomas
Paul Hunter is co-founder and artistic director of Told by an Idiot. Paul has worked on all Told by an
Idiot shows to date as director/devisor/performer. Directing credits include: Every Last Trick (Royal
& Derngate, Northampton); Get Happy (Barbican Pit); The Mouse and his Child (RSC), Low Pay, Don’t
Pay (Salisbury Playhouse), Senora Carrar’s Rifles (Young Vic), Not With That Hand (BAC), Ordago (for
Punto Finco in bilbao). As associate director at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, Paul Hunter directed:
The Venetian Twins, The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Best Production, Manchester Evening News
award), Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Cleo, Camping Emmanuel and Dick. Film and TV credits
include: Cinderella (directed by Kenneth Brannagh); Pan (directed by Joe Wright); Alice Through the
Looking Glass; Marvellous (BBC)
Fred Leone (Australia) – lead artist - Home Away
A well-respected and intelligent community leader, with strong Australian Aboriginal, Tongan and
South-Sea Islander heritage, Fred belongs to the Garawa of Far North West Queensland into the
Northern Territory, and the Butchella of the Fraser Coast region of Queensland South East Coast.
Fred has been the Guest Curator for the Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s festival Clancestry for
the past three years. Curating Clancestry’s Closing Ceremony “Yawar–Together” (Sing & Dance
Together). Guest Curator of Indigenous content on the opening ceremony of the G20 Cultural
Program Fred also collaborated on the official G20 World Leaders’ Welcome to Country ceremony at
the Brisbane Convention Centre. He has developed his 19-year career across the Indigenous Hip Hop
and Queensland Hip Hop movements, community cultural development, education and youth
sectors to become an established performing artist, arts and cultural facilitator, educator, youth
worker, artistic director and creative producer.
Vicki Manderson - Associate Director - Let The Right One In
Vicki trained at The Scottish School of Contemporary Dance and London Contemporary Dance
School. Vicki’s credits as a Movement Director for theatre include The Drowning Pond (Youth Music
Theatre), I Do Believe in Monsters (Central School of Speech and Drama), The Silence of the Sea
(Donmar: Trafalgar season). As Associate Movement Director, her theatre credit includes Black
Watch (National Theatre of Scotland) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
(National/London’s West End). As a performer, her theatre work includes In Time o’ Strife, Beautiful
Burnout (National Theatre of Scotland with Frantic Assembly), Knives in Hens, Home Inverness
(National Theatre of Scotland), Dr Dee (English National Opera/Manchester International Festival),
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Royal and Derngate). Her dance credits as a performer include
(in)visible dancing, LOL (Lots of Love), To The Bone (Protein Dance), One Up One Down (Barrowland
Ballet).
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Rona Munro - writer - The James Plays
Recent theatre writing credits include Scuttler (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester) Donny’s Brain
(Hampstead Downstairs), The Astronaut’s Chair (for the Drum Theatre Plymouth), Pandas (for the
Traverse Theatre), Little Eagles (for the Royal Shakespeare Company), a contemporary adaptation of
The House Of Bernarda Alba for the National Theatre of Scotland), The Last Witch (for the Edinburgh
International Festival), Long Time Dead (co-production with Paines Plough and the Drum Theatre
Plymouth), Iron (for the Traverse Theatre -winner of the John Whiting award), and Mary Barton (for
the Royal Exchange Theatre). Television work includes the BAFTA nominated Bumping The Odds and
Rehab (both for the BBC). Film work includes Ladybird Ladybird directed by Ken Loach and Oranges
And Sunshine directed by Jim Loach. Radio work includes multiple episodes of The Stanley Baxter
Playhouse. She is the writing half of Scotland’s award winning women’s theatre company The
Misfits.
Frances Poet - Writer- Adam
Frances is a Glasgow-based playwright with fifteen years of experience working in theatres across
the UK as a dramaturg and Literary Manager. Her debut play, Faith Fall, was presented at Oran Mor
and Bristol's Tobacco Factory in 2012. Since then she has completed two “Classic Cuts” for Oran
Mor; The Misanthrope (after Moliere), and a version of Racine’s Andromaque which also played at
The Byre Theatre, St Andrews. Frances's radio drama, The Disappointed, aired on BBC Radio Scotland
in 2015 and her short film, Spores, starring Maureen Beattie and Lorraine McIntosh is due to
premiere in 2016. Frances is also adapting a new version of August Strindberg’s Dance of Death
which will be produced at the Citizen’s Theatre Studio in April 2016.
Sarah Rose Graber (USA) – lead artist - Home Away
Recently named one of 15 Women to Watch in 2015 by Today’s Chicago Woman magazine, Sarah
Rose is a performer, director, and teaching artist working in both Chicago and the United Kingdom.
She received a US-UK Fulbright Scholarship from 2013-14 to study devising theatre. Originally from
Miami, FL, she moved to Chicago to attend college at Northwestern University where she received
her degree in Theatre and completed her thesis in Performance Studies. She trained at the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Art in London which piqued her interest in the international theatre scene.
This led to Graber winning the Circumnavigator Scholar Grant in which she travelled completely
around the world to Scotland, England, South Africa, Kenya, Mauritius, Western Australia, New
South Wales, New Zealand, and Argentina to study theatre for social change.
