The Festival and King’s Theatres have announced that its new theatre company for emerging artists, The Attic Collective, will be staging the World Premiere of Jo Clifford’s War in America at the former Royal High School on Regent Road.
This is the first time that the building has been used for theatre performance since it closed its doors as a school in 1968. Refurbished to accommodate a central debating chamber in the late 1970s, the building was mooted in the early 2000s as a potential home for the new Scottish Parliament. The City of Edinburgh Council have allowed access for the debating chamber to be used for one week only to stage War in America, providing audiences a rare opportunity to gain access to this historic venue and witness a landmark event in Scottish theatre.
Written in 1996 by acclaimed Scottish playwright Jo Clifford, War in America is a hard-hitting portrait of a degenerate European democracy set against the backdrop of a religious war in America and containing very strong language and strong sexual violence. It will open at the former Royal High School on Wednesday 24 May with performances up to and including Saturday 27 May 2017.
Clifford said, “I am so pleased that The Attic Collective are staging my War in America and delighted that they have secured the former Royal High School for its World Premiere.”
The Attic Collective launched in 2016 to provide unrivalled industry access and performance opportