STAGING THE NATION
NEW INITIATIVES TO MARK 5TH BIRTHDAY YEAR
TWO-YEAR PIONEERING PARTNERSHIP
WITH BANK OF SCOTLAND
ENABLES THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF EMERGING CREATIVE TALENT
Today, Thursday 9 December 2010, the National Theatre of Scotland announces details of its 2011 Season.
The company marks its fifth birthday with a series of activities under the banner of Staging the Nation. Staging the Nation will see the National Theatre of Scotland developing the conversation that began amongst Scottish artists and audiences decades ago and culminated five years ago when the company was created.
Featuring a wide-ranging programme of projects, events and activities throughout the year, the company will stage Scottish classics in new productions, site specific works, international collaborations, large scale international tours, a five-week residency at the Traverse Theatre, scratch pieces by emerging artists, major new writing and adaptation commissions and a boutique Christmas classic.
There are several thrilling cross-cutting strands running through the year. The key strand for the company is one of partnerships – across the country, across fellow theatre companies, venues and art-forms and across the wider business community.
Another of the National Theatre of Scotland’s main strands for 2011 is the highlighting of major themes urgent today in Scottish public life – our languages, the role of education in the arts, the challenging of our society’s views on disability and our ageing population.
As a tangible demonstration of collaboration between the arts and business community, the National Theatre of Scotland is delighted to announce a brand new two year Pioneering Partnership with Bank of Scotland, enabling the further development of emerging creative talent.
Vicky Featherstone, artistic director, National Theatre of Scotland, comments:
“As a Theatre Without Walls it is rare that any one person in Scotland is able to experience the true range and scope of the work we do. This programme for the calendar year 2011 is a great example of that breadth and variety as we aspire to be a truly great National Theatre for all the people of Scotland.
“This work is only made possible through the great partnerships we have nurtured over the last five years with theatres, with artists, with local authorities and schools, with the government and now with the Bank of Scotland.
“This milestone year for National Theatre of Scotland coincides with times of great change in our world and more than ever we must look to the artists and to the shared experience of theatre to open our imaginations to the possibility of what we can achieve together.”
Fiona Hyslop MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Culture and External Affairs, says:
“Over the past five years, the National Theatre of Scotland has reached audiences across Scotland and abroad with an exciting range of high quality work.
“This anniversary season builds on the many partnerships forged by the Company, celebrating the best of our rich and diverse theatrical culture.”
The following information offers a cross section of some of the year’s many activities and partnerships.
STAGING THE NATION
In its fifth birthday year, the company is Staging the Nation by facilitating, provoking and joining a nationwide conversation about theatre with Scottish artists and audiences. Taking many forms and open to all, this nationwide initiative will create opportunities to interact, take part, talk and connect with the National Theatre of Scotland and the country’s leading artists.
Five Minute Theatre
The National Theatre of Scotland presents 24 hours of live theatre created and performed by anyone for a worldwide audience of everyone.
On 21 June, from 5pm to 5pm the following day, five minute pieces of live theatre will be broadcast online. Professional or not, old or young, absolutely anyone can take part.
The theme will be launched and submissions for ideas and proposals will open on 25 February.
Artist Conversations
Throughout the year, the National Theatre of Scotland is hosting a series of Artist Conversations. Each event will unite audiences with some of the country’s most interesting and creative minds to discuss and debate Scotland’s cultural legacy.
Taking place across Scotland, in locations and venues with artistic resonance, each conversation will be led by a different artist to uncover and explore a different topic.
Favourite Scottish Plays
The National Theatre of Scotland has asked Scotland’s finest playwrights to pick their favourite Scottish plays. Throughout 2011, five of these plays will be performed in staged readings by leading performers in five locations across the country and may be fully-staged productions.
NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND and BANK OF SCOTLAND
PIONEERING PARTNERSHIP
Pioneering Partnership is a new sponsorship connecting Bank of Scotland and the National Theatre of Scotland in a relationship across a wide range of National Theatre of Scotland programme elements over two years. The partnership will offer geographic spread and reach across productions, initiatives, workshops and events particularly in the area of supporting creativity and emerging talent. In Year 1 (2011) the elements of Bank of Scotland Pioneering Partnership will include support of:
- Dunsinane by David Greig
- Men Should Weep by Ena Lamont Stewart
- The Missing by Andrew O’Hagan
- Autumn rural tour of Tall Tales for Little People in partnership with Communicado and one other production to be announced
- Graduate Director Placement Programme – three placements of ten weeks per year
- Emerging Artist Attachment Programme – four artists per year
- First Nights – a pioneering initiative to introduce young people with no experience of the arts to theatre
- This activity will be accompanied by a programme of Theatre Workshops for Business events and Introduction to Theatre family events
Susan Rice, managing director, Lloyds Banking Group Scotland, says: “We are absolutely delighted to be embarking on a new partnership with the National Theatre of Scotland.
