The Enemy (NTS)

 The National Theatre of Scotland presents 

The Enemy 

by Kieran Hurley after Henrik Ibsen’s ‘An Enemy of the People’ 

Directed by Finn den Hertog, video design Lewis den Hertog, sound design Matt Padden, original set design Rosanna Vize, composer Kathryn Joseph, lighting designer Katharine Williams, set and costume designer Jen McGinley, co-movement directors Vicki Manderson and Robbie Gordon, assistant director Leonie Rae Gasson

 

Cast: Hannah Donaldson, Billy Mack, Neil McKinven, Taqi Nazeer, Gabriel Quigley and Eléna Redmond 

  

Touring to Greenock, Dundee, Edinburgh, Inverness and Perth in October and November 2021 

Opening performance at Dundee Rep on Wednesday 13 October 2021 

Henrik Ibsen’s iconic play An Enemy of the People is given a contemporary Scottish re-imagining in

this brand-new stage adaptation from the award-winning team of playwright Kieran Hurley and director Finn den Hertog.  

In a once-proud Scottish industrial town, a massive redevelopment project promises to bring money, jobs, and new prospects to its forgotten population. However, when Kirsten Stockmann discovers a dangerous secret, she knows she must bring the truth to light - no matter the cost. 

This urgent, provocative new production feels increasingly relevant in 2021. Set during a public health crisis, The Enemy scrutinises corruption and power amidst a changing media landscape and explores what it means to hold power to account in a post-truth political world.  

Members of the original cast are reunited following the production’s delayed premiere. In this radical reworking of the classic drama the roles of Dr Stockman and his brother are played by women. The Stockmann sisters are played by Hannah Donaldson and Gabriel Quigley and are joined by a leading Scottish ensemble of actors: Billy Mack, Neil McKinven, Taqi Nazeer and Eléna Redmond.  

 

Featuring a brooding original soundtrack from award-winning composer Kathryn Joseph and startling live video, The Enemy is a uniquely contemporary and Scottish take on Ibsen’s timeless work. This tour marks the first time that a version of Ibsen’s classic play has been staged in Scotland for over forty years. 

National Theatre of Scotland is delighted to be returning to Scotland’s live stages in autumn 2021, with the Company’s first national tour since venues were closed due to COVID-19 in 2020. The production will now tour to venues across Scotland in October and November 2021 including the Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, Dundee Rep Theatre, King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness and Perth Theatre.  The production was in rehearsal when the pandemic halted its original tour in Spring 2020.

Jackie Wylie, Artistic Director of National Theatre of Scotland says:

“We are more than thrilled to be returning to live audiences and communities across Scotland this autumn with an exciting new adaption of Ibsen’s The Enemy, adapted by the brilliant theatre-making team of writer Kieran Hurley and director Finn den Hertog. It seems entirely fitting that our first post lockdown tour is the show that was in rehearsal when COVID-19 closed Scottish theatres for over 18 months. I am both joyful and relieved that the Company is back on the road taking theatre across Scotland, connecting with theatres and audiences again and sharing the unique experience of live performance that we have missed for so long.”

Kieran Hurley says:

“It is a real joy to be able to bring The Enemy to audiences at last, after this long hiatus. When we went into lockdown in March last year we were literally on the verge of going into rehearsals, and things have been so uncertain that there was never a guarantee we'd be back in this place. So it feels like a triumph of everyone's determination and hard work to even be here at all, bringing a new production to live audiences which is what it's all about. What's really fascinating to me though is how the pandemic has at times mirrored the world of the play, casting its conversation about a society in the grip of a public health crisis in a whole new light. What we thought was an adaption focused on quite current themes of fake news, distrust of experts, and the treacherous whirlwind of public opinion in an age of social media has now taken on a whole new contemporary relevance that we could never have predicted in a million years. It's been genuinely surreal, and testament I suppose to the enduring relevance of Ibsen's original. It's been a long uncertain wait but maybe, in all of this, the play has somehow found its moment.”

