Æ At Previously

Nov 13 2014 | By More

Looking at Scotland’s relationship with its theatre

All Edinburgh Theatre is to take part in this year’s Previously… Scotland’s History Festival when editor Thom Dibdin is on the panel for the discussion Dramatising Scotland’s Past.

The discussion is being organised by journalist Jackie Kemp and will look at the engagement with the past that theatre can offer and what this means to Scottish audiences.

 James McArdle and Gordon Kennedy. Photo: Manuel Harlan

History? James McArdle (James I) and Gordon Kennedy (Murdac Stewart). Photo: Manuel Harlan

Dibdin said: “I have always loved the idea of Previously… It is all about history being a living, relevant thing; about people and how they affect what comes after them.

“Contemporary Scottish playwrighting is packed with scripts which are historical, but are not necessarily called that. One of my favourite, gutsy productions in recent times was Kieran Hurley’s Beats, about techno raves in the 1990s.

“That is a history play, and one which talks to us about our own times while telling us of a past one – just as much as the NTS’s fabulous James Plays trilogy or the evocative revival of the Bondagers at the Lyceum.”

Other panel members are Greg Walker who was one of the leading figures behind last year’s revival of The Satire of the Three Estates; the actress, folk singer and activist Dolina Maclennan who was a member of the original cast of The Cheviot, The Stag and the Black Oil; Simon Sharkey, who is an Associate Director at the National Theatre of Scotland; and Joyce MacMillan, the theatre critic and commentator at the Scotsman.

Describing the event as a “free-flowing discussion about the connection between Scottish history and Scottish theatre,” Jackie Kemp said that she hoped the panel would be able to answer and discuss such questions as what theatrical representations of Scotland’s past have meant to Scottish audiences.

She added that other issues to be addressed would be to look at some of the key attempts to dramatise the past and what the successes and failures have been in this. Also, whether Scotland’s relationship with its own past been different from other nations and if the National Theatre for Scotland has affected this process.

Listing

Dramatising Scotland’s Past
Adam House, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1HT
Wednesday, 19 November 2014. 7.30pm (1 hour)
Tickets are free and can be booked at: www.eventbrite.co.uk

ENDS

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