“Our Pioneering Partnership is the first time that both organisations have worked together and it also represents a new approach to sponsorship with Bank of Scotland supporting not just one production or strand, but a large part of the National Theatre of Scotland’s wide reaching programme over the next two years.
“Our investment will enable National Theatre of Scotland to further develop their core programme and to take it to audiences across Scotland. It is estimated that in the first year alone nearly 100,000 people will come into contact with a production or initiative under the Bank of Scotland Pioneering Partnership banner.
“Our joint aim is to encourage and support the next generation of theatrical talent, from actors to set designers, directors to writers, reinforcing Bank of Scotland’s wider sponsorship strategy of supporting emerging talent in Scotland and providing opportunities for our customers and colleagues.”
NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND’S
REVEAL
at the Traverse Theatre Edinburgh
and then touring to the Citizens Theatre Glasgow
FIVE-WEEK REVEAL RESIDENCY AT THE TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH
National Theatre of Scotland’s five-week Reveal residency offers audiences opportunities to experience artists’ ideas and work at different stages of the creative process. From readings of new plays by writers who have never had their work professionally performed, to challenging ideas explored by experienced directors and writers making their way onto the stage, all will be interrogated and chewed over by audiences in a whole range of productions.
Vicky Featherstone, artistic director, National Theatre of Scotland, says:
“It’s time to pull back the curtains and invite audiences in to experience some of the work we have been developing at the National Theatre of Scotland. There is much in here about Scotland’s interest with the international world – plays from Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina in the A Play, A Pie and A Pint season as well as the ethical complexity of a person’s right to make decisions for other people explored in Girl X.”
She adds:
“There is exploration of the fragility of language and how it embodies identity in Iain Finlay MacLeod’s Somersaults and pieces which explore more directly the role of the audience and the drama of everyday life with young theatre tyros, Gary McNair and Molly Taylor.
“Now we are five, we also wish to resume the nationwide conversation that helped created us. To that end, we are holding a series of curated talks about the dramatic legacy which Scotland has given to the rest of the world.”
NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND
2011 PROGRAMME
The following information outlines the year’s activity by season:
SPRING
Black Watch
Written by Gregory Burke, Directed by John Tiffany
Associate Director Movement – Steven Hoggett, Associate Director Music – Davey Anderson, Set Designer – Laura Hopkins, Costume Designer – Jessica Brettle, Lighting Designer – Colin Grenfell, Sound Designer – Gareth Fry, Video Designers – Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer for Fifty Nine Productions Ltd
Hurtling from a pool room in Fife to an armoured wagon in Iraq, Black Watch is based on interviews conducted by Gregory Burke with former soldiers who served in Iraq. Viewed through the eyes of those on the ground, Black Watch reveals what it means to be part of the legendary Scottish regiment, what it means to be part of the Iraq war and what it means to make the journey home again.
John Tiffany’s production makes powerful and inventive use of movement, music and song to create a visceral, complex and urgent piece of theatre.
The tour of Black Watch has been made possible in part by the support of the Scottish Government’s International Touring Fund.
Sidney Harman Hall, Washington Wed 26 Jan – Sun 6 Feb
Memorial Hall, University of North Carolina Wed 9 – Sun 13 Feb
Bass Concert Hall, University of Texas at Austin Wed 16 Feb – Sun 20 Feb
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry Tues 8 – Sat 12 Mar
Rothes Halls, Glenrothes Wed 16 – Sat 19 Mar
Broadway Armory, Chicago Tues 29 Mar – Sun 10 Apr
The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart
Written by David Greig, directed by Wils Wilson
Designer – Georgia McGuinness , Composer – Aly Macrae/Annie Grace
A cautionary tale for a cold winter’s night…
The National Theatre of Scotland reunites the award-winning combination of writer David Greig and director Wils Wilson for site specific work, The Strange Undoing Of Prudencia Hart. Audiences are invited to share a ‘lock-in’ with the National Theatre of Scotland’s company of actors and musicians and participate in an evening of supernatural story-telling, music and theatre inspired by the Border Ballads, Robert Burns and the poetry of Robert Service.
