Traverse Theatre Presents WRITE HERE Festival, 4/16

The Traverse is gearing up for a celebration of new writing in a nine-day festival to be held at the Theatre in April, curated by recently appointed Artistic Director, Orla O'Loughlin. Write Here will feature a variety of new work at different stages of development which give a look behind the scenes to the work of the Traverse literary team and playwrights in a series of readings, talks, workshops and performance. The festival will take place April 16th-24th.

Speaking about the festival, Traverse Artistic Director Orla O'Loughlin said, "Write Here is packed full of opportunities for anyone who wants to engage with new writing. We're hosting special Open Views, chances to witness a writer, director and actors working on a text, panel discussions and workshops, one-to-one meetings with the Literary team and rehearsed readings of new work by established and emerging writers. We are delighted too to have some very exciting directors of new work for the stage joining us.

'Our final event will see us mount the World Premiere of Demos. This unique event, like this festival, is all about getting in on the action and playing a part in the future success of new writing here at the Traverse."

In the spirit of showing what's behind the scenes at Scotland's New Writing theatre, the festival kicks off with Open Views, a chance to experience script development as it happens, with work by Peter Arnott, Morna Pearson and Rob Drummond, which will also have rehearsed readings (16-21 April).

There are panel discussions with some of Scotland's most exciting established and emerging playwrights including Gregory Burke, Zinnie Harris and D C Jackson (18 & 19 April) as well as a range of public workshops and events.

Traverse Introducing will provide a chance to discover the next generation of Scottish playwriting talent, with readings of new work from graduates of the Theatre's celebrated Young Writers' Group, who will collaborate with well-known directors including Philip Howard and James Dacre (16-21 April).

The festival culminates in an immersive live theatre event inspired by the Occupy movement, by Tim Price. Demos, written for a cast of over fifty, questions the very nature of democracy, in an exciting one-off show which places the audience at the center of the event (24 April).

Write Here will also feature a directors workshop led by Orla O'Loughlin (23 April) and one-to-one meetings with Orla and Literary Officer Jennifer Williams in Open Hours (24 April).

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