Tag: new production

Tickets on sale for new Stef Smith production that brings Queen Margaret University history to life

QMU welcomes audiences to new Stef Smith production at Traverse Theatre

Rising stars of stage and screen will dazzle audiences next February as they perform a new Stef Smith production at the Traverse Theatre, bringing Queen Margaret University’s 150-year story to life. 

Drawing on QMU’s rich history, from its origins as a cookery school for women, through two world wars, student activism and a global pandemic, ‘Head. Heart. Hand.’ explores how generations of students responded to the challenges and changes of their times with resilience, passion and hope.  

Created by award-winning playwright and QMU graduate, Stef Smith, the production will be performed by QMU final year Acting and Performance students at Scotland’s new writing theatre, the renowned Traverse Theatre, from 19–21 February 2026.  

Stef Smith studied Drama and Theatre Arts at Queen Margaret University and won an Olivier Award for the show ‘RoadKill’ just a few years after graduating. 

Her plays include ‘Nora: A Doll’s House’, ‘Swallow’ and ‘Enough’; and her recent screen credits include ‘Float’, the BBC Scotland drama, which shines a light on the lives of LGBTQ+ teens living in rural communities and for which she won a BAFTA for Best Writer. 

Stef said: “Coming back to QMU feels a little surreal. I can hardly believe how much time has passed since I graduated, yet in many ways it feels like no time at all!

“Much of Scotland’s theatre scene is built on new writing, so it’s vital that students gain experience working directly with a living playwright.

“I hope this opportunity gives them a real sense of the professional world they’re about to enter – it has been brilliant to see the next generation of students bringing such energy and creativity to the project.” 

The development of Head. Heart. Hand. forms part of the QMU150 programme of activities marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of the institution now known as Queen Margaret University.

As part of QMU’s commitment to accessibility, the university will be offering 150 £1 tickets to its students for the Thursday afternoon dress rehearsal. These can be booked directly through QMU and are not available via the Traverse box office. 

At its core, Head. Heart. Hand. is a story of perseverance, action, and the enduring belief in education as an act of hope. It promises to be a moving celebration of QMU’s legacy – and the students who shaped it. 

Purchase your ticket on the Traverse Theatre website –

https://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/event/head-heart-hand-spring-26 

Performance dates:

19 Feb 7pm | 20 Feb 7pm | 21 Feb 2pm and 7pm

Venue: Traverse Theatre

Tickets: https://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/event/head-heart-hand-spring-26

Age recommendation: 14+

OPEN MEETING: Cramond Drama Group and our next Pantomime

Monday 28 October 7.30pm at Cramond Kirk Halls

Calling all potential actors, stagehands, costume makers and painters of scenery!

Cramond Drama Group, supported by the Cramond Association, is planning the forthcoming events for Christmas 2024 and for 2025 – including our next pantomime – and we need your help.

We have a small, strong team but still need a chair (and a person to sit in it) as well as lots of actors, helpers and friends to make it happen.

If It’s Drama You Want, Don’t Miss It !

Cast and creatives announced for Rona Munro’s James V: Katherine

  • Catriona Faint will play the lead role of Katherine in the latest instalment in Rona Munro’s renowned James Plays, with the cast also featuring Sean Conor, Benjamin Osugo, and Alyth Ross.
  • Directed by Orla O’Loughlin, the new production will have its world premiere in Edinburgh before touring venues across Scotland, from the Highlands to the Borders, from April 2024
  • Creative team for the production will include Designer Becky Minto, Composer/Sound Designer Danny Krass, and Lighting Designer Derek Anderson.

A Raw Material and Capital Theatres co-production, James V: Katherine will continue Rona Munro’s celebrated James Plays theatrical series when it premieres next month.

Employing the same vivid historical storytelling of the previous instalments, set during the reigns of Scotland’s generations of Stewart kings. 

James V: Katherine places a lesser-known female historical figure front and centre in the story, with an intimate and up-close performance with focussed, raw and beautiful storytelling, directed by Orla O’Loughlin (Enough of Him, What Girls Are Made Of, Mouthpiece).

Katherine Hamilton is nineteen. She‘s a respectable young married woman, but she also has a secret love she’s trying to forget. When her brother, Patrick, is executed for preaching ideas forbidden by the church, Katherine is also put on trial for her life. In a packed courtroom, watched by most of Edinburgh and the cynical, young King James V, Katherine fights for survival, using her intelligence and wit.

This play is based on real historical figures and is a dramatic interpretation of key events at the very start of the Scottish Reformation, events that did happen and did change Scotland forever. It is also a love story.

The role of Katherine will be played by Catriona Faint, whose recent stage credits have included the UK-wide tour of Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning and the award-winning Enough of Him, both with the National Theatre of Scotland. The production’s ensemble cast will also include Sean Conor (River City, Moorcroft), Benjamin Osugo (A Christmas Carol, The Bookies – Dundee Rep), and Alyth Ross who will make her professional stage debut in the production.

The production will be brought to life by a creative team including Designer Becky Minto, Composer / Sound Designer Danny Krass, and Lighting Designer Derek Anderson.

James V: Katherine will premiere in Capital Theatres’ The Studio in Edinburgh, before embarking on a tour of Scottish venues with stops in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Tobermory, Inverness, Dunoon, Dunkeld, St Andrews, Stirling, Peebles and Melrose.

Supported by Chris Grace Hartness.

Funded by the Creative Scotland Touring Fund.