National Theatre of Scotland to Present FIFTH STEP, DEAR BILLY, and More at Edinburgh Festival
Check out the full lineup below!
By: Blair Ingenthron Jul. 29, 2024
The National Theatre of Scotland is set to make its presence known at the Edinburgh Festivals this August, with three productions being performed on the world stage, with a programme offering raw and honest gig theatre, a thrilling and provocative new play and a celebration of one Scotland's most-beloved cultural icons.
The programme opens with the world premiere of June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me, a new play written and performed by Charlene Boyd, directed by the multi-award-winning Cora Bissett, sharing the story of one of country music's most iconic voices. The production is presented with Grid Iron and opens at Summerhall as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before touring to Banchory, Glasgow, Dunfermline, Kirkcudbright, Stranraer, Arran, Oban, Ullapool and Forres. June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me is part of the 2024 Made in Scotland Showcase.
Following a successful Scotland-wide tour in 2023 and concluding its 2024 tour, Dear Billy comes to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for a two-week run at the Assembly Rooms in August as part of the Assembly Festival Programme. Written and performed by Gary McNair and directed by Joe Douglas, Dear Billy is an acclaimed celebration of one Scotland's best loved performers, the Big Yin - Billy Connolly.
The world premiere production of David Ireland's thrilling and provocative new play The Fifth Step directed by Finn Den Hertog and starring Jack Lowden and Sean Gilder, opens at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh as part of the Edinburgh International Festival in August. This two-hander production previews in Dundee and will tour to Glasgow after the EIF in August.
National Theatre of Scotland has a longstanding and significant relationship with the Edinburgh Festivals. National Theatre of Scotland has presented 18 shows at both the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and EIF since 2006, with previous shows including Black Watch, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, My Left Right Foot, The Musical, Adam, James I, II and III, Burn and Medea.
World Premiere
A National Theatre of Scotland production
THE FIFTH STEP
By David Ireland, directed by Finn Den Hertog
With Jack Lowden and Sean Gilder
Set & Costume Designer - Milla Clarke; Lighting Designer - Lizzie Powell;
Composer & Sound Designer - Mark Melville; Movement Director - Jenny Ogilvie;
Fight Director - Raymond Short
The Fifth Step opens as part of the 2024 Edinburgh International Festival at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, following preview performances at Dundee Rep Theatre and will tour to the Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow in August 2024.
Opening at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh with performances from Wednesday 21 August to Saturday 25 August 2024
Press performance Wednesday 21 August 2024, 7.30pm at Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
The Fifth Step is a thrilling and provocative new play written by David Ireland and directed by Finn Den Hertog, Associate Artist with National Theatre of Scotland. The taut two-hander features Jack Lowden, marking his return to the Scottish stage for the first time since his debut in Black Watch in 2010, and Sean Gilder renowned stage, film and television actor.
The Fifth Step will preview at Dundee Rep Theatre before opening at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, for a week's run as part of the 2024 Edinburgh International Festival and then end with a short run at The Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow in August 2024.
“The point is to divest yourself of shame… It's about getting clean.”
Thirty something Luka is new to Alcoholics Anonymous and looking for a sponsor. James is older, has been in the programme for years, surely he's the perfect person to shepherd the younger man through each of the twelve steps on the road to recovery? Or maybe life just isn't that simple.
In a programme that requires both of them to come to terms with their past, can Luka and James face their transgressions to find a new way of living?
Featuring Jack Lowden as Luka and Sean Gilder as James, The Fifth Step is David Ireland's grimly comic, provocative new play about men, intimacy and what we choose to put our faith in.
“The work of David Ireland is a spectacular defence of free speech and the right to offend… (he) is the only British writer using theatre for extreme physical and intellectual provocation of audiences.” The Guardian
David Ireland is a Northern-Irish playwright and actor, best known for his plays Cyprus Avenue and Ulster American. He is based in Scotland. Cyprus Avenue made its Scottish premiere at the Tron Theatre in 2023, with lead actor David Hayman winning Outstanding Performance at the Critics' Awards for Theatre Scotland (CATS), The show returns to Scottish stages in 2024. Ulster American made its debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at the Traverse Theatre and has recently been revived in an exclusive limited eight week run in London with Woody Harrelson, Andy Serkis and Louisa Harland.
Finn Den Hertog is a director, writer and actor, and an Associate Artist with The National Theatre of Scotland. Most recently he directed The Enemy, which marked NTS' return to live touring theatre in 2021 and the short film Wednesday as part of the Scenes for Survival series. Based in Glasgow, den Hertog runs the theatre company groupwork, alongside choreographer Vicki Manderson and video designer Lewis Den Hertog. Other directing credits include Wings Around Dundee (Dundee Rep Theatre), Earwig (Tron Theatre), The Afflicted (groupwork), Square Go (Francesca Moody Productions) and Ten New Messages (Young Vic). He is directing Sunset Song for Dundee Rep in spring 2024.
Jack Lowden said:
“I have long been an admirer of David Ireland's craft, his ability to provoke an audience with the boldness and brilliance of his writing. I am delighted to be returning to the theatre this year in his thrilling new play The Fifth Step.
I am also very much looking forward to being in a rehearsal room in Glasgow with David and director Finn Den Hertog and taking all the exciting theatrical steps towards premiering the production at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2024.”
Jack Lowden is an acclaimed Scottish actor who trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He first worked with National Theatre of Scotland early in his career, when he took on the lead role of Cammy in the 2010-11 revival tour of the Olivier-award winning play Black Watch.
He has won numerous awards including BAFTA Scotland awards for Best Actor in British film Calibre and for his role as Siegfried Sassoon in Benediction, and an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor in Ghosts at The Almeida. He has appeared in many films including Fighting With My Family, Mary Queen of Scots and Dunkirk. TV shows include his breakout role in BBC's War and Peace, and most recently BBC's The Gold and Apple TV's Slow Horses.
He also received a nomination for EE BAFTA Rising Star in 2020 and was nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his role in for Slow Horses at the BAFTA Television Awards 2023 and 2024.
He last worked with National Theatre of Scotland in 2020, in Janey Godley's short film Alone II, part of the Scenes for Survival series created in lockdown. His other stage work includes Chariots of Fire (Hampstead and Gielgud Theatres), Electra (Old Vic) and most recently Measure for Measure at The Donmar Warehouse.
Sean Gilder has worked extensively across theatre, film and TV and was recently in BBC's The Gold and Apple TV's Slow Horses where we worked with Jack Lowden. He is known for appearances in Shameless (Channel 4), Poldark (BBC) and the Hornblower films. Most recent TV shows include Mary and George, Passenger and Sherwood.
Stage work includes Dear England (National Theatre), West End productions of Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Coriolanus and The Winter's Tale, The Duchess of Malfi at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse; Chimerica (also in the West End), Enemies and The Earthly Paradise at the Almeida.
Touring to Dundee Rep Theatre (preview Sat 17 August); Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh - Edinburgh International Festival - Wed 21 August to Sun 25 August and Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow - Thurs 29 August to Sat 30 August
BSL interpreted, audio described and captioned performances full information here
Full booking information here.
World Premiere
National Theatre of Scotland and Grid Iron Theatre Company present
June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me
Written and performed by Charlene Boyd, directed by Cora Bissett
Music performed by Harry Ward, Ray Aggs and Amy Duncan
Set and Costume Design - Shona Reppe, MD, Composer and Sound Designer – Pippa Murphy, Lighting Designer – Elle Taylor, Movement Director – Laura Fisher
Premiering at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Dissection Room, Summerhall from 6 to 24 August with preview performances from 2 to 4 August 2024
Touring across Scotland from 28 August to 22 September 2024
Opening night and press performance at the Dissection Room, Summerhall as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Tuesday 6 August at 4:00pm
Part of the 2024 Made in Scotland Showcase
Charlene Boyd, one of Scotland's leading actors shares the story of one of country music's most iconic voices: June Carter Cash. Directed by the multi-award-winning Cora Bissett, June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me opens at the Dissection Room Summerhall as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe ahead of a tour of Scottish cultural venues and festivals in August and September 2024.
