The four-strong cast have completed a knockout Edinburgh Festival theatre run
A group of Edinburgh Napier University acting students have claimed an industry award for an Edinburgh Festival Fringe show that packed a punch.
Starring Daniel John Doherty, Liam Scobie, Arran Hogg and Ruairi Francis McCormack – and directed by Lecturer David Wotton from ENU’s School of Arts & Creative Industries – Cornermen tells the story of a young boxer and the exploitation of his success.
Following a successful run at theSpace on the Mile throughout this month, the cast have been presented with the coveted ‘Bright Spark’ award by The Scottish Theatre Awards on the Fringe.
Awarded every year by the Scottish Arts Club, the prize recognises Scottish actors or theatre-makers just embarking on their career, with the winner selected by a panel of expert judges.
Put on by in-house company Authentically False Productions, Cornermen stood out from the crowd of theatre acts on show across the city during August, drawing praise for its assured performance.
Responding to their award win, Daniel, Liam, Arran and Ruairi said: “We are all absolutely thrilled to have won the ‘Bright Spark’ award at our first foray into the professional theatre world after our training at Edinburgh Napier University.
“The hard work and dedication we put into Cornermen has paid off and we couldn’t be prouder to represent Edinburgh Napier and the Scottish theatre scene in this way.
“Hopefully, this award will be a great kick start to our career. We’ll always remember this moment, this award and this training.”
Cornermen director David Wotton said: “It’s awards like this that highlight our department and the hard work we do to make sure our training actors thrive in such a competitive market.
“This award marks a year of dedication by the cast of Cornermen, Daniel John Doherty, Liam Scobie, Arran Hogg and Ruairi Francis McCormack, and our department.
“Year upon year our course has exceptional National Student Survey results, and industry recognition like this shows that Edinburgh Napier University is a great place for an actor to train.
“Directing these four talented actors has been so very rewarding. It’s great that the industry sees and appreciates the work and dedication shown by both our talented actors and staff alike.”
Cornermen was one of many theatre productions put on by ENU students during the Edinburgh Festivals, which draw to a close this week.
It also follows previous shows such as Everything Under the Sun in being recognised by the industry.
Friends and supporters of Arkle Theatre Company have unveiled a sculpture to mark the thirty year legacy of grassroots theatre and to recognise the contribution of founders Rob Mackean and Michael Mulligan to the arts.
The sculpture was unveiled at a reception attended by alumni of the theatre company and held at this year’s Fringe Central at Grassmarket Community Project on Monday (18 August).
The sculpture has been commissioned from Edinburgh blacksmith and artist Jack Waygood, and depicts a mischievous figure of Puck sat atop a step ladder and holding the full moon.
The design was inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Patrick Barlow’s adaptation of The 39 Steps; two favourite plays of Arkle Theatre founders and the ensemble productions that made up the company’s final Fringe performances. The work is due to go onto public display at the new Fringe Hub when it opens on Infirmary Street in 2026.
Talking about the artwork and contribution Arkle Theatre Company has made to the arts in Edinburgh, Head of Artist Services at the Fringe Society, Chris Snow said: “Edinburgh is packed year-round with talent – professional theatre companies, students and community groups alike.
“In this year’s Fringe programme hundreds of shows are presented by Edinburgh-based teams. Rob Mackean and Michael Mulligan have led Arkle Theatre for 30 years, with the company performing more than 50 shows at the festival.
“The new Fringe Central isn’t just for August – it’s to provide support and space to our local artistic community year-round. We are proud to be a home for this sculpture, commissioned to mark the final Arkle productions and honour Rob and Michael’s legacy to the city and even the festival.”
Arkle Theatre Company was founded in 1996 by Rob Mackean and Michael Mulligan who had previously been members of Edinburgh People’s Theatre. The company’s first production was Womberang by Sue Townsend, which was performed in August 1996 at Theatre East End, St Pauls and St George’s Church Hall.
Arkle went on to stage 85 productions in close to 500 performances in the subsequent 29 years, performing at over 20 different venues across Edinburgh and Scotland, and engaging the talent of over 200 Edinburgh based actors, directors, technicians, and artists.
Reflecting on 30 years, Arkle founder Michael Mulligan said: “You only get out what you put in.
“You couldn’t pay me to act, I can’t act. So I’ve been doing the one thing I like to do, and that is to give talented people a chance to perform. It’s as simple as that.”
Rob Mackean added: “So many people just see the actors on the stage and they don’t realise the hours and hours of rehearsal and all the preparation behind the rehearsals that goes on.
“The performance is just the tip of the iceberg of what we do. It’s only when you’ve done something like this for 30 years or more that you realise people have no concept of all that stuff that goes on behind the scenes.”
The company’s final season came to a close at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it staged four productions at The Royal Scots Club; Nancy’s Philosopher, George, Don’t Do That… The Joy of Joyce Grenfell, The 39 Steps and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The sculpture by Jack Waygood (above) and gifted by friends of Arkle Theatre Company to Rob Mackean and Michael Mulligan will be placed on public display at the new Fringe Central on Infirmary Street when it opens in 2026.
2025 Edinburgh Multicultural Festival brings an eclectic mix of music, dance, poetry and theatre to Lauriston Castle on Saturday, 30 August.
From family cultural experiences at the Edinburgh-Kyoto Friendship Garden, to fun-filled circus workshops for all ages to a unique blend of musical genres and influences on the Main Stage, this year’s programme features local diverse performance artists that will entertain and inspire.
