co-production – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

New adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984 to headline Autumn season ahead of Scottish tour

1984 is a co-production between Citizens Theatre, Dundee Rep Theatre and The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

Citizens Theatre, 29 Aug – 26 September

citz.co.uk

Dundee Rep Theatre, 30 September – 10 October

dundeerep.co.uk

His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen, 13 October – 17 October

aberdeenperformingarts.com/his-majestys-theatre/

The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, 27 October – 07 November

lyceum.org.uk

Directed by Dominic Hill, Artistic Director of the Citizens Theatre, 1984 is a co-production between Citizens Theatre, Dundee Rep Theatre and The Royal Lyceum Edinburgh which previews in Glasgow from 29 August 2026 and receives its world premiere on 3 September 2026 before touring to Dundee, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

The Citizens Theatre commissioned this new adaptation from writer Chris Hannan as part of its reopening programme. In recent times, 1984 has surged back up international bestseller lists, as readers return to Orwell’s stark warning about truth, power and control in today’s unsettling world politics.

Playwright Chris Hannan is one of Scotland’s leading writers. He has adapted major literary classics, including Crime and Punishment (for Citizens Theatre in 2013) and The Iliad.

This new stage adaptation of 1984 stays true to Orwell’s dystopian novel about a tightly controlled society built on surveillance, fear and the manipulation of truth – while exploring the love affair between Winston and Julia that catapults them into rebellion.

One of the defining novels of the 20^th century, 1984’s Scottish connections are striking. Written largely on the Scottish island of Jura and completed while he was seriously ill in hospitals and sanatoria, George Orwell spent crucial periods in Scotland while finishing the book – including time at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride as his health deteriorated.

The physical strain he was under, and the bleak post-war climate in which he was writing, echo through the novel’s stark and unsettling world.

Director, Dominic Hill said: “I am thrilled to be working once again with Chris Hannan. His version of Crime and Punishment for the Citz proved once again that he is one of Scotland’s finest playwrights but also has a great talent at making works of prose feel like immediate, living drama for the stage.

“His new adaptation of Orwell’s chilling classic is equally brilliant. We live in a world that is increasingly called ‘Orwellian’; Chris’s adaptation takes us back to the original story – an appeal for truth, love and moral courage within a system designed to crush. It is a classic story, told for our times, and I can’t wait for audiences across Scotland to experience it later this year.”

Opening in Glasgow in August 2026, it will mark one year since the Citz returned to its home in the Gorbals, following a major redevelopment of the building.

Further creative and cast credits to be announced.

On sale dates are as follows:

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow

Presale to Theatre Pass Members and Supporters on Wednesday 25 February

Public on sale on Wednesday 4 March

Dundee Rep Theatre, Dundee

Friends priority on sale on Wednesday 25 February
Public on sale on Friday 27 February

His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen

Friends priority on sale 03 March

General bookers on sale 04 March

The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

Tickets on sale June 2026.

Help the council to develop your future community

Convener of the city council’s Planning Committee Cllr Joan Griffiths encourages residents get involved in plans to improve local communities

Are you passionate about your local community and interested in helping us shape how it looks in the future? Local Place Plans have been introduced so you can tell us what you care about, like and don’t like about where you live as well as your community’s aspirations.

Every area is different and so your plan can address your community’s needs and concerns. The Council is required to recognise Local Place Plans when preparing the next local development Plan – City Plan 2040.

So how does this work? There is no right or wrong way to develop each plan. It will depend on the resources you have available. But it must include a map of the relevant land, and a proposal of how the land will be used. You can make it very simple, and it doesn’t need to be professionally designed. A word document and a map can be enough.

You can help shape future housing, business, or community spaces by bringing forward proposals to improve quality of life, health and well-being, and help to protect buildings and green space in line with your community values.

If you have an idea, I’d suggest you team up with your local community council or relevant trusts or charities. Children and youth groups, local schools and organisations big and small may also like to get involved with your plan.

A Local Place Plan needs to relate to a specific area, but it can be any size. It can cover a whole district, a neighbourhood, or a single plot of land. It is up to you what you cover.