June Carter Cash was a country singer, songwriter and dancer. She played guitar, banjo, harmonica and autoharp, winning five Grammy awards across her career. She came from a family of country singers and was the second wife of Johnny Cash. Their relationship was celebrated in the Oscar-winning 2005 film, Walk the Line. A new documentary about “June”, received its TV premiere on Paramount+ in 2024. This is the first stage play to premiere about June's life and music in the UK.
More than a simple biography of June's life and music, this play with songs, sees Charlene explore her own relationship with her musical heroine and their shared experience as performers and working mothers. A powerful, personal journey of discovery stretching across the Atlantic, from the Appalachian Mountains to the Glasgow high-rise flats, their tale is one of empowerment, endurance and perseverance.
Charlene Boyd travelled to Nashville and across the Appalachian Mountains to research this play. She visited places that held special significance in June's life and interviewed friends and family of June Carter Cash, alongside contemporary American country singer-songwriters.
The show will feature live music and will be staged in a cabaret style setting, inspired by Nashville's legendary Bluebird Café. Charlene Boyd gets to grips with a life less ordinary in this raw yet uplifting piece of intimate gig theatre.
Charlene Boyd, writer and performer said:
“I've sang in a band as June Carter Cash for over a decade but knew nothing about her really. I thought she was the pretty backing singer who sang along with Johnny Cash, then married him. It wasn't until I started to dig that I realised how incredible June was in her own right, as an artist, woman and mother. I am proud that my first play shines a light on working class women artists and their struggle to be given their rightful place.”
Charlene Boyd is a Scottish actor and writer, born and raised in Glasgow. June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me marks her debut as a playwright. As an actor she most recently undertook the UK tour of 2:22 A Ghost Story and appeared in The Macbeths at the Citizens Theatre, for which she was nominated for Best Actress at the CATS Awards in 2019. Charlene has previously worked with National Theatre of Scotland on the productions Men Should Weep, Empty and The Miracle Man. Her television work includes Mayflies, The Trial of Christine Keeler, Crime S2, River City and Scots Squad. She also performs, as June, with Jericho Hill, in a Johnny Cash tribute band.
Cora Bissett is a Scottish theatre director, playwright, actor and songwriter. Previous work with National Theatre of Scotland includes the hit political musical Glasgow Girls, Rites, Adam, Interference and Orphans. Other theatre work includes Emma Donohue's Room, which toured to London, across Scotland, Dublin and Toronto, the hit rock-music production Janis Joplin: Full Tilt and autobiographical gig theatre production What Girls Are Made Of, which won a Fringe First and Herald Angel award. From 2014 until 2022, Bissett was an Associate Director with The National Theatre of Scotland.
Founded in 1995, Grid Iron is a multi-award-winning Edinburgh-based new writing theatre company who specialise in site-specific and location theatre, although they have also created work for conventional stages. Grid Iron have previously collaborated with National Theatre of Scotland on Roam, a site-responsive production staged in Edinburgh Airport.
Grid Iron have worked previously with Charlene Boyd on Barflies, Letters Home and The Devil's Larder and with Cora Bissett on Clearance, The Bloody Chamber, Fierce and Yarn.
The Cash family has connections to Scotland. Johnny Cash claimed his ancestors were from the Kingdom of Fife and was very proud of his Scottish ancestry. Cash visited Fife on more than one occasion, recording a television special there, Christmas in Scotland, in 1981. June's daughter Carlene Carter made a special appearance at Celtic Connections in February 2024.
Both National Theatre of Scotland and Grid Iron have a longstanding relationship with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. National Theatre of Scotland has presented 18 shows at the Fringe since 2006, with previous shows including Black Watch, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour and Adam. Grid Iron have appeared at the Festival Fringe 15 times since 1997 with offerings such as Decky Does a Bronco, Doppler, Barflies and The Devil's Larder.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe venue and dates: Dissection Room, Summerhall from 02 to 24 August, 4:00pm
Previews: Friday 2 August to Sunday 4 August, 4:00pm
Press performance: Tuesday 6 August at 4:00pm
Touring Scotland from Wednesday 28 August to Sunday 22 September 2024.
Running Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes (approx.)
Full tour and creative information here.
The National Theatre of Scotland's popular Theatre for a Fiver scheme will be available for 14- to 16-year-olds and those on Universal Credit.