Morgan Njobo and Morgan Withers, festival directors expressed their excitement about this year’s festival: ‘We are delighted to be returning to Lauriston Castle with more music, dance, poetry and even musical theatre!’
Food and drink stalls with a great choice of world tastes and flavours will only add to your great day of a multi-sensory cultural extravaganza at Lauriston Castle.
Supported by The City of Edinburgh Council, the event, which is free to attend, invites all residents from across Edinburgh and beyond to come together for an afternoon of heart-warming, mind-inspiring and soul-satisfying shared experiences for all.
Thought-provoking Monday events this August will cast a glance forward to the future of Scottish theatre through the lens of pressing issues in playwrighting.
Delivered in partnership with the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh and Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland
The Traverse Theatre hosts two exciting industry-facing events as part of its Travfest25 programme this August, bringing together artists, academics, and audiences to look into what the future may hold for Scottish theatre.
These Monday discussions and readings will bring together leading playwrights, academic voices, and industry experts to explore critical themes shaping the future of arts and culture in Scotland and beyond.
On Monday 11 Augusta panel event on playwrighting, delivered in partnership with the University of Edinburgh’s Institute of the Advanced Study of Humanities programme (IASH).
Chaired by Fergus Morgan, The Stage’s Scotland Correspondent and freelance theatre critic, the Scottish Writers Community panel will discuss the shape of contemporary playwrighting in Scotland, and the burning issues that writers can uniquely address on-stage.
Fergus is joined by Gareth Nicholls, the Traverse Theatre’s Artistic Director and a number of the IASH x Traverse Theatre fellows past and present – Isla Cowan (2024) Michael John O’Neill (2025) and Apphia Campbell (2021).
The event will also feature an exclusive first reading of Michael John O’Neill’s work-in-progress play Headland, a result of his 2025 IASH fellowship.
On Monday 18 August, Traverse Theatre and Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland collaborate on their annual event that looks to Scottish theatre’s past to offer a guide for its future. Industry figures will gather to discuss perspectives and insights.
The Traverse Theatre Festival for 2025 runs until Sunday 24 August, featuring 12 productions and 10 premieres, giving audiences the chance to be among the first to see some of the most ground-breaking, quality new theatre in Edinburgh this month.
LISTINGS
Monday 11 August, 4pm (1hr 30mins)
Scottish Writers Community: Panel Discussion
Join a discussion chaired by Fergus Morgan (The Stage’s Scotland correspondent and freelance theatre critic), Gareth Nicholls (Traverse Artistic Director), Michael John O’Neill (2025 IASH x Traverse Playwriting fellow), Isla Cowan (2024 IASH x Traverse Playwriting fellow) and Apphia Campbell (2021 IASH x Traverse Playwriting fellow), to discuss the future of Scottish theatre, contemporary theatre narratives and what writers want to address.
This event will also feature an excerpt reading of Michael John O’Neill’s new work in development, Headland, which is a result of the IASH x Traverse fellowship.
Full price £8
Standard concession £5
Under 30s/Student £3
Low income benefit £3
Monday 18 August, 3pm (1hr30mins)
Traverse Theatre event with Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland
Join us for our annual festival event with long-term partners Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland. Expect discussion and insight from industry figures.
Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge St, Edinburgh, EH1 2ED I traverse.co.uk For more information, interviews, press tickets or images, contact press@traverse.co.uk
The 2025 Edinburgh International Festival begins today with the first of more than 133 performances: the ultimate destination to experience world-class artists across music, theatre, opera and dance in creative and unconventional ways in Edinburgh this August.
Exploring the theme The Truth We Seek, more than 2,000 internationally renowned artists from across 42 nations, including a third of artists based in Scotland, will perform.
Upcoming highlights include: the world premiere of theatre blockbuster Make It Happen from James Graham, monumental 8-hour choral work The Veil of the Temple, an Australian reimagining of opera Orpheus and Eurydice featuring acrobatics, and the Scottish premiere of Nederlands Dans Theater, Simon McBurney and Crystal Pite’sFigures in Extinction.
To ensure that cost isn’t a barrier to cultural discovery, half the tickets for the 2025 International Festival will be sold at £30 or less, and £10 tickets have been made available for every performance across the programme. Tickets can be purchased from www.eif.co.uk.
THE CURTAIN rises today on the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival, welcoming over 2000 artists from 42 countries to Edinburgh for a 24-day global celebration of world-class performing arts.
The third year under Festival Director and celebrated Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, this year’s International Festival welcomes audiences to explore opera, music, theatre and dance through the lens of the theme The Truth We Seek, a journey into the elusive nature of truth in our personal and public lives.
This year’s programme invites audiences to experience bold, thought-provoking performances in fresh and unconventional ways. The opening weekend features large-scale participatory events The Big Singalong and The Ceilidh Sessions, celebrating the collective joy of singing and dancing outdoors in Princes Street Gardens, set against the iconic backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.
Elsewhere, the historic Old College Quad becomes the stage for the world premiere of Dance People, an outdoor dance performance, and a classic opera is reimagined with a twist in Orpheus and Eurydice, bringing together world-class musicians and performers with breathtaking acrobatics from Australia’s Circa.
The 2025 programme also opens up barriers to cultural discovery: more than 50,000 tickets are priced at £30 or less, £10 Affordable Tickets have been made available to all performances, and wide-reaching initiatives offer free tickets to NHS workers, young people and community groups to a range of Festival performances.
