Traverse Theatre's New Writing Festival Set for 21-26 Oct

In its 50th year, Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre will put the future of new writing centre stage in its annual new writing festival, Write Here. The Festival will present never-before-seen work from the fifty writers that were selected to work on attachment with the theatre in 2013, in celebration of its golden anniversary year. The Traverse is thrilled to present work from the trailblazing group, whose work was described as "a torrent of creativity and potential" by The Scotsman earlier this year.

Heading up the bill are Traverse Fifty plays from Lachlan Philpott, Ellie Stewart and John McCann, selected from the talented group by the Traverse Artistic team. These three plays will be staged as Triple Bill Performances. Directed by Artistic Director Orla O'Loughlin, Associate Director Hamish Pirie and Associate Artist Zinnie Harris, they will feature a stellar cast including Kathryn Howden (Any Given Day, Last Witch), Lesley Hart (Futureproof, Dalgety) and John Bett (Enquirer, The Government Inspector).

In the first of three rehearsed readings from eminent Scottish playwrights, Morna Pearson will present Skin; or How to Disappear, a characteristically witty and macabre play from the Meyer-Whitworth Award-winning writer. Stef Smith, Olivier Award-winning writer of 2010 hit Roadkill will also present new work Swallow, alongside Iain Finlay Macleod, whose play The Devil Master and his Children is the culmination of a year-long residency at the Institute for Advanced Studies of Humanities.

Work from the Traverse Fifty writers will also be presented in a programme of Lunchtime Readings (with a bottle of Innis & Gunn beer and stovies included in the ticket price) and in site-specific Headset Plays in the theatre's bar. The Traverse will also invite audiences to experience theatre differently - to unearth a collection of Hidden Plays that can be found under tables, on the backs of bar menus, and even in the toilets.

The Festival ends with a chance for audiences to get insights into the minds of Scotland's top theatre critics. Playwright Zinnie Harris chairs a discussion between Mark Fisher (The Guardian), Neil Cooper (The Herald) and Joyce McMillan (The Scotsman). They will discuss how they form their reviews, and what it takes to be one of the tastemakers of Scottish Theatre.

"One of the most exciting new writing festivals Edinburgh has seen in years". The List

Alongside the Traverse Fifty playwriting scheme there has been a one-off collaboration with photography library Writer Pictures. For the project, each writer was paired with a photographer to produce a portrait of the playwright to mark the project and the Traverse's 50th year. All 50 portraits will be shown together for the first time in the Traverse Bar during Write Here, with a preview of the exhibition on Tuesday 22 October at 6pm.

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