National Theatre of Scotland presents
DEAR BILLY
A Love Letter to the Big Yin
From the People of Scotland
Written and performed by Gary McNair, Directed by Joe Douglas
Remount directed by Sally Reid
Music performed and composed by Simon Liddell and Jill O'Sullivan, Set and Costume designed by Claire Halleran, Lighting design by Kate Bonney and Simon Hayes, dramaturgy by Joe Douglas.
At the Assembly Rooms, Music Hall as part of the Assembly Festival programme for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with performances from Tuesday 13 to Sunday 25 August 2024.
In 2023 National Theatre of Scotland's production of Dear Billy undertook a 17 venue Scotland-wide tour, reaching over 8000 people. Originally announced to mark Billy Connolly's 80th birthday year, the production was enthusiastically received by audiences, selling out at venues across Scotland, garnering a wealth of positive reviews and due to popular demand is now back on tour again in 2024.
There's a guy. You know him. You know… big hair, wee beard, glasses, talks like that. You know? You know. The guy…The Big Yin.
Billy Connolly needs no introduction. He is a national treasure. From the shipyards of the Clydeside to his trailblazing and extraordinary stage and movie exploits, he is woven into Scottish culture.
Everyone has a Billy story. An expert team of story gatherers has created a collection of these moving and hilarious tales. Gary McNair, one of Scotland's most renowned theatre-makers, has turned these stories into a special show celebrating the Big Yin and what he means to the people of Scotland.
The production arrives at the Assembly Rooms, Music Hall as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2024 following a tour to His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen, Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow and Eden Court in Inverness in May 2024.
Dear Billy is a unique touring production that evolved on the road. It travelled the length and breadth of Scotland in 2023, visiting local theatres, arts and community centres gathering stories along the way which were woven into the show as the tour progressed.
Gary McNair is hitting the road once more with two musicians. Audience members are welcomed to share their own Billy stories, with the possibility of those stories making it into the performance. Each show offers a unique chance for audiences to laugh, sing, and celebrate the man and the legend.
Dear Billy is written and performed by leading Scottish theatre-maker Gary McNair whose recent work includes the acclaimed Nae Expectations, a fresh take on the Dickens classic for the Tron Theatre; Ugly! A Cinderella Story for Cumbernauld Theatre Company and a new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde featuring a solo performance from Forbes Masson which opened at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh in January 2024 before touring.
The production is directed by Joe Douglas whose work for National Theatre of Scotland includes The Cheviot, The Stag and the Black, Black Oil, Dear Scotland and Associate Director for Black Watch. Joe previously collaborated with Gary on McGonagall's Chronicles (Which Will Be Remembered for a Very Long Time).
Musicians re-joining Gary on the road are Simon Liddell whose work for theatre includes The Domestic (Scenes for Survival/National Theatre of Scotland) and McGonagall's Chronicles (Which Will Be Remembered for a Very Long Time) and Jill O'Sullivan who writes and performs across the worlds of popular music, theatre and dance.
Gary McNair said:
“It was a real honour to get the opportunity to make Dear Billy last year. The creative team were a dream, and we couldn't have been happier with the response from audiences up and down the country.
I also loved that people would share their personal stories about the Big Yin with us as we travelled. Both performing the show and receiving these stories felt like the perfect way to celebrate the special place that Billy Connolly holds in the hearts of the Scottish people.
The fact that there's been such a hunger for the show to return and that we are able to do it so soon is wonderful. I can't wait for us to get the band back together and take the show back on the road to head out across Scotland again to meet new audiences.”
Billy Connolly, or, the Big Yin, whom this show is dedicated to, is Scotland's most beloved comedian, with an impressive career as a stand-up, actor, writer and musician spanning more than 50 years. In 2022, Connolly was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.
The National Theatre of Scotland has recently launched in a new interactive map – A Big Map for The Big Yin.
Billy Connolly's relationship with Scotland spans his extraordinary life and career over the last 80 years. The National Theatre of Scotland is plotting on a special map, all the places that have a personal connection to Billy, to help create a love letter from the people of Scotland to their favourite comedian. They are inviting people to share their knowledge of Billy, stories, memories and photos, to make a living tribute to The Big Yin.