The play tells the story of Prudencia Hart, an academic who has devoted her life to the study of folk material and collecting folk songs. She comes to a village fair in search of songs for her thesis Paradigms of Emotional Contact in The Performance and Text of Traditional Folk Song in Scotland 1572 – 1798. After the fair she finds herself at a ‘lock-in’ with the locals where songs are sung and stories told. That’s when she hears of the existence of a lost song. This is the song beyond song, the original song and the one song that remains uncollected. Prudencia sets off on a journey into the night to find it.
The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart will tour to pubs throughout Scotland including Owens Bar, Coatbridge; The Maltings, Berwick-upon-Tweed; Ghillie Dhu, Edinburgh, The Ceilidh Place, Ullapool and others to be announced.
David Greig is a multi award-winning Scottish playwright whose work is regularly produced by the National Theatre of Scotland.
Wils Wilson is a specialist in creating site specific theatre. As one half of Wilson+Wilson, she has literally taken audiences places they were not expecting. In Mulgrave Wilson took an audience of 40 on a four-mile journey where music, art, and theatre unfolded around them. Wilson and Greig worked together on Gobbo for the National Theatre of Scotland for which they won the best production for children and young people at the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland 2007.
Owens Bar, Coatbridge Thurs 10 – Fri 11 Feb
The Maltings, Berwick-upon-Tweed Mon 14 – Wed 16 Feb
Ghillie Dhu, Edinburgh Mon 21 – Tues 22 Feb
The Ceilidh Place, Ullapool Fri 25 & Sat 26 Feb
NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND Reveal Season
National Theatre of Scotland Reveal Season in association with the Traverse Theatre, Citizens’ Theatre, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Drama Training Network and Òran Mór.
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Mon 14 Feb – Sat 19 Mar
Citizens Theatre, Glasgow Wed 16 Mar – Sat 26 Mar
Full Reveal listings information, beginning with the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh and followed by the Citizens, Glasgow:
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh: Mon 14 Feb – Sat 19 Mar
Box Office: 0131 228 1404 / www.traverse.co.uk
Diaspora
Venue: Traverse 1 & 2
Date/Time: Mon 14 – Sat 26 Feb
Diaspora is a National Theatre of Scotland project, in partnership with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and the Drama Training Network, that reaches out to international theatre practitioners and brings them to Scotland to share, discuss and demonstrate their practice in collaboration with Scottish artists. Melina Seldes (Argentina), Shernaz Patel (India) and Nadine George (UK) are among the internationally acclaimed artists that will be exploring their working methods at this year’s event. The explorations are supported through a programme of masterclasses, workshops, sharings and talks.
Diaspora Masterclasses
There will be two opportunities for artists, students, graduates and audience members to take part in masterclasses with leading European theatre practitioners.
Date/Time: Thurs 24 Feb: 7.30pm Jos Houben
Date/Time: Fri 25 Feb: 5.30pm Melina Seldes
Diaspora Public Symposium: Internationalism
Date/Time: Sat 26 Feb, 2pm
Diaspora Workshops
An extensive workshop programme for adults will combine theatre, conversation, craft and visual art to create an interactive installation during Reveal.
Diaspora Talks
A panel of leading theatre artists discuss new writing in Britain and the legacy of the Traverse Theatre.
Diaspora Readings
The National Theatre of Scotland has asked the country’s finest writers to select their favourite Scottish plays. Throughout 2011, five of these plays will be performed in staged readings.
Diaspora Workshops are free. Talks and readings are free but ticketed. A small fee will be charged for Masterclass places.
A Play, A Pie and A Pint
Venue: Traverse 2
As part of the Reveal season at the Traverse, the National Theatre of Scotland is collaborating with Òran Mór’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint to present five Latin American plays, adapted by some of Scotland’s most talented young playwrights
Why Latin America? David MacLennan, the artistic director at Òran Mór, explains his thinking:
“When the National Theatre of Scotland first suggested we collaborate to produce a short season of lunchtime plays from around the world I was delighted by their initiative. But the world seemed very big and I thought we should focus on one continent.
“Unlike China and India, Latin America is not sliding effortlessly into the ‘free market’ world economy and has become a far less passive neighbour in America’s backyard. Its playwrights are at the centre of this movement of profound social change. We have received a great deal of help from scholars, translators and playwrights in finding the plays that make up this season.