Kieran Hurley is an award-winning writer, performer, and theatre maker based in Glasgow. His recent work has included the stage hits Mouthpiece, Square Go, and Heads Up, as well as the Scottish BAFTA-winning film Beats, based on his acclaimed stage play of the same name. His previous project with the National Theatre of Scotland, Rantin, was presented in collaboration with The Arches, and toured Scotland in 2014.  

Finn den Hertog is an award-winning director and actor who has worked with theatre companies across the UK including The Traverse, The Young Vic and The National Theatre. Previous work with National Theatre of Scotland includes The Auteurs Project in 2014, as well as appearing in Abi Morgan’s play 27 in 2012. In 2018 he directed the award-winning production of Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair’s play Square Go for Francesca Moody Productions. 

Join the conversation: #TheEnemy 

Touring to Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock (Preview 9 October), Dundee Rep (Preview 12 October & 13 -16 October); Kings Theatre, Edinburgh (20 - 23 October); Eden Court, Inverness (27 - 30 October); Perth Theatre (3 - 6 November) 

Full tour dates, booking info and social distancing guidance: nationaltheatrescotland.com

Listing Information

Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock

Sat 9 Oct, 7.30pm (Preview)

Tickets: £8 - £10

www.beaconartscentre.co.uk

Dundee Rep

Tue 12 (Preview) – Sat 16 Oct, 7.30pm. Sat 16 Oct, 2.30pm

Tickets: £10 - £25

www.dundeerep.co.uk

Access: 15 Oct 7.30pm - BSL,16 Oct, 2.30pm - AD, CAP

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

Wed 20 – Sat 23 Oct, 7.30pm. Sat 23 Oct, 2.30pm

Tickets: £15 - £33.50

www.capitaltheatres.com

Access: 21 Oct, 7.30pm – CAP, 23 Oct, 2.30pm - AD, BSL

Eden Court, Inverness

Wed 27 – Sat 30 Oct, 7.30pm

Tickets: £10 - £25

www.eden-court.co.uk

Access: 29 Oct, 7.30pm – CAP, 30 Oct, 7.30pm - AD, BSL

Perth Theatre

Wed 3 – Sat 6 Nov, 7.30pm. Sat 6 Nov, 2.30pm

Tickets: £11 - £27

www.horsecross.co.uk

Access: 5 Nov, 7.30pm - AD, CAP, 6 Nov, 2.30pm – BSL

Age Guidance, 16+

Theatre for a Fiver - £5 ticket deals and discount codes for 16 - 26 year olds. Full info here

The Edinburgh Playhouse is set to reopen its doors to a full capacity audience.

 It’s time.

 

It is with great excitement that the Edinburgh Playhouse, the UK’s largest all seated theatre, announces its eagerly awaited reopening date after more than 500 days of closure due to the coronavirus restrictions.

Following the Scottish Government’s announcement [on Tuesday 3rd August], removing all legal restrictions for venues and the capacity dispensation granted by the Edinburgh City Council [on Thursday 19th August], the Edinburgh Playhouse will open its doors on Sunday 5th September 2021 with two sold out performances.

Colin Marr, Theatre Director at the Edinburgh Playhouse said “I am absolutely thrilled to be able to reopen our theatre doors after more than 500 days of closure.  It has been a very difficult time for everyone and to be given the go ahead to reopen this iconic venue, is an incredible feeling.  I can’t wait to welcome back my full team, our wonderful audience members and the incredible gigs, comedians and musicals that we’ve all missed so much this last year and a half.”

The Playhouse will open on Sunday 5th September with two sold out performances of the smash hit podcast Shagged, Married, Annoyed with Chris & Rosie Ramsey.  

This will be followed by the award-winning Dolly Parton musical 9 to 5, which opens with our Gala performance on Tuesday 14^th September.  Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, Chicago the Musical, Steve Hackett - Genesis Revisited and Gary Mullen & The Works performing One Night of Queen, Riverdance – 25^th Anniversary Tour and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast are just some of the highlights to look forward to in the coming weeks.  

The 3059 capacity venue was in the middle of a 25 week record-breaking run of Disney’s The Lion King, when it closed its doors on Monday 16th March 2020 following Government guidance aimed to limit the spread of Covid-19, before a mandatory closure notice was given by the Scottish and UK Governments on Monday 23rd March 2020 as part of a nationwide lockdown.  

