The Traverse’s Fringe programme serves up a wide offering – and will include Scottish, UK and global premieres. Here’s a guide to the shows making up the event.
Breakfast Plays: Youthquake
New playwrights from the Traverse Young Writers’ group are paired with leading writers Ella Hickson, Kieran Hurley and Sabrina Mahfouz for script-in-hand readings of work exploring how, in the Year of Young People, younger generations be a catalyst for political and social change. Breakfast roll and hot drink included.
Aug 14 to Aug 26 (not Aug 20), 9am, £12. #BreakfastPlaysYouthquake
Check Up: Our NHS at 70
In the 70th year of the NHS, Traverse regular and possibly the busiest man in theatre Mark Thomas asks what it will look like in 30 years when he’s in his mid-80s. Based on interviews with workers, analysts and from residencies in hospitals and surgeries, Thomas explores what’s going wrong and how we might fix it.
Aug 5 to Aug 26 (not Aug 6, 13, 20), various times, £21.50, £9.50 to £16.50 concs. @markthomasinfo #OurNHS70
CLASS
A parent-teacher meeting does not go to plan in Iseult Golden and David Horan’s award-winning play about class, entitlement and learning difficulties, both in education and in life. This is the UK premiere for CLASS, which was first produced in association with the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2017.
Aug 3 to Aug 26 (not Aug 6, 13, 20), various times, £20.50, £9.50 to £15.50 concs. @theplayisCLASS #CLASSplay
Coriolanus Vanishes
Originally performed in 2017 by Fire Exit artistic director David Leddy himself, this re-staging of his psychological thriller sees Irene Allan cast as the grief-stricken central character who finds herself in prison awaiting trial – though she doesn’t know why.
Aug 3 to Aug 26 (not Aug 6, 13, 20), various times, £20.50, £9.50 to £15.50 concs. @FireExitCo #CoriolanusVanishes
Meek
The world premiere of Penelope Skinner’s play also sees its central character imprisoned – here, for something seemingly harmless – in a society which has prohibited freedom of expression and has an authoritarian grip on our private lives.
Aug 5 to Aug 26 (not Aug 6, 13, 20), various times, £21.50, £9.50 to £16.50 concs. @HeadlongTheatre #MeekThePlay
Nigel Slater’s Toast
The Scottish premiere of the journalist and broadcaster’s bestselling memoir Toast: The Story of a Boy’s Hunger, which has also been made into a radio production and film.
Aug 8 to Aug 26 (not Aug 6, 13, 20), various times, £21.50, £9.50 to £16.50 concs. #NigelSlatersTOAST
On The Exhale
Originally inspired by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings of 2012, Martin Zimmerman’s emotionally-charged examination of American gun violence is presented in the UK for the first time.
Aug 3 to Aug 26 (not Aug 6, 13, 20), various times, £20.50, £9.50 to £15.50 concs. @youroldchina #OnTheExhale
The Greatest Play in the History of the World …
A “love story that travels through space and time” starring Coronation Street and Broadchurch actress Julie Hesmondhalgh in a play written for her by her writer husband Ian Kershaw.
Aug 3 to Aug 26 (not Aug 6, 13, 20), various times, £20.50, £9.50 to £15.50 concs. @rxtheatre #GreatestPlay
Ulster American
Written by James Tait Black Award winner David Ireland and presented by the Traverse Theatre Company, Ulster American is a confrontational examination of consent and cultural identity at its heart.
Aug 3 to Aug 26 (not Aug 6, 13, 20), various times, £20.50, £9.50 to £15.50 concs. @traversetheatre #UlsterAmerican
Underground Railroad Game
The UK premiere of Jennifer Kidwell and Scott R Sheppard’s fourth-wall-breaking examination of power in the contemporary United States, which uses Sheppard’s real-life fifth-grade lesson on the American Civil War as a jumping off point.
Aug 3 to Aug 26 (not Aug 6, 13, 20), various times, £21.50, £9.50 to £16.50 concs. @arsnova #UndergroundRailroadGame
User Not Found
Performed off-site in the local Jeelie Piece café on nearby Leven Street using smartphones and headphones, site-specific theatre company Dante Or Die join forces with pioneering theatre-maker Chris Goode for this look at what happens to our digital identities after we die.
Aug 4 to Aug 26, Traverse @ Jeelie Piece Cafe, 8pm, £20.50, £9.50 to £15.50 concs. @danteordie #UserNotFound
What Girls Are Made Of
Actor, musician and theatre director Cora Bissett tells the autobiographical story of her rollercoaster journey from Fife schoolgirl to indie rock star, asking what “glorious mistakes” we should be letting our next generation make. This is a co-production between the Traverse Theatre Company and new company Raw Material.
Aug 5 to Aug 26 (not Aug 6, 13, 20), various times, £21.50, £9.50 to £16.50 concs. @traversetheatre #WhatGirlsAreMadeOf
All tickets can be booked via www.traverse.co.uk and 0131 228 1404.
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