It doesn’t need to be clearly defined in the beginning. It can evolve during the process.

A good Local Place Plan has information on what life is like in your area and who lives there. It could have ideas for new buildings and homes, improving how you get around, additional spaces for playing, sports or growing food, or proposals to reuse important buildings.

To prepare one you’ll also need to reach out to your community to find out what is most important to them. You should ask about the changes you’d like to make, what you’d like to protect, what they think is missing in the community and you can point out planning policies you think can be influenced in your plan.

You could do this through surveys and questionnaires, drop in events, exhibitions and by attending planned local events. Schools and youth organisations will be able to help you talk to young people too.

Our aim with City Plan 2040 and local place plans is to strengthen communities and make sure that they look after the wellbeing of their residents.

We want to build attractive places where people can afford to buy or rent their homes, walk to educational and healthcare facilities, enjoy cultural and sporting activities and easily access sustainable transport to visit other parts of Edinburgh.

You will find further information on local place plans on our website.

Empowering Our Communities: a firm step forward on a rocky road

More than one hundred and fifty people from across Scotland attended an ‘Empowering Our Communities’ event organised by the Scottish Government’s Ingage team in Edinburgh yesterday. Continue reading Empowering Our Communities: a firm step forward on a rocky road

Co-Production Week Scotland

Fiona Garven, Director of SCDC and Chair of the Scottish Co-production Network looks at the progress co-production has made in Scotland – and where it can go next:

It doesn’t feel like so many years ago that we started talking about co-production in Scotland. In fact, in relation to the time it takes to make a system shift towards new ways of working, it has actually been no time at all!But, since it started in 2011, the Scottish Coproduction Network has grown to a membership of almost 1,000 made up of people active in their own communities, practitioners from across a range of sectors, and others interested in how to make coproduction fundamental to public policy.

Co-production has been championed in Scotland for a long time, in the work of many community and voluntary sector organisations, and by those who believe in the importance of participation and the contribution of all in helping to achieve better outcomes. Through the Scottish Co-production Network, we’ve been able to share examples of citizens and services working together to produce innovative solutions to many social issues, from working with vulnerable young people to maximise their life chances through to support for older people to live well and independently for longer – there are many other examples besides.

But, although these examples of good practice are making a positive impact on people’s lives, we have yet to reach the stage where working alongside citizens or service users as equal partners, or recognising and supporting independent community action, is at the foundation of how we deliver public services in Scotland.

Over the last few years we have seen a significant move at government level towards an empowerment agenda, with specific legislation in the shape of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act, but also supported by policy initiatives in respect of reforming public services, new thinking on ‘what makes us healthy’, and addressing inequalities – all with an emphasis on community participation and the involvement of citizens.

Co-production is at the heart of nearly all of our policy ambitions, and with Co-production Week Scotland, it’s time to build on the enthusiasm and messages for a national campaign where we can all contribute our ideas, thoughts and examples of where this way of working and thinking has made a real difference.

We still face the impacts of austerity in Scotland, and new global challenges in the manifest distrust of political and governance systems. Now, more than ever, is the time to promote and celebrate the difference co-production can make in shaping Scotland to be a more inclusive, participative and equal place to live.

Learn more about Co-production Week Scotland and get involved at #CoProWeekScot

Muirhouse Shopping Centre to be demolished

Gunner to go for good as regeneration plans unveiled

The mutli-million pound regeneration of Muirhouse and Pennywell has taken another significant step forward with the launch of a consultation exercise on Muirhouse Shopping Centre and the surrounding environment. Continue reading Muirhouse Shopping Centre to be demolished

Constance: ‘Huge appetite for community involvement’

An overwhelming number of Scots – 96% – think that local people should be involved in making decisions about the design and delivery of their public services. The 2015 Scottish Social Attitudes (SSA) survey, published yesterday, also shows that 35% of people had either volunteered at, or help set up, a local community organisation, and well over half (61%) think improvements can be made. Continue reading Constance: ‘Huge appetite for community involvement’