“We hope you enjoy the collective fruits of their labour. Hasta la victoria siempre!”
The company will overlook a moment of Madness by Rodolfo Santana (Venezuela) in a new adaptation by Morna Pearson
Date/Time: Tues 15 – Sat 19 Feb, 1pm
Instructions for Butterfly Collections by Mariana Eva Perez and The Archivist by Hector Levy (double bill – Argentina) in a new adaptation by Lewis Hetherington
Date/Time: Tues 22 – Sat 26 Feb, 1pm
Four Parts Broken by Fernanda Jaber (Brazil) in a new adaptation by Abigail Docherty
Date/Time: Tues 1 – Sat 5 Mar, 1pm
A Dead Man’s Dying by Esteban Navajas Cortes (Colombia) in a new adaptation by Davey Anderson
Date/Time: Wed 9 – Sat 12 Mar, 1pm
The Confidant by Gilberto Pinto (Venezuela) in a new adaptation by Alan Bissett
Date/Time: Tues 15 – Sat 19 Mar 2011, 1pm
Love Letters to the Public Transport System
By Molly Taylor
Venue: Traverse 2
Date/Time: Wed 2 & Fri 4 Mar, 7pm, Thurs 3 & Sat 5 Mar, 8pm
*Presented as a work in progress, running time approx 45 minutes
Based on Molly Taylor’s quest to find the people who have the invaluable but often thankless task of working in the public transport industry, her one-woman show Love Letters to the Public Transport System explores the ordinary and extraordinary journeys we make every day, and finally thanks the people who make them possible.
Molly Taylor is an actor who has recently begun writing and performing her own work, and Love Letters to the Public Transport System is her second project working in this new way. Audience response to the first public performances of this new show will allow Molly to develop and refine the show further for future performances.
Count Me In
By Gary McNair
Venue: Traverse 2
Date/Time: Wed 2 & Fri 4 Mar, 8pm, Thurs 3 & Sat 5 Mar, 7pm
*Presented as a work in progress, running time approx 45mins
In his latest one man show, Gary McNair investigates how we all live in a political system that none of us signed up to, we were just born into it. Do we have to like it or lump it? Or can we do something about it? Gary McNair is a writer and performer who is presenting his second work at the Traverse. This is his first commission from the National Theatre of Scotland and, following these performances, Count Me In will continue to be developed in order to have a future life.
Girl X
Directed by Pol Heyvaert
Composer – Scott Twynholm
Venue: Traverse 1
Date/Time: Fri 4–Sun 13 Mar (no perf on Mon 7 Mar) 8.30pm (Sun 6.30pm)
Press performance: Sat 5 Mar
* Running time approx 80 minutes Inspired by debates on internet forums,
Inspired by debates on internet forums around the controversial case of Ashley X, Girl X is a provocative new fully-staged piece of theatre from Pol Heyvaert, the creator of the National Theatre of Scotland’s Aalst which was co-produced with Belgian theatre company Victoria. The real life case of Ashley X deals with ethical issues surrounding a set of medical procedures undergone by a Seattle child who has severe developmental disabilities.
Girl X began its journey when Robert Softley approached the National Theatre of Scotland with a series of materials that he wanted to see explored on stage. The company partnered him with writer and director Pol Heyvaert, leading to a period of research followed by a week’s intensive exploration with performance students attending the National Theatre of Scotland’s Diaspora in 2008.
A further research period and a week of practical development were then undertaken with dramaturg Bart Capelle before rehearsals began. All of these stages of development led to Girl X becoming part of the National Theatre of Scotland’s repertoire. These performances at the Traverse during Reveal are its world premiere.
Girl X also touring to:
Dundee Rep Theatre 12 Apr
Eden Court, Inverness 19 & 20 Apr
Somersaults
By Iain Finlay MacLeod, directed by Vicky Featherstone
Designer – Kai Fischer
Venue: Traverse 2
Date/Time: Thurs 10 – Sat 19 Mar (no perf Mon 14 Mar) 7pm (Sun 13, 5pm)
* Presented as a platform performance, running time approx 80 minutes
Somersaults is a new play by Gaelic playwright, Iain Finlay MacLeod. Its premiere at the Traverse launches a new development programme for Gaelic artists and work at the National Theatre of Scotland. Iain was engaged on a Writers’ Attachment with the Company in 2009 and was subsequently awarded a play-writing commission which sees this presentation of Somersaults as a platform performance during Reveal.
