TheatreUncut5

Theatre Uncut: Edinburgh artists unite for night of cutting edge political theatre

What happens to political views in times of economic austerity? On Friday 15th October six Edinburgh theatre groups perform a series of short plays exploring that idea and other contemporary issues including Scottish independence. The performance is part of the growing ‘Theatre Uncut’ organization, which began as a response to continuing cuts in Arts spending.

The performances will take place at Summerhall in the Main Hall at 7.30pm, Friday 15th November. Tickets cost £5 and any profit will go to Amnesty International.

The line-up for this year’s event boasts performances from groups as diverse as community activists Active Enquiry, inclusive theatre company edgeeradica, Scottish New Writing group Urban Fox Theatre and student-run Bedlam. Everyone involved has put their services forward for free, including the playwrights which include Kieran Hurley, Davey Anderson and Tim Price among others.

Theatre Uncut was created to get people thinking, talking and taking action on the events that are happening in the world around them. The idea is simple. Playwrights from a selection of countries are asked to write brand new short plays in response to their current political situation. These scripts are then made available for anyone to perform anywhere for a limited period. Theatre Uncut is run by artistic directors Emma Callander and Hannah Price.

So far Theatre Uncut plays have been performed by more than 3,000 people in 17 countries across four continents. Performances have taken place in theatres in New York, community centres in Scotland, on public buses in Mexico, and village church halls in Wales.

Inspired by a performance of David Greig’s contribution to Theatre Uncut 2012, Edinburgh residents Carol Hayes and Damhán McLaughlin decided to put on a performance themselves. With zero budget for their first show, the pair found that people were so inspired by Theatre Uncut that they gathered enough interest for a whole evening of theatre.

‘It was amazing,’ says McLaughlin, an English teacher at James Gillespie’s High School. ‘Initially we thought we might be able to stage something in our front room to a few friends, but so many people came forward that we realised we had to do something bigger. I think people feel that these ideas need to be heard.’

Hayes, founder of Edinburgh cultural events website CulturePie, added ‘It’s not something we could have done without social media. Twitter and Facebook allow everybody to have a voice, to get involved, and I think that’s what Theatre Uncut is all about.’

Box Office https://www.summerhall.co.uk/2013/edinburgh-unites-theatre-uncut/

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.