Stand-out performances across the International Festival include:
Make It Happen(1–9 August, Festival Theatre) The world premiere of a gripping new drama by James Graham, tackling the 2008 financial crisis in Edinburgh. Starring Brian Cox as Adam Smith and Sandy Grierson as Fred Goodwin, this timely co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland and Dundee Rep reframes the collapse of global markets through a distinctly Scottish lens.
Opening Concert: The Veil of the Temple(2 August, Usher Hall) A spiritual epic: over 250 singers from the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, Monteverdi Choir and National Youth Choir of Scotland perform John Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple in its complete eight-hour form with the audience seated on beanbags. This year also marks the first performance in the Festival Chorus’s 60th anniversary year.
Dance People(7–10 August, Old College Quad) Lebanese choreographer Omar Rajeh and Maqamat company present an open-air activation of dance, movement and activism. Performed outdoors in the heart of the city, it dissolves the lines between performance and real life.
Orpheus and Eurydice(13-16 August, Edinburgh Playhouse) A highlight of the 2025 Festival’s opera programme, a fully staged Australian reimagining of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice fuses together circus, acrobatics and world-class opera, in its European premiere.
Figures in Extinction (22-24 August, Festival Theatre) Nederlands Dans Theater present the Scottish Premiere of Figures in Extinction in collaboration with Crystal Pite and Simon McBurney, confronting the hard truths about humanity’s impact on the world and art’s meaning in the face of mass destruction.
The Hub, the International Festival’s headquarters on the Royal Mile, brings together a hand-picked variety of global musical styles and traditions, experienced up close in an intimate and informal performance space, including Up Late gigs from Alabaster DePlume(8 August) and Kathryn Joseph (9 August), and an interactive concert from Hanni Liang(7 August) inviting audience members to share their dreams, with a live response created on the piano.
Residencies bring London Symphony Orchestra, Poland’s NFM Leopoldinum and Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra 2 to Edinburgh for an extended, more sustainable stay that features multiple performances and community engagement. Highlight performances include NYO2’s Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, NFM with Bizet’s Carmen Suite andBeethoven and Shostakovichfrom the LSO, presented with insight from Sir Antonio Pappano and Festival Director Nicola Benedetti.
Edinburgh International Festival Director, Nicola Benedetti said: “This year’s International Festival is a bold invitation to question the world around us – to seek, challenge and reflect on truth through the extraordinary lens of live performance.
“We’re honoured to welcome artists and audiences from across the globe to Edinburgh, and we remain deeply committed to making that experience more accessible than ever. Whether you’re here for an intimate recital, a powerful play, a mass singalong or an eight-hour choral epic, you’ll encounter connection, curiosity, and the power of great art to shift perspectives.
“This year’s Festival offers the possibility of truly transformational encounters and I look forward to sharing this with you.”
Councillor Margaret Graham, Culture and Communities Convener said: “Each year the International Festival offers a real variety of innovative and striking art and performance. 2025 is no different, with the programme encouraging Deep Thinkers, Social Butterflies, The Curious and Romantics.
“The range, from outdoor ceilidhs to epic opera, means there is truly something for everyone, bringing together world class performers from around the globe and here in Scotland. There are several different price options that will let even more people discover the magic of the International Festival too. These include Young Musician’s Pass, Tickets for Good and substantial discounts for art workers and under 30s.”
Multi-Artform Manager at Creative Scotland, Lorna Duguid, said: “The Edinburgh International Festival continues to be a beacon for artistic excellence and cultural exchange, bringing the world to Scotland and showcasing Scotland to the world.
“This year’s theme, The Truth We Seek, speaks powerfully to the times we live in- inviting artists and audiences alike to explore, question and connect through extraordinary performances.
“With a third of this year’s programme featuring artists based in Scotland and an unwavering commitment to accessibility, the International Festival exemplifies how world-class culture can be both globally relevant and locally rooted.”
Tickets to world-class performances across a hand-picked programme of music, theatre, opera and dance at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2025 are available at www.eif.co.uk.
Scotland’s engine room of new writing reveals Autumn programme of home-grown performances and thrilling new work from Scotland and further afield
Traverse commissions Stephen Christopher and Graeme Smith’s Dancing Shoes for new December production
Taking centre-stage in Traverse 1 is Black Hole Sign, a razor-sharp new Traverse co-production about the healthcare system written by practicing NHS nurse Uma Nada-Rajah
Two hilarious plays from Douglas Maxwell, including the return of award-winning Traverse co-production So Young and new canine comedy Man’s Best Friend
Exciting partner company productions include Night Waking by Shireen Mula, Arlington by Enda Walsh, Through the Mud by Apphia Campbell, and the award-winning Òranby Owen Sutcliffe
Audience-favourite & TravFest24 Fringe First-winner BATSHIT by Leah Shelton returns to Traverse 2
A Play, A Pie, & A Pint is back at the Traverse for six-week Autumn season of new plays
Hot on the heels of a thrilling TravFest25 programme, the Traverse Theatre has announced the first details of the exciting work audiences can look forward to seeing in the venue from September.
The Autumn season sees some of the most exciting artists and companies working in Scotland take centre stage with new productions and returning favourites alike.
Stephen Christopher and Graeme Smith’s raucous new comedy, Dancing Shoes, is being fully commissioned by the Traverse to run in Traverse 1 in December 2025. Struggling with isolation and addiction, long-suffering Donny joins a local support group where he meets new-found friends Jay and Craig.