Roman Bridge
By Martin Travers, directed by Vicky Featherstone
Venue: Traverse 1
Fri 18 & Sat 19 Mar, 8.30pm
* Presented as a rehearsed reading, running time approx 75 minutes
Ticket price: Pay what you can
Roman Bridge is a play about survival, sacrifice, murder and love and asks if we can ever truly leave the past behind to make a new life. Martin Travers is a new playwright and Roman Bridge marks the first public presentation of his work. The National Theatre of Scotland discovered Martin and this play through a writers’ project in 2008 and gave Martin a Writer’s Attachment in 2009 to complete a new draft. It is this new draft that is presented at the Traverse during Reveal as part of the play’s ongoing journey towards a fully-staged production.
NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND
REVEAL SEASON TOURING TO THE
CITIZENS THEATRE, GLASGOW
Citizens Theatre, Glasgow: Wed 16 Mar – Sat 26 Mar
Box Office: 0141 429 0022 / www.citz.co.uk
Girl X
Venue: Main Stage
Date/Time: Wed 16 – Sat 19 Mar, 7.30pm
Girl X also touring to:
Dundee Rep Theatre 12 Apr
Eden Court, Inverness 19 & 20 Apr
Love Letters to the Public Transport System
Venue: Circle Studio
Date/Time: Thurs 17 & Fri 18 Mar, 7.30pm, Sat 19 Mar, 7.30pm
Count Me In
Venue: Circle Studio
Date/Time: Wed 16, 7.30pm, Fri 18 & Sat 19 Mar, 8.30pm
Roman Bridge
Venue: Circle Studio
Date/Time: Wed 16 & Thurs 17 Mar, 8.30pm (after Love Letters/Count Me In)
Somersaults
Venue: Circle Studio
Date/Time: Wed 23 – Sat 26 Mar, 7.30pm
Spring Season continued:
Beautiful Burnout
Frantic Assembly & National Theatre of Scotland
Written by Bryony Lavery, directed by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett
Featuring the music of Underworld – Designed by Laura Hopkins – Lighting Designed by Andy Purves – Sound Design by Carolyn Downing – Video Design by Ian William Galloway
Beautiful Burnout tells a bruising and lyrical tale of aspirations and counterpunches, delivered in a visceral, hearts-in-your-mouth production about one of the most controversial sports of our time. Following the show’s critically acclaimed, sell-out performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe August 2010, followed by a UK tour, Beautiful Burnout heads overseas to St Ann’s Warehouse, New York.
Venue: St Ann’s Warehouse, Brooklyn
Date: Fri 25 Feb – Sun 27 Mar
Extreme
Large scale, multi-discipline, community project in partnership between The National Theatre of Scotland and Aberdeen City Council.
Venue: Aberdeen
Date: March
Extreme is a series of events taking place in Aberdeen between August 2010 and March 2011 involving people of all ages.
Sparked by the adrenaline rush of high energy sports, participants from schools, colleges and community groups are attending city-wide free workshops led by a team of artists from the National Theatre of Scotland and Aberdeen City Council Arts and Culture Department. Together, they are creating and performing in unique events in December and January before the project culminates in a major performance in March 2011.
SUMMER
The National Theatre of Scotland presents the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Dunsinane in association with the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Dunsinane
By David Greig, directed by Roxana Silbert
David Greig’s sequel to Shakespeare’s Macbeth, directed by Roxana Silbert was presented by the RSC at London’s Hampstead Theatre in 2010. The production receives its Scottish premiere at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh in May 2011.
Macbeth is dead. Under cover of night, an English army has swept through the landscape, killed the tyrant and taken the seat of power.
Attempting to restore peace and put in place a new ruler, the commanding officer is beset by a brutal guerrilla uprising and simmering discontent amongst his own inexperienced troops. Struggling to grasp the alien customs and politics of this harsh country, he finds himself drawn towards the tyrant’s powerful widow in search of someone to share his burden of responsibility. Increasingly isolated from his own men and Scottish allies alike, his efforts to restore order appear futile as the situation spirals out of control.
Dunsinane is the setting for Greig’s play, the Scottish garrison town where the English occupying army is ready to commence battle and historically believed to be the site of a battle where Malcolm defeated Macbeth in 1054. Greig has taken Scotland’s real landscape and history and dramatically mixed it with the setting of Shakespeare’s play, one of the most famous landscapes in literature, even though Shakespeare himself never set foot on Scottish soil.
