AN award-winning Scottish theatre maker is being forced to rewrite her new show about Trident on a daily basis because of the developments in the nuclear weapons debate.

No-one will be watching the House of Commons vote on the renewal of the lethal weapons on Monday more closely than Glasgow-based Jenna Watt. Her new show is due to be staged in just a few weeks at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – but the ending is still to be written.

The implications of the UK’s decision to leave the EU as well as the possibility of a new referendum on Scottish independence, together with the renewal vote being called with such little notice, means Watt is constantly trying to keep up with the news cycle.

“The times are moving so fast that the show is trying to keep up,” she said. “That is the issue with political theatre – if the politics keeps changing, the show needs to change with it and keep up with the arguments. I am going from a written piece of work to something that might end up more improvised.”

Many of Watt’s family work at Faslane on the Clyde and have always told her that nuclear weapons are vital.

However, over the years some of her friends have protested against nuclear weapons at the gates of the naval base and in the run-up to the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, Watt decided she needed to be better informed about the issue.

“I made it a bit of a mission to educate myself and understand why both the Yes and No campaigns used it as a lynchpin.

“A lot of assumptions were made in that debate, and people split on one side or the other, but I found strong arguments on both sides and the show moves between two different viewpoints.

“I have had two years since the referendum to develop my opinion, but with the recent developments I am having to reinvestigate how I am feeling about the situation now.

“I view everything through the Trident lens – the EU referendum and the changes in the Cabinet will have such huge effects on the debate.

“The main thing I am holding on for is the House of Commons vote, as I am still not quite sure how the piece will end. I thought I did but now I am not so sure.

“I do know, however, that it is going to be very relevant politically and I think it will make a thrilling piece of theatre.”

Faslane represents the culmination of years of research including multiple trips to the naval base, interviews with current and former MOD staff and activists, as well as forays into the world of activism by Watt herself.

She has been working professionally in Scottish theatre for 10 years and her recent production How You Gonna Live Your Dash was on tour in Scotland earlier this year. In 2012 she won a Scotsman Fringe First for Flâneurs, which went on to tour the UK.

The new solo show features an immersive sound design by Kim Moore and is being staged in the Red Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, from August 3 to 28 (not 4 or 15).