When Donny shares his secret passion – donning his best shoes for a private boogie in his bedroom – Jay smells an opportunity. Unexpected viral fame follows, and the men’s new friendship is put to the test with the whole world now watching on. Packed with humour and emotion, Dancing Shoes is a sure-footed comedy that’s guaranteed to have audiences laughing this winter.
New Traverse production Black Hole Sign – co-produced with the Tron Theatre in association with National Theatre of Scotland – is a new play taking a razor-sharp scalpel to the absurdities, tragedies and realities of working within the modern healthcare system. Written by Uma Nada-Rajah, a practicing NHS nurse and one of the most exciting new voices in Scottish playwrighting, Black Hole Sign sees three generations of NHS nurses doing their best to stay afloat against a crumbling system which seems stacked against them.
Directed by Traverse Artistic Director Gareth Nicholls, the play will be brought to life by a multi-talented ensemble cast including Martin Docherty, Dani Heron, Amelia Isaac Jones, Beruce Khan,Helen Logan, and Ann Louise Ross.
An exploration of changing attitudes towards an institution once world renowned, the play asks what we want for the future of our National Health Service and, crucially, who will hold it together when it all falls down?
Uma Nada-Rajah, Playwright, said:“I’m a nurse in my day job and have been a nurse for a long time. There is something so funny and tragic about day-to-day life in hospital, the way that routine and paperwork brush up against the grand processes of human existence: When you’re born you get a birth certificate. When you die you get a death certificate.
“I wanted to capture that sense of absurdity and put it into a play that will make people laugh or cry. And at a time when there are a lot of questions circulating about the future of the National Health Service, I hope Black Hole Sign will make audiences think about the significance of care in modern society.”
Two productions by celebrated playwright Douglas Maxwell, the man behind previous Traverse favourites including Decky Does A Bronco and I Can Go Anywhere, will delight theatre-going audiences this Autumn.
Man’s Best Friend is a hilariously heart-warming story about the give-and-take of companionship – specifically the four-legged kind. Walking his neighbours’ dogs kept Ronnie together after a very difficult lockdown.
But when a series of mishaps result in the dogs slipping their leads and disappearing off into the woods, Ronnie is forced to take chase and confront some hard truths. Directed by Jemima Levick and starring Jordan Young (River City, Scot Squad) as Ronnie, this Tron Theatre production visits the Traverse as part of its acclaimed Scotland-wide tour in September.
And following its critically acclaimed, Fringe First-winning premiere at TravFest24, So Young returns to the Traverse 1 stage for a hilarious new run of performances from 23 – 25 October.
When Milo invites his two best friends Davie and Liane around for a takeaway to meet his new girlfriend, it promises to be a great night spent reconnecting. As they delve into the past and swap the same old stories they’ve been through a thousand times before, the night becomes more about those absent than present; remembering who they have lost and who they were, or thought they were…
Produced by Raw Material and the Traverse in association with the Citizens Theatre, So Young is a touching and funny story about old friends coming back together after time apart. Following its Traverse performances the production will transfer to the Citizens Theatre as part of its long-awaited reopening season.
Another returning favourite from TravFest24 will be Leah Shelton’s riotous one-woman tour-de-force BATSHIT, which once again takes the Traverse 2 stage by storm from 22 – 25 October.
Quiet Riot’s wildly theatrical, darkly comic, and deeply intimate reckoning with the myths and misconceptions of female madness is created by Shelton and directed by Olivier award-winning Ursula Martinez.
A requiem for Leah’s grandmother Gwen, who was incarcerated for seeking independence in 1960s Australia, BATSHIT draws on personal stories, in-depth research and pop culture to unpack how psychiatry has been shaped by gender bias. The show won both a Scotsman Fringe First & the Mental Health Foundation Fringe Award on its premiere at TravFest24, heralded for its razor-sharp wit, raw storytelling, and unflinching central performance.
The season will also see the venue host visiting productions by some of Scottish theatre’s most exciting artists and companies. On 01 October An Tobar and Mull Theatre present Night Waking – a sharp, strange, and darkly funny exploration of motherhood, colonialism, and the ghosts we inherit.
As Anna ricochets between present-day exhaustion, historical letters, and a past that won’t stay buried, she is forced to confront what it means to nurture, to protect, and to fail. Adapted from Sarah Moss’s novel by Shireen Mula, and directed by Rebecca Atkinson-Lord, this one-woman play is a feat of acting virtuosity—a fragmented, fevered journey through sleepless nights, long-lost voices, and the things that won’t stay hidden.
Glasgow-based dance-theatre company Shotput bring their thrilling new production of Enda Walsh’sArlington to the Traverse from 06 – 08 November. In a room, high in a tower block, Isla waits for her number to be called. Her only companion, on the other side of the wall, is an anonymous man who collects her stories.
Today there is a new listener. He offers glimpses of the world beyond the tower, and what seems at first to be a small, if strange, conversation between two strangers turns out to be something much more terrifying and sublime – in a dark fable of surveillance, connection, and the power of imagination.
Wonder Fools’ critically-acclaimed production Òran, winner of The Bestie’s Best Debut Award on its premiere in 2024, arrives at the Traverse from 13 – 15 November. A visceral piece of contemporary theatre is a collaboration between Wonder Fools and the acclaimed hip-hop artist Owen Sutcliffe with music by VanIves, creating an urgent and entertaining modern retelling of the classic Greek myth Orpheus.
Against a stunning live soundtrack of gospel and blues, Through The Mud explores what it takes to become a revolutionary. The story of two generations of women activists in the struggle for black liberation in America: One, notorious Black Panther Assata Shakur, the other a college student at the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement in Ferguson in 2014.
