The Month in Scottish Theatre: September 2018

If you thought the Edinburgh Festival Fringe was THE main event in the Scottish theatre calendar, then you’re not entirely right, as September is hoaching with great productions, tours and screenings.

Theatre Festivals

And if you thought festivals were just for August, then may we respond with a Mrs Krabappel-style “Ha!” The Fringe may be over, but Scotland’s vibrant theatre scene is just getting started, with the Outwith Festival (5-9 Sep) in Dunfermline and the Findhorn Bay Festival (26 Sep-1 Oct) in Moray, both boasting full theatre programmes.

Highlights from the Outwith Festival include Stramashed Potatoes: A Theatrical A-Z of Dunfermline (7 Sep, 7.30pm), and Cutting Edge Theatre: Downs With Love (8 Sep, 7pm), while attendees at Findhorn can watch Martha by Catherine Wheels (30 Sep, 2pm) and Alan Bissett’s More Moira Monologues (27 Sep, 8.30pm) among many others.

New Productions

Meanwhile standalone productions are available throughout Scotland, from the Royal Lyceum’s Season Opener Twelfth Night (from 14 Sep), to The Citz's first production at its new home of the Tramway, Cyrano de Bergerac (1-22 Sep).

Elsewhere, the Traverse begins an exciting month with the premiere of Nests, which questions how we view young people during the year of the Young Person, on 7 and 8 Sep. This month also sees the start of a new season of A Play, A Pie and A Pint, which opens with Outside In by Chris Grady from 11 Sep, followed by Tap Dancing with Jean-Paul Sartre by James Runcie from 18 Sep and Donna Franceschild’s The Lottery Ticket from 25 Sep.

Theatre Screenings

If you want to go to London to see a big show, but can’t go to London to see a big show, then the Festival Theatre are hosting live screenings of two National Theatre productions early in the month. First is Julie on 6 September, a new version of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie, featuring parties and power games, written by Polly Stenham. Meanwhile, on 12 September the Royal Shakespeare Company perform the comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor and question just who really pulls the strings in Windsor?

Theatre on Tour

It’s a busy month with touring as Grid Iron begin the Scottish tour of South Bend, their hit Fringe show described as “a road trip for the stage”, written by Martin McCormick. The tour heads Paisley Arts Centre, Eden Court in Inverness, The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen and Cumbernauld Theatre, before finishing at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow on 22 September.

Meanwhile, Solar Bear are also hitting the road with The Arrival, which opens at the SYT in Glasgow on 26 September, before touring to Dundee, Inverness, Carlops and Livingston throughout October. A stage adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name by Shaun Tan, which uses puppetry, music, British Sign Language and physical storytelling to tell the tale of a man living in a mysterious new city.

Muireann Kelly and Frances Poet's Scotties, presented by Theatre Gu Leòr, supported by National Theatre of Scotland and Abbey Theatre, begins a tour at the Tron on 13 September. That tour also stops in Stirling, Inverness, Aberdeen and Edinburgh before heading to County Mayo, Ireland.

Returning to the stage this month is McLuckie’s Line, which premiered at The Citz earlier this year. Written by Martin Travers and Martin Docherty, and starring Docherty as the eponymous McLuckie, the play is a glimpse into the life of an out-of work actor and gambling addict. Taking in themes of class, illness and luck, the play opens on 1 September at Eden Court and then tours around Scotland, including dates in Castlemilk, Falkirk and Dundee, before finishing in Edinburgh on 29 September.