Upon reopening on Sunday 5th September, the Playhouse will have been closed 536 days.  

The Edinburgh Playhouse is part of Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), a leading live entertainment company with venues across the globe.

 

 

Ambassador Theatre Group has a comprehensive framework of control measures that Theatre Operators follow to ensure all venues comply with the requirements set out by UK and Scottish Governments and Health Authorities to be Covid-Secure, thus ensuring the safety of staff, production companies, third parties and audiences.

Once audiences have purchased tickets, they will be contacted just ahead of their visit to confirm the details of what they can expect, so that they can be confident that venues will be operating in accordance with the most up-to-date guidelines (including mandatory face coverings in Scotland, eTickets, the option of refreshments delivered to seats, contactless payments and hand sanitiser stations).

In addition to Scottish Government and sector guidance (and in line with Ambassador Theatre Group venues UK-wide) we are also asking audiences for proof of Covid status (over the age of 18, full vaccination or negative test within 48 hours) and have introduced additional safety measures at the Edinburgh Playhouse including staggered arrival times and designated entry points.

 

CONTACTLESS TICKETS INFORMATION

Ambassador Theatre Group venues are now operating a contactless ticketing system. eTickets are now the primary and default delivery method for all bookings and are sent to customers within two weeks of their selected performance’s date. The design allows ATG to detail door entry points, staggered entry times and any Covid safety guidelines as appropriate. Audiences simply show the eTicket on their mobile device, or bring along a print out. This change is a necessary step in increasing safety and hygiene and improving the overall booking experience in ATG’s venues.

 

REOPENING SHOW INFORMATION

SUN 5 SEP: 3pm & 8pm: Shagged, Married, Annoyed Podcast with Chris & Rosie Ramsey

TUE 14 - SAT 18 SEP: 9 to 5 the Musical

SUN 19 SEP: One Night of Queen - Performed by Gary Mullen & The Works

MON 20 SEP: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

SAT 25 SEP: Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited - Seconds Out & More

MON 27 SEP - SAT 2 OCT: Chicago the Musical

TUE 5 & 6 OCT: Riverdance – 25^th Anniversary Tour

TUE 12 OCT – SAT 16 OCT – Blood Brothers

THUR 21 OCT – SAT 27 NOV – Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

www.atgtickets.com/edinburgh

THE MALTINGS THEATRE ST ALBANS: 2021 autumn programme

September 7^th – November 27^th

  

The Maltings Theatre, which this year celebrates its 10^th anniversary under the Artistic Directorship of Adam Nichols and his company OVO, opens its 2021 autumn season on September 7^th with a rousing programme of drama, comedy, opera, live music and song. 

Strong female leads power OVO’s own productions:  Vinegar Tom, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and Hedda Gabler while Dyad Productions opens the autumn season on September 7^th with the one-woman show, A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN, based on Virginia Woolf’s classic 1928 and performed by the actor, writer, producer Rebecca Vaughan.

 

September 21^st-24^th sees Charles Court Opera present Gilbert & Sullivan’s evergreen comic opera THE MIKADO. 

September 30^th-October 2^nd journalist turned writer/performer Osman Baig (photo left: Tristram Kenton) stages his dazzling, critically acclaimed, one-man show, FAKE NEWS. 

October 12^th-23^rd OVO presents a re-mixed, musical version of Christopher Hampton’s classic social drama LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES and from October 28^th to November 6^th award-winning director Matthew Parker presents OVO’s production of Caryl Churchill’s searing drama, VINEGAR TOM. 

 

Closing the autumn season is OVO’s new production of Henrik Ibsen’s classic drama HEDDA GABLER which runs from November 16^th-27^th, directed by OVO’s Associate Director Janet Podd.

 

Adam Nichols, OVO Artistic Director says: “We’re so excited about this autumn’s programme with its wide variety of productions and emphasis on strong female protaganists.  I’m extremely proud to be presenting Osman Baig’s outstanding one-man show, Fake News, hot on the heels of its run at the Bridge Theatre in London and A Room of One’s Own whose run we had to cancel last year due to the pandemic. 