Written and performed by Apphia Campbell, Fringe First-winner and creator of the hit show Black is the Colour of My Voice, Through the Mud arrives at the Traverse from 14 – 15 November.
Audiences can also look forward to a night with the multi-award-winning comedian and Taskmaster-star Babatunde Aléshé as he guides us through family life, his new-found fame and the joys of Costco in his hilarious new stand-up show High Expectations, which visits the Traverse on 02 November as part of its UK-wide tour.
The season also sees the return of the beloved A Play, A Pie, & A Pint as it returns to the Traverse for a new run of performances promising some of the very best new-writing on the Scottish stage, with more to be announced soon.
Music At The Traverse continues to bring brilliant gigs and sessions into the theatre this Autumn. Soundhouse present a trio of events spotlighting exciting global jazz, country, traditional and folk acts, including a special concert celebrating the release of jazz pianist Paul Harrison’slong awaited new album Encontros, a slice of Ancient Northumbrian Futurism from Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening, and the exciting Erik Palmberg Quartet bringing their lyrical jazz melodies to Edinburgh on a first UK tour.
Faroese folk masters Spælimennir arrive on a 50th anniversary tour, while there are also gigs from award-winning young violinist Ryan Young and a solo performance from one of the great Irish singers Andy Irvine.
Hotly-anticipated stage adaptation premieres in Perth prior to Scottish tour
Kirsty MacLaren, Kyle Gardiner and Finlay McKillop lead a multi-talented ensemble as legendary outlaws the Clown and the Wolfman take to the road once again
A hilarious and heartfelt new musical, produced and directed by the team behind the original cult-classic Scottish film with Perth Theatre, and music inspired by songs and themes of the legendary band Big Country
The show premieres at Perth Theatre tonight and runs until 10 May, before a Scotland-wide tour including Stirling, Aberdeen, Inverness, Edinburgh, & Glasgow until 28 June.
Restless Natives: The Musicalkicks off its long-awaited Scottish tour this weekend, with the first production pictures giving a look at the show that will thrill and delight audiences across Scotland this Spring.
Produced and directed by the same team who made the cult classic 1985 film, alongside co-producers Perth Theatre, Restless Natives: The Musical sees the iconic outlaw duo the Clown and the Wolfman ride again in a new stage musical. Recapturing the film’s winning humour and enduring heart, and featuring music inspired by the songs and spirit of Big Country, the show will delight devotees of the original film – and capture the hearts of a new generation.
Rebelling against their drab urban lives in 1980s Wester Hailes, intrepid underdogs Ronnie and Will become Highland Highwaymen, holding up buses and winning international renown while fleecing tourists with Scottish charm and panache. Tour guide Margot believes these Robin Hood heroes can restore national pride, but the police are closing in. Will this be the end of the story – or the beginning of a legend?
Leading the cast as Ronnie and Will, AKA The Clown and The Wolfman, are young stars Kyle Gardiner and Finlay McKillop, with Olivier-nominated Kirsty MacLaren co-starring as Margot. The multi-talented ensemble cast also includes Ross Baxter, Robin Campbell, Ailsa Davidson, Caroline Deyga, Stuart Edgar, Sarah Galbraith, Ava MacKinnon, Alan McHugh, and Harry Ward.
Restless Natives: The Musical premiered at Perth Theatre on Saturday 26 April where it runs until Saturday 10 May.
The show then hits the road for a tour to selected Scottish venues including Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling, His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen, Eden Court in Inverness, Leith Theatre in Edinburgh, and The King’s Theatre in Glasgow.
The first image has been revealed for new drama, Make It Happen, about the rise and fall of the Royal Bank of Scotland, featuring Brian Cox who will be playing the role of Adam Smith and Sandy Grierson who will be playing Fred Goodwin.
Make it Happen is the first major artwork to tell the story of Royal Bank of Scotland’s role in the 2008 financial crash and is written by James Graham and directed by Andrew Panton.
It marks the return of Brian Cox to Scottish stages for the first time in a decade. The world premiere of Make It Happen opens the Edinburgh International Festival’s 2025 following preview performances at Dundee Rep Theatre.
Tickets to the Edinburgh International Festival opened for sale to the public on Thursday 27 March.
Edinburgh International Festival’s 2025 programme offers opportunities to experience world-class artists in thought-provoking and unconventional ways – including an eight-hour choral extravaganza, a distinctive outdoor promedande dance piece and a circus infused opera. Audiences can also get involved in many Festival performances, from an outdoor mass-singlaong to interactive concerts where the audience chooses the repertoire.
The Truth We Seek is the timely theme underpinning the 2025 International Festival, as contemporary reflections on the world are presented alongside time-honoured tales, a place where fact meets faith and fiction.
The International Festival is the ultimate destination to experience world-class performances, with an exciting lineup of 133 performances, bringing 7 world premieres, 8 UK and Scottish premieres and 2 European premieres to Edinburgh this year. Programme highlights include the world premiere of a gripping new play by James Graham starring Brian Cox, a new narrative ballet from Scottish Ballet, and Festival debuts from rising classical stars – violinist Maria Dueñas, mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, and 2024 BBC Young Musician of the Year Ryan Wang.
From 1-24 August 2025, Edinburgh International Festival presents a hand-picked selection of leading international and local artists in the world’s Festival City, with 24 days of world-class opera, dance, music and theatre.
