Leith-based charity Strange Town returns this October with their acclaimed play ‘HER’ a bold and urgent performance about consent, gender inequality, and the pressures young people face today.
Established in 2008 by Steve Small and Ruth Hollyman, Strange Town has spent 17 years creating life-changing arts experiences for young people across Edinburgh.
Long before the groundbreaking series Adolescence hit screens, Strange Town was already producing daring, original theatre in schools, giving pupils their first-ever experience of live performance while opening conversations about difficult topics such as knife crime, mental health, and social pressures.
HER, written by Jennifer Adam and directed by Steve Small, follows HIM and HER, childhood friends who have grown apart by the age of 17.
Loosely reconnecting at high school, they confront the challenges of teenage life, gender inequality, and the truth about consent. Through bold, honest storytelling, the play asks: how can you be the change you want to see in the world when it feels like the world is working against you?
‘This is such an important play — all parents, grandparents, and really anyone who wants to understand the challenges young people face today needs to see it, urgently. Our young people are navigating a world that many older people are completely unaware of and unprepared for.
‘Watching this performance helped me start conversations at home that I wouldn’t have known how to begin, and I am incredibly grateful for that.” — Audience Member
Open to audiences aged 14+, HER runs for two nights: Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd October at 7pm at the Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street, Edinburgh EH1 2ED
Times: 7pm (approx. 50 minutes)
Tickets: £15/£12/£10 https://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/event/her-autumn-25
Strange Town has been hit by the well publicised funding cuts imposed by the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB), leaving the future of its Touring Company — which brings bold, original theatre into schools across the city — under threat.
The charity depends on fundraising to sustain accessible arts opportunities for young people who might otherwise miss out.
Local people and businesses who want to help protect this vital work are encouraged to donate online or get in touch to explore other ways of support.