 

“I’ll be directing Les Liaisons Dangereuses and I’m delighted Charles Court Opera continue their association with us by bringing their very funny production of The Mikado to The Maltings stage.  Matthew Parker will bring Caryl Churchill’s blistering Vinegar Tom to life and I can’t wait to see what Janet Podd does with Hedda Gabler, one of my favourite dramas.

 

“We recently completed seven weeks of drama, music, opera, and comedy at The Roman Theatre Open Air Festival where we more than doubled our audience from last year.  We then took our Roman Theatre production of The Winter’s Tale to the fabulous Minack Theatre in Cornwall for ten days in July.

 

“We continued to manage rules and regulations during the first part of this year with the presentation of theatrical treasures in Hertfordshire, Cornwall and online.  And now we’re looking forward to welcoming capacity audiences to the Maltings Theatre from September 7^th onwards for our exciting autumn season.”

Myra’s Story Wins a Bobby Award

 Today (Sunday 29 August) Myra’s Story, the 5-star sell-out show at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, was presented with the highly-prized Bobby Award at the end of its final performance. 

  

In front of a full-house in the Palais de Variété spiegeltent in Assembly George Square Gardens, writer and director Brian Foster, award-winning actor Fíonna Hewitt-Twamley, and Assembly Festival’s Artistic Director, William Burdett-Coutts, received their ‘Bobby’ - Broadway Baby’s top award for outstanding performance at this year’s Festival Fringe. 

L/R Richard Beck, Brian Foster, Fíonna Hewitt-Twamley, William Burdett-Coutts

The Bobby Award, fashioned after the iconic Greyfriars Bobby statue, is awarded to the best of the best at the Fringe, those shows that shine brightest amongst all the festival’s 5-star shows. This year Broadway Baby have awarded just three Bobbys to 5-star shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. 

  

Richard Beck Editor of Broadway Baby said: 

“We are delighted to make this award to Myra’s Story this year. There is no single criterion that makes a show Bobby-worthy, it is a combination of things that have simply blown us away and Myra’s Story is an outstanding piece of theatre.” 

  

Brian Foster, writer and director of Myra’s Story added: “We are thrilled to receive this award. Myra’s story is a mix of hilarity and heartbreak and it has been amazing to be back on stage performing live to full-houses at the festival this year. We have plans to tour Myra’s Story next year so we hope that as more venues open, more people will get the opportunity to see this fantastic show.” 

  

Myra’s Story is about a middle-aged, homeless Dublin street drinker played by Fionna Hewitt-Twamley who is funny, feisty, and foul-mouthed.  She begs from passers-by for her drink money and recreates her hilarious, harrowing, and ultimately heart-breaking backstory. A story that takes her from fresh faced teenage bride with a baby son and all to live for, to the tragic condition she finds herself in today. Audiences laugh and cry, often at the same time, as Myra sweeps them along on a real rollercoaster-of-emotions ride. Playing all the characters, acting out all the incredible events that have led her to alcoholism and destitution, hers is the face we habitually turn our head away from and pretend not to see. In the play, Myra never wallows in self-pity. Never cries. After so many often brutal years spent fighting just to exist on the streets of Dublin, Myra has no tears left to shed

From the Snug, Episode 3

 

Pitlochry Festival Theatre to thank NHS workers with free tickets to Alice in Wonderland World

 Pitlochry Festival Theatre to thank NHS workers with free tickets to Alice in Wonderland World

 

 As a small thank you for all their amazing work over the last 18 months, Pitlochry Festival Theatre are offering all NHS workers up to 4 free tickets to Alice in Wonderland World, the theatre’s exciting new interactive, visual, and bilingual sound, walk-through adventure.

 

Amy Liptrott, Associate Director at Pitlochry Festival Theatre said:

“ To all the amazing NHS workers, we would love to invite you and your families to enjoy the wonderful Alice in Wonderland World interactive experience in our beautiful gardens in Pitlochry as a small but heartfelt thank you for all your amazing work.” 