The 2025 programme is defined by world-class artists bringing audiences and artists closer together in creative and unexpected ways. Audiences can experience an opera incorporating circus performers for a breathtaking fusion of music and acrobatics inOrpheus and Eurydice, a site-specific promenade dance work that transforms Edinburgh’s Old College Quad into a stage for Dance People, and enjoy Bach through a new lens in Breaking Bach, where hip-hop meets 18th-century period instruments.
Audiences can also actively participate in performances—whether by shaping the repertoire in a real-time Classical Jam or sharing their dreams to inspire Hanni Liang’s piano recital, Dreams. For those seeking deep immersion, eight-hour choral epic The Veil of the Templeinvites audiences to sit on beanbags and lose themselves in waves of harmonies, and a choral workshop welcomes amateur singers that will preview a powerful performance at the Festival’s Closing Concert, Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
Now in its third year under Festival Director and celebrated Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, the 2025 programme welcomes over 1,700 artists from 42 nations to Edinburgh —including 600 from Scotland—across 133 performances. The Truth We Seek is the theme underpinning the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival, inviting audiences to explore their relationship with truth – within themselves, between one another and in understanding our place in the world.
Ensuring that cost is not a barrier to live performance, over 50,000 tickets (more than half of all tickets available for the 2025 International Festival) are priced at £30 or under. Thousands of free tickets are available for young musicians, NHS staff and community groups, and £10 Affordable Tickets are available for all performances for anyone who needs them.
Programme highlights include:
Two major world premiere productions in UK theatre and dance: Make It Happen, an eye-opening take on the 2008 financial crisis set in Edinburgh, starring Brian Cox (Adam Smith) and Sandy Grierson (Fred Goodwin), written by one of Britain’s most in-demand playwrights, James Graham;and Mary, Queen of Scots, an iconic story of one of Scotland’s most famous women, unconventionally told with choreography by Sophie Laplane that blends classicism with modernity, and costuming that nods to haute couture and punk.
In a landmark year for choral music, marking the 60th Anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, this renowned chorus of singers from around Scotland performs at the monumental Opening Concert, as well as Vaughan Williams’s Sea Symphony, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah (this year’s grand Closing Concert). The programme also includes the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists performing works by Handel and Bach.
This year’s Opening Concert features the aforementioned Edinburgh Festival Chorus, Monteverdi Choir and the National Youth Choir of Scotland, offering a rare chance to hear John Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple in all its eight-hour glory, a colossal universal prayer performed in full for the second time ever in the UK.
The International Festival’s opening weekend welcomes all to Princes Street Gardens’ Ross Bandstand for The Big Singalong, a free event led by Stephen Deazley, artistic director of Edinburgh’s Love Music Community Choir. The following day, Norwegian folk ensemble Barokksolistene returns to lead The Ceilidh Sessions, an afternoon of music and storytelling inspired by the Gaelic ceilidh tradition.
The most substantial programme of Polish artists in the International Festival’s 78-year history is featured in celebration of the UK/Poland season 2025. Performances include two concerts from one of the Festival’s resident orchestras in 2025, NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, and a showcase of Polish artists and repertoire from the Wrocław Baroque Ensemble, VOŁOSI, Piotr Anderszewski, Bomsori Kim to 2024’s BBC Young Musician of the Year, Ryan Wang.
Operatic works include a fully staged Australian reimagining of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice featuring acrobatics; the UK premiere of Book of Mountains and Seas from Chinese composer Huang Ruo, puppeteer Basil Twist and Ars Nova Copenhagen, and two operas in concert: Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus and Puccini’s Suor Angelica with theLondon Symphony Orchestra, with a line-up of international soloists.
Residencies bringing leading orchestras to the International Festival for an extended, more sustainable stay that features multiple performances and community engagement. This year, three outstanding orchestras provide distinctive insights into their collective sound and ambitions: Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra 2, Poland’s NFM Leopoldinum, and the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of new Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano.
Intimate morning recitals at The Queen’s Hall featureInternational Festival debuts from on-the-rise young virtuoso María Dueñas andCanadian mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, as well as a cohort of exceptional Scottish artists including the Dunedin Consort with John Butt and Scottish percussionist Colin Currie with peerless vocal group The King’s Singers.
A wider orchestral programme that stretches the globe to welcome the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and the NCPAOrchestra from Beijing, with conductor Myung Whun Chung and Bruce Liu as piano soloist. The London Philharmonic Orchestra returns to the International Festival for the first time in a decade under the baton of Edward Gardner with a stunning programme that features pianist Beatrice Rana performing Rachmaninoff’s inspired Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,and Holst’s The Planets, a seven-movement orchestral suite journeying through the cosmos to explore our true place in the universe.
Aurora Orchestra makes its International Festival debut with Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, in the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death. A work that grapples with the pursuit of truth under oppression, audiences are seated on beanbags as Aurora delve into the symphony from the inside out with a conversational presentation in the round, and then in full later that evening, performed entirely from memory.
The Scottish premiere of Figures in Extinction from the internationally acclaimed Nederlands Dans Theater,visionary choreographer Crystal Pite and ground-breaking theatre-maker Simon McBurney (Complicité), whichconfronts powerful truths about humanity’s impact on the world and art’s meaning in the face of mass destruction.
A stellar dance offering continues with works that expand the experience for audiences: Maqamat and Omar Rajeh take performance outdoors to Edinburgh University’s College Quad in promenade with Dance People; the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment combine hip hop with Bach in Breaking Bach with choreographer Kim Brandstrup, and an International Festival debut from Australian disabled dancer Dan Daw about identity and kink.