Roxana Silbert directs the production. She recently directed the world’s first Twitter production – Such Tweet Sorrow, for the RSC, Mudlark and 4ip, and directed A Comedy of Errors for the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.
Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh Fri 13 May – Sat 4 Jun (Previews: Fri 13 & Sat 14)
Citizens Theatre, Glasgow Tue 7 – Sat 11 Jun
Swan Theatre, Stratford–upon-Avon Wed 15 June – Sat 2 Jul
Knives in Hens
Written by David Harrower, directed by Lies Pauwels
His world is there, in front of my eyes. All I must do is push names into what is there, the same as when I push my knife into the stomach of a hen.
In an imaginary, pre-industrial landscape, a profound and strange love triangle unfolds between a ploughman, his wife and a miller. Passionate and lyrical, the play maps a mythic journey from ignorance and innocence to knowledge and power.
First staged at the Traverse Theatre in 1995, Knives in Hens was playwright David Harrower’s first professionally produced play. It has since been staged in 25 countries around the world and is widely acknowledged as a modern Scottish classic. This new production by the National Theatre of Scotland is directed by leading Belgian theatre artist Lies Pauwels (White Star for Victoria).
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Fri 3 – Sun 12 Jun
Eden Court, Inverness Tues 14 – Thur 16 Jun
Dundee Rep Theatre Tues 28 – Thur 30 Jun
AUTUMN
Communicado in co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland presents
Tall Tales for Little People
By Gerry Mulgrew after Duncan Williamson
A long-awaited resurrection of one of Communicado’s most loved and fondly remembered shows – for all the family. Gerry Mulgrew’s re-telling of Scot’s traveller Duncan Williamson’s oral stories uses the original Scots language to express these dark and beautiful myths.
Touring Scotland from September 2011 Tour venues to be announced
Men Should Weep
Written by Ena Lamont Stewart, directed by Graham McLaren
Fri 16 Sept – Sat 8 Oct Citizens Theatre Glasgow and
then touring
Ena Lamont Stewart’s landmark 1947 play is set amid the crippling poverty of Glasgow’s infamous tenements in the 1930s. Her salty, brilliantly comic play was written for the Glasgow Unity Theatre in 1948 but only received great acclaim when it was revived by 7:84 Company.
Graham McLaren comments: ‘Men Should Weep is one of the very best plays ever to be written about the corrosive effects of poverty. This is not a problem that has ever gone away. It is almost the story of my own family 70 years ago and it is almost the story of people living with the pressure of poverty and unemployment today in Glasgow, Manchester, London or any city on the planet.
It has been compared to the work of Sean O’Casey or Synge. I see more similarities with Ken Loach or Tennessee Williams but, unlike them, Ena Lamont Stewart is a Scot and I’m excited to help bring the play to a new audience here at home.’
The Missing
Written and adapted by Andrew O’Hagan, directed by John Tiffany
Tues 20 Sept – Sat 1 Oct Tramway Glasgow
In a brilliant merging of reportage, social history and memoir, Andrew O’Hagan clears a devastating path from the bygone Glasgow of the 1970s to the grim secrets of Gloucester in the mid 1990s. One of the UK’s most original, moving and beautifully written non-fiction works, The Missing marked the acclaimed debut of one of Britain’s most astute and important writers.
Accompanied by a
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
exhibition at Tramway
27
Written by Abi Morgan, directed by Vicky Featherstone
In a co-production with the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh
Sat 22 Oct – Sat 12 Nov
In writer Abi Morgan’s new work for the National Theatre of Scotland, 27, we are offered a meditation on religious faith and the question of what the future may hold for any or all of us. The play finds its characters cloistered in a convent existence, the nature of their monastic minds the focus of a study brought in from the outside. A team of American scientists approach the nuns to see if they’ll take part in a project on Alzheimer’s and the process of ageing. It’s a very particular study into the brains of the nuns after their deaths. It’s a study of faith, love and miracles.
As with other offerings in the National Theatre of Scotland 2011 season, the dramatic scenario takes its lead from actual events.
“I read an amazing book called Aging With Grace by Dr David Snowdon,” Abi Morgan says. “He is a scientist based in America who has been conducting this study over several convents across America.”
A chance meeting with nuns on a train provided Morgan with a personal experience that helped provide a social context for the play’s concerns.