 

Alice’s adventures are brought to life in Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s beautiful Explorers' Garden where visitors can become one of the many brilliant characters she meets! Alice can’t find the White Rabbit, and we can’t find the Cheshire Cat – can you help? Journey along the Playing Card Path, through the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, play a Gigantic Game of Chess in the Red Queen’s pillared Garden, see the White Queen’s Palace appearing amongst the trees, meet the giant cuddly Caterpillar and join the search for the Cheshire Cat! Visitors will hear actors telling the story in English and Gaelic on audio through new beacon technology on their own device, along with the visual delights, and they will get a handout map to set them on their magical journey through Alice in Wonderland World.

 

As well as the App, ticket bookers can download from the theatre’s website a booklet as part of the theatre’s Build Your Own Theatre series, which will share tips on how you can make easy costumes and dress up to make your visit to the garden even more memorable. This is also in Gaelic and English.

 

 Alice in Wonderland World runs until 12 September from Thursdays-Sundays between 12-5pm. Last entry is at 4pm.

 

NHS Alice in Wonderland World tickets are available by calling the Pitlochry Festival Theatre box office on 01796 484626.

Kill Dramaturgy Now

 Kill Me Now is a digital, dramatic experience performed as a real life live Zoom webinar written by award winning playwright Rhiannon Boyle. This funny, heart wrenching one woman play, developed in lockdown specifically for a virtual audience, explores a new form taking live performance to a place we have never EVER been before. An innovative, hilarious yet poignant production which will be presented in collaboration with critically acclaimed Welsh new writing theatre company Dirty Protest.

And for the first predictable question: what was the inspiration for your show?

The story and the themes of the play lie very close to my heart as someone who lost my father after years of him suffering with the long term degenerative disease MS. I wanted to write a play about losing my Dad but because I have a very dark sense of humour, I wanted it to be funny. 

My producers, Dirty Protest, and I spoke about the main character maybe giving a TED talk or being an expert in the one thing she has no idea how to deal with – her grief. That’s why I decided to make her an undertaker who is selling the franchise model of her business Joyful Endings Funerals, which is basically end-of-life celebrations that are more ‘fun’ than funeral.

 

 

How far does it fit within your usual work, and do you have a particular dramaturgical approach to creating a production?

I like dark comedy and so I suppose all my writing explores heavy themes in way that always find the light and humour. When I create I usually start by exploring the thing that I want to say. What’s the argument? What’s the issue? What’s the thing that’s made me angry or sad? I then do lots of work on the characters writing pages and pages on their past, personality traits, their hopes and fears. 

When I’ve done all that I get to the story. My mantra is - spew then sculpt. I get it all out onto the page and then I’ll go back and look at how it fits into the Five Act Structure. Where is the inciting incident? Midpoint? Climax? What’s the character’s journey and how do they change? After all that it’s time to hand it over and get an outside opinion; a dramaturg or a director who I can really trust to help me develop it further.

Do you see your work within any particular tradition?

Not really. I write for TV, radio, theatre and now online. I like mixing it up and practicing different disciplines for different mediums and platforms.

 

What are you hoping that the audience will experience?

 

The play is a comedy set in covid times and will offer audiences some much needed fun and relief. The play deals with the themes of grief and so we will reach out and connect with audiences and communities experiencing grief at this time - whether that be grieving loved ones, grieving theatrical experiences or grieving our old lives. We are living in a time where we are all collectively grieving and connecting with others and making sense of it all whilst finding the light and humour can be a very powerful healing process.

 

 

How have you found the challenge of creating a production online? Has it been positive or negative and have there been any surprises?

It’s been brilliant fun. We tested the show out on a live audience and they absolutely loved it! I think because we’ve purposefully written this play for Zoom as a live Zoom webinar using all its interactive features it just really works. This is NOT online theatre. It’s a dramatic, digital, interactive experience and we can’t wait to share it with new audiences.

I have always asked about the role of theatre in public debate, but this now seems even more relevant. In the current landscape, what does theatre or performance have to give to the public sphere?

Hope. Connection. If we’ve learned anything during this pandemic it’s that everything around us – economies, services, industries and infrastructures – are so fragile. When everything ground to a halt and ceased, for me, it was connection to other human beings that kept me going. Love, compassion, kindness and trying to make sense of it all together.