Leading theatre-makers exploring truth via the climate emergency, colonialism and politics, with Cliff Cardinal’s take on Shakespeare in As You Like It A Radical Retelling, a spectacular nonverbal work from Belgian theatre collective FC Bergman in Works and Days and a remount of acclaimed play Faustus in Africa!, 30 years after its original premiere, from Handspring Puppet Company and William Kentridge.
The Hub, the International Festival’s headquarters on the Royal Mile, brings together a hand-picked variety of global musical styles and traditions, experienced up close in an intimate performance space, including Up Late gigs from artists such as Kathryn Joseph and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. In a truly international programme, musicians from 16 countries including Australia, China, Poland, Norway and across East to West Africa come to the home of the Festival.
New cast, musicians, and creatives announced for KELI, the debut play from Ivor Novello Award-winning composer Martin Green (Lau).
Based on personal stories from the critically acclaimed BBC Radio 4 series ‘Love, Spit and Valve Oil’
WORLD PREMIERE
National Theatre of Scotland and Lepus Productions present
KELI
A play by Martin Green
Written and music composed by Martin Green
Directed by BryonyShanahan
Cast: Liberty Black (Keli), Karen Fishwick (Jayne), Olivia Hemmati (Amy/Saskia), Billy Mack (Willie Knox)and Phil McKee (Brian).
Performing Musical Director – Louis Abbott and small brass ensemble –
Stacey Ghent, Flugelhorn; Hanna Mbuya, Tuba and Karen Fishwick, Euphonium
Set and Costume Designer – Alisa Kalyanova, Sound Designer – George Dennis, Lighting Designer – Robbie Butler, Casting Director –Anna Dawson
Touring Scotland from Saturday 10 May to Saturday 14 June 2025.
Previews at Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling before opening at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh and touring to Dundee Rep Theatre; Perth Theatre and Tramway, Glasgow from May to June 2025.
Opening performance at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh on Thursday 15 May 2025.
Best known as the virtuoso accordionist in the visionary folk trio Lau, Martin Green has spent the past two years on an odyssey deep into the world of brass bands, culminating in this staging of KELI, marking its world premiere as a stage play. Making his professional debut as a playwright, Green was inspired by conversations he had for the BBC Radio 4 series ‘Love, Spit and Valve Oil’.
KELI will feature brass band music from Green’s acclaimed album SPLIT THE AIR. Each performance will feature a live brass band performance from a leading Scottish brass band or ensemble of leading brass band players.
National Theatre of Scotland and Lepus Productions are delighted that Whitburn band and Kingdom Brass will be part of this Scottish tour, sustaining ongoing relationships with Scottish brass bands and the communities they represent.
Whitburn Band, one of Scotland’s leading brass bands, was formed in the heart of the coal mining area of West Lothian in 1870 originally serving as an outlet for members of the mining community to perform at local parades and gala days. The Band has been Scottish Champion 22 times, competes throughout the UK and Europe, and performs regularly at major Scottish events. Recent performances include Celtic Connections and the Edinburgh International Festival.
Kingdom Brass was formed in 1999, after the amalgamation of the Cowdenbeath and the Kelty & Blairadam Bands. In the same year, the band competed for the first time at the Fife Championships and swept the boards. Since then, the band has competed locally and nationally winning numerous trophies and is established as one of Scotland’s top bands. The band performs at concerts, bandstand events, and local Gala days.
Liberty Black will play the titular role of Keli in her professional theatre debut and Karen Fishwick plays her mother Jayne. They are joined by Phil McKee as band leader Brian, Billy Mack who plays 135-year-old ex-miner and town hero Willie Knox and Olivia Hemmati playing multiple roles.
LibertyBlack is in her final year at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She performs and writes music and toured the UK with a band. Royal Conservatoire of Scotland credits include: The Cosmonauts Last Message…, Uncle Vanya and Romeo and Juliet.
Karen Fishwick previously appeared in Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, National Theatre of Scotland and Live Theatre’s smash hit musical production which toured internationally and had a run in London’s West End. Theatre credits include Romeo and Juliet and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Royal Shakespeare Company) and 101 Dalmations (Regents Park Open Air Theatre). Karen’s screen appearances include Outlander (Sony/Starz) and Call the Midwife (BBC).
Billy Mack is an award-winning actor, previously appearing in The Cheviot, The Stag and The Black, Black Oil and The Enemy (National Theatre of Scotland). Recent theatre and TV/film credits include Men Don’t Talk (Genesis Theatre Company), Only Child (Happy Tramp/BBC) and On Falling (Sixteen Films).
Phil McKee has worked extensively across theatre, film and TV. Previous work with National Theatre on Scotland includes Mary Stuart and Dunsinane (National Theatre of Scotland/RSC/Royal Lyceum Theatre). Screen credits include Clash of the Titans (Gorgon Films), The Rig (Amazon) and Deadwater Fell (Channel 4).
Olivia Hemmati trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School where she was a finalist for the Carleton and Hobbs Award 2024. Olivia is making her professional stage debut in KELI.
The production features a brass ensemble of musicians led by Stacey Ghent on flugelhorn with Hanna Mbuya on tuba alongside Karen Fishwick on the euphonium.
Stacey Ghent is a hard of hearing actress and musician raised in South Shields. Stacey’s TV/screen and theatre credits include a role as a teacher of the deaf in Coronation Street (ITV); A Thousand Blows (Disney+); Brassed Off and Blonde Bombshells of 1943 (Octagon Bolton/Theatre by the Lake, Keswick/Stephen Joseph, Scarborough).