Truant
Written and directed by John Retallack
Sponsored by ScottishPower
Autumn Tour
A diverse range of people from communities in Glasgow contributed to interviews on their responses to family values, the challenges of modern parenting and the place of children in society. This research has inspired the creation of a major new production involving young people and professional actors touring in Autumn 2011. For details of ScottishPower’s ongoing support of National Theatre of Scotland projects, please refer to Notes to Editors.
Heather McDonald, groups sponsorship manager at ScottishPower says: “ScottishPower is delighted to be involved with Truant this Autumn. Our community programmes have a strong emphasis on education and lifestyle choices, and the theatre is a wonderful tool for communicating these messages at the grassroots level.”
WINTER
A Christmas Carol
By Charles Dickens. Adapted, directed and designed by Graham McLaren
Opening December 2011
A boutique re-telling of one of the world’s best-loved winter fables. Scottish director, Graham McLaren, creates his own adaptation of Dickens’ Christmas ghost story whose timeless message will be brought exquisitely to life by actors accompanied by eerie puppets from the workshop of master puppeteer, Gavin Glover.
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Tel: +44 (0) 141 227 9016 E: wendy.grannon@nationaltheatrescotland.com
Andrew Neilson, Press Officer
Tel: +44 (0) 141 227 9497 E: andrew.neilson@nationaltheatrescotland.com
Press Images & Footage
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Please contact the press office for a password
For further information and updates visit www.nationaltheatrescotland.com National Theatre of Scotland can also be followed onTwitter: twitter.com/NTSonlineFacebook: facebook.com National Theatre of Scotland Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NTSonline
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. The National Theatre of Scotland is supported by the Scottish Government. Since its launch in February 2006, the National Theatre of Scotland has been involved in creating over 137 productions in 125 different locations. With no building of its own, the company takes theatre all over Scotland and beyond, working with existing and new venues and companies to create and tour theatre of the highest quality. It takes place in the great buildings of Scotland, but also in site-specific locations, airports and tower blocks, community halls and drill halls, ferries and forests. The company has performed to almost 600,000 people, across three continents.
2. For box office information and updates visit www.nationaltheatrescotland.com and / follow us on twitter.com/NTSonline; facebook.com National Theatre of Scotland and http://www.youtube.com/user/NTSonline
3. Bank of Scotland is a long-standing supporter of sports and the arts in Scotland. Through their sponsorships they aim to support emerging talent across Scotland. Bank of Scotland currently has partnerships with a wide range of Scottish sporting and cultural bodies including Imaginate, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Scottish Football Association and the Great Scottish Run. As part of the Lloyds Banking Group, Bank of Scotland is a Proud Partner for Scotland for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Their mission is to inspire and support young people, colleagues, communities and businesses across Scotland all the way to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond, through cultural and sporting activities.
4. ScottishPower/National Theatre of Scotland - Between 2006 and 2009, the partnership between ScottishPower and National Theatre of Scotland supported the creation of 15 Transform projects across Scotland reaching and engaging pupils and community members in creative and practical tasks that not only supported the Curriculum for Excellence but also gave them hands on experience in all aspects of creating theatre.
In 2010, ScottishPower continued its support of National Theatre through the sponsorship of three new community and education projects throughout 2010 and 2011.
99…100 took place in Fife between April and November 2010. The 99…100 team of artists and participants embedded themselves in the region, seeking out Fife’s stories through a series of live arts events involving dance, music, performance, flashmobs, exhibitions, forest and beach walks, haircuts and football.
The final production took place at Silverburn Park, Leven, in Fife, in November and combined music, movement, performance, photography, video, art and design in a large scale theatre event which explored and celebrated the stories of Fife.
http://www.scottishpower.co.uk
5. National Theatre of Scotland is also supported by Trusts and Foundations: North British Hotels Trust; Talteg Ltd; The Binks Trust; The Craignish Trust; The Cresswell Family Foundation; The Hugh Fraser Foundation; The Inchrye Trust; The James and Elizabeth Murray Charitable Trust; The Merchants House of Glasgow; The RS Macdonald Charitable Trust; The Wolfson Foundation In Kind Supporters: Mint Hotel; JarHair; Two Fat Ladies Restaurants
6. Extreme is led by Aberdeen City Council’s Arts Education Team in partnership with the National Theatre of Scotland and Transition Extreme Sports Ltd. Extreme is an Inspire project supported by the National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council with addition
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