At the Georgian House – an Enlightenment drama to brighten the winter evenings
Ben Harrison is an award winning director and playwright who has created a play especially for the Georgian House on Charlotte Square.
The play will open on 14 November and will run until 5 January 2019.
This will be an immersive production using the whole house as a stage upon which the Enlightenment will be unfolded before you.
Ben Harrison said :“The Scottish Enlightenment was a truly extraordinary flowering of ideas and intellect with Voltaire proclaiming that “today it is from Scotland that we get rules of taste in all the arts”. This richness of thought, complemented by the elegance of style and place, will provide the foundation for Enlightenment House, but our approach is to be accessible and at times light-hearted, with audiences interacting with some of the great figures of the period.
“So, for example, we sit with Hume and Smith as they dine, listen to Susan Ferrier’s sharp views on marriage and female consciousness, witness a dance lesson in the drawing room, and partake of some hot chocolate – the newly fashionable drink of choice – in the kitchen.
“There are noble and substantial ideals being brought forward in this period and part of the focus of the play will be to set these alongside the complexities of our own time.”
[tweet_box design=”default”]Enlightenment House – A Play in Five Rooms will be ‘immersive’ and will run at The Georgian House from 14 November until 5 January, with five shows a day.[/tweet_box]
The setting – the Robert Adam-designed Georgian House – is the perfect backdrop for the production, with its beautifully proportioned rooms and its fine late 18th/early 19th-century furniture, porcelain, silver and glass – a true statement of luxury in this era of enlightenment. We understand that there are plans afoot to create a café in this building which would perhaps bring it back to life for us locals.
National Trust for Scotland General Manager Stuart Maxwell said: “This is a really exciting experiment for the National Trust for Scotland. By using the Georgian House in this way, we are trying out a totally new experience for our visitors – one which we think is unique in Scotland. Set in the heart of Edinburgh’s city centre, we hope that this creative venture, with top theatrical talent, will attract new audiences to the Georgian House and supporters for our charity’s work to protect our heritage which we do for the love of Scotland.”