Tuba player Hanna Mbuya is a member of Mercury-nominated 10-piece seed, Chineke! Orchestra and Nu Civilisation. Other collaborations have included those with artists
Anna Meredith, Jon Batiste and Soweto Kinch, in addition to appearances with horn sections alongside artists including Solange, Joy Anonymous and Arlo Parks. Recent work in theatre includes Richard III (2024) & Hansel and Gretel (2024) at Shakespeare’s Globe.
Performing Musical Director for KELI,Louis Abbott, is a multi-instrumentalist and singer and the songwriter for the chamber-pop band Admiral Fallow. Recent theatre work includes his role as co-musical director on the award-winning A Giant on the Bridge (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024). As a musician, drummer, engineer and producer Louis has collaborated with some of Scotland’s finest musicians including King Creosote, Camera Obscura and Eddi Reader.
“The skill, the craft, is in controlling the pressure.”
KELItells the story of a fiery, sharp-witted teenager in a former mining town. Coal means little to Keli, but the mines left music in the blood of this place.
As the best player her brass band has ever had, music is easy. Everything else is a fight. Feeling trapped in small-town life, pressure mounts.
When the chance to change everything arises, can Keli keep a lid on it all?
Marking 40 years since the miners’ strikes and featuring a sharp, hilarious script and live brass score by Ivor Novello winner Martin Green, KELI is a gripping show about community, creativity, and the power of music.
Touring Scotland in 2025, the show will reach audiences across the country who belong to communities that were hugely affected by the miners’ strike of 1984-85.
Green’s journey began by chance near his home in Midlothian. Following a poster advertising ‘BRASS IN THE PARK’, he discovered a self-sustaining world of music-making that – like the folk tradition – had retained its social function and was part of the warp and weft of the communities that performed it.
The fictional play has evolved from the critically acclaimed BBC Radio 4 series Love, Spit and Valve Oil which explored the phenomenon of modern brass banding and featured interviews with members of brass bands. These interviews have inspired aspects of the characters in the play. In 2022 KELI was commissioned by The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh as a three-part audio drama.
“KELI is a hard story about the limitations placed on working-class lives, capturing teenage desperation, depression and fulfilment through music…forces of dialogue, music and folklore harmonise to a riveting final episode.” The Guardian (on the audio drama, KELI)
Martin Green is a multi-award-winning musician and Ivor Novello winning composer. As a member of Lau, he has won four BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for Best Group an unprecedented four times. In 2014 he received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists in recognition of his talent as a composer. In 2019 he won the Ivor Novello award for his large-scale installation Aeons that was part of The Great Exhibition of the North.
Most recently Martin has gone on to create critically acclaimed work for BBC Radio 4 exploring different communities all over the UK and their relationship with music. These have reached millions of listeners and been highly commended by Association of International Broadcasters.
Martin shared the stage with Whitburn Band as part of Celtic Connections at Tramway in early 2024 – “a profoundly moving affair” ***** The Scotsman.
Martin is the Artistic Director of Lepus Productions, who are co-producing KELI with National Theatre of Scotland, marking the first time the companies have collaborated.
Bryony Shanahan directs, marking her NTS debut. Previously Bryony was Joint Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, and most recently directed the acclaimed, Same Team – A Street Soccer Story for the Traverse Theatre. Other notable productions include Bloody Elle (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Soho Theatre and West End) and also for the Royal Exchange Theatre, No Pay? No Way! Beginning, Let The Right One In, Nora: A Doll’s House, Wuthering Heights, Queens of the Coal Age, Weald, and Nothing.
Martin Green, writer and composer, said: “To be making KELI with National Theatre of Scotland and Bryony Shanahan forty years on from the Miners’ Strike, feels absolutely right; an incredible team of visionary people. Perfect.”
Bryony Shanahan, director, said: “My introduction to this project was that it was about a 17-year-old called Keli – foul-mouthed, hilarious and a virtuoso flugelhorn player – who finds herself in a disused coal mine with a 150-year-old Marxist miner after the strangest night of her life.
“Oh, and that it features a live brass band. I was in! I am so thrilled to be working with National Theatre of Scotland, Lepus and Martin Green to bring KELI to life.
“It’s a story about community, legacy and above all, music and I can’t wait to invite audiences into Keli’s remarkable world and heart.”
KELI was developed with National Theatre of Scotland and The National Theatre, London’s Generate programme and was originally commissioned as an audio drama by The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. BothKELI andSPLIT THE AIRwere developed with the support of Creative Scotland and The Space.Development of KELI was also supported by Freedom Festival, Hull. The music forKELI, Split the Air, was originally commissioned by PRS Foundation for the New Music Biennial at The Southbank Centre, and UK City of Culture.
Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling (preview Sat 10 May); Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh (previews Tues 13 to Wed 14 May) Thurs 15 to Sat 17 May; Dundee Rep Thurs 22 to Sat 24 May; Perth Theatre Wed 4 to Sat 7 June; Tramway, Glasgow Wed 11 to Sat 14 June 2025.
On social: #KELI
Access info: There will be audio described, captioned performances and touch tours in Edinburgh, Dundee, Perth and Glasgow. There will also be integrated BSL interpreted and chilled performances on offer. All performances will be autism-friendly.
Theatre for a Fiver tickets are also available for 14-to-26 years and those on low-income benefits at the venues above.