Laurie Sansom - Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the National Theatre of Scotland, director The 306: Dawn and The James Plays.
Previously, he was Artistic Director of the Royal & Derngate Theatre, Northampton, from 2006 and
Associate Director to Alan Ayckbourn at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough from 2002 to
2006. His productions for the National Theatre of Scotland include The Driver’s Seat (The Lyceum,
Edinburgh) and The James Plays (Edinburgh International Festival and National Theatre of Great
Britain)
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Productions at the Royal & Derngate include The Bacchae, Blood Wedding and Hedda Gabler, which
were presented as The Festival of Chaos, as part of London 2012 Festival. Other recent productions
include Spring Storm and Beyond the Horizon which transferred to the National Theatre, London,
and for which he received the 2010 TMA Award for Best Director, Frankenstein (with Frantic
Assembly), The Duchess of Malfi and Follies. In 2009, the Royal & Derngate’s production of The Prime
of Miss Jean Brodie was presented at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, winning Anna Francolini the TMA
Award for Best Performance in a Play. He has directed for theatres around the UK including the
Traverse, Birmingham Rep, Salisbury Playhouse, Lyric Hammersmith, New Vic, Stoke, West Yorkshire
Playhouse and the National Theatre, London, where he recently directed The Holy Rosenbergs.
Simon Sharkey – Director - Granite
Simon is Associate Director of National Theatre of Scotland and part of the Company’s inaugural
senior management team. He leads the Learn department and previous work for the Company
includes large-scale site-specific productions including The Tin Forest, Jump and 99…100. He has
worked across the world and facilitates international cultural exchanges for the National Theatre of
Scotland. Most recently he has been travelling throughout Scotland and internationally, developing a
wide range of projects for communities.
Jack Thorne – writer - Let The Right One in
Theatre work includes Stuart: A Life Backwards (Hightide/Sheffield Theatres); The Borough
(Punchdrunk/Aldeburgh Festival); Mydidae (Drywrite/Soho/Trafalgar Studios); The Physicists
(Donmar); Bunny (Nabakov/international tour); 2nd May 1997 (& Nabakov), Red Car Blue Car, Two
Cigarettes, When You Cure Me (Bush); Greenland (National); Burying Your Brother in the Pavement
(NT Connections); Stacy (Tron/Arcola/Trafalgar Studios); Fanny & Faggot (Pleasance/ Finborough/
Trafalgar Studios); Paperhouse (Flight 5065) and Solids (Paines Plough/Young Vic).
Television credits include The Fades, This is England 88, This is England 86, Cast-Offs, Skins and
Shameless. Film credits include The Scouting Book for Boys and A Long Way Down. His awards
include London Film Festival Best British Newcomer Award.
Alan Warner – writer - The Sopranos
Alan Warner was born in Oban in 1964 and grew up there. He is the author of eight novels including
Morvern Callar which was made into a film starring Samantha Morton in 2002, These Demented
Lands, The Man Who Walks, The Worms Can Carry Me To Heaven, The Stars in the Bright Sky which
was longlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize and The Deadman's Pedal which won the 2013 James
Tait Black Prize. His latest novel is Their Lips Talk of Mischief, published by Faber in 2014. His novel
The Sopranos was first published in 1998.
Gareth Williams –Composer - The 306: Dawn
Originally from Armagh, Gareth now lives and works as a composer in Glasgow. His work has been
featured in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, St. Magnus Festival, Sound Festival, 5:15, Tete a Tete
Opera Festival, Sonorities, Opera to Go, and the York Late Music Festival. Prizes include the Dinah
Wolf Prize for Composition, and his piece Search Engines was winner of the 2000 Great British
Conservatoire Composers Forum.
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His music has been broadcast on BBC Scotland, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Ulster, RTE
Television, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, and CBC Radio 2 in Canada. Currently, Gareth is Composer in
Residence at Scottish Opera, where he has created two full length chamber operas - The Elephant
Angel, with novelist Bernard MacLaverty, and Last One Out, with writer Johnny McKnight. He is
currently creating a new piece for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, a new work for soprano
and The Orchestra of Scottish Opera, and a new opera, with libretto by Canadian writer Anna
Chatterton, based on D.H.Lawrence’s ‘The Rocking Horse Winner”.
Wils Wilson – Co-creator - The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart
Wils’s recent work includes Gastronauts (Royal Court), an edible performance exploring our complex
relationship with food, Praxis Makes Perfect (National Theatre Wales) a theatre event/gig created
with electro-pop duo Neon Neon, and Anon (WNO), a new opera by Errollyn Wallen. Other work for
National Theatre of Scotland includes Ignition, Gobbo (Best Production for Children & Young People,
Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland) and HOME Shetland (also winner of a CATS Award). Wils was
co-founder and co-Artistic Director of wilson+wilson (1997-2007), creating site-specific art,
installation and theatre. Work included HOUSE, Mapping the Edge, News from the Seventh Floor and
Mulgrave, which took audiences to locations including a derelict house, a tram, woods, a ballroom
and a department store at night.
ENDS
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