Gary McNair is a Glasgow based writer and performer. He is a three-time Fringe First winner and has produced work for and with many of Scotland's major theatre companies. His plays have been translated and performed all over the world, from Germany to Japan, from New York to New Zealand. Gary's work includes A Gambler's Guide to Dying, Square Go (co-written with Kieran Hurley); McGonagall's Chronicles Which Will Be Remembered for a Very Long Time, Donald Robertson Is Not a Stand-Up Comedian, After The Cuts, Letters to Morrissey and Locker Room Talk. These plays are published by Methuen.
Joe Douglas is a theatre director, playwright and performer. Joe's career began as Trainee Director at The National Theatre of Scotland from 2007 to 2008. He was the Artistic Director of Live Theatre from 2018 to 2020, and before that, Associate Artistic Director of Dundee Rep and Co-Artistic Director of the Utter touring company. His work includes Clear White Light, Death of a Salesman, Spoiling, The BFG, George's Marvellous Medicine, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Educating Ronnie, Letters Home, The Red Shed, Stand By and The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil.
Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Tues 13 to Sun 25 August at 16.50, no shows on Wednesdays)
Access: Theatre for a Fiver tickets available for under 26's and those on Universal Credit
BSL interpreted, audio described and captioned performances full information here.
Tour information and full creative biogs here.
National Theatre of Scotland is dedicated to playing the great stages, arts centres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations of Scotland, the UK and internationally. As well as creating ground-breaking productions and working with the most talented theatre-makers, The National Theatre of Scotland produces significant community engagement projects, innovates digitally and works constantly to develop new talent. Central to this is finding pioneering ways to reach current and new audiences and to encourage people's full participation in the Company's work. With no performance building of its own, the Company works with existing and new venues and companies to create and tour theatre of the highest quality. Founded in 2006, the Company, in its short life, has become a globally significant theatrical player, with an extensive repertoire of award-winning work. The National Theatre of Scotland is supported by the Scottish Government. nationaltheatrescotland.com
Edinburgh International Festival is a global celebration of performing arts, bringing the finest performers of dance, opera, music and theatre from around the world to Edinburgh for three weeks every August.
The 2024 International Festival takes place from 2-25 August, under the direction of Festival Director and Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti. Benedetti's vision is to create the deepest level of experience, through the highest quality of art, for the broadest possible audience.
The International Festival's impact also extends beyond the annual programme, with community learning, engagement and professional development programmes running throughout the year, contributing to the cultural and social life of Edinburgh and Scotland. For more information visit www.eif.co.uk.
Grid Iron is an Edinburgh based new writing theatre company which specialises in creating site-specific and location theatre although they also produce work for the stage. In their 28 years, they have received 31 awards and a further 20 nominations covering all aspects of their work from acting, writing and use of music to stage management, design and technical expertise.
Their adventures have taken them to extraordinary places; from the slopes of Edinburgh Zoo to a massive oil-rig manufacturing shed in Dundee, a boat-builders island in a Norwegian fjord, to the former General Security building in Beirut, a working cancer hospital in Jordan, the old City Morgue in Cork, landside and airside at Edinburgh Airport and parks, housing estates, playgrounds and bars (for performances as well as recreation!) all over Scotland and Britain.
They have made co-productions with many partners including National Theatre of Scotland, Traverse Theatre, Dundee Rep Theatre, Almeida Theatre London, Lung Ha Theatre Company, Stellar Quines and Edinburgh International Book Festival and have delivered two European Capital of Culture commissions (Cork 2005 and Stavanger2008). They have performed three times as part of Edinburgh International Festival, 15 times at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, twice at Edinburgh International Science Festival and have been part of Imaginate and Edinburgh International Book Festival, their co-production with whom was part of Culture 2014, Glasgow's cultural celebration of the Commonwealth Games and supported by the Scottish Government's Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund, the first of two productions they have made with Expo funding.
Made in Scotland is a curated showcase of high-quality performance from Scotland at the world's largest arts festival, made possible by support from the Scottish Government's Expo Fund. It is a partnership between the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, the Federation of Scottish Theatre, the Scottish Music Centre and Creative Scotland.
Photo Credit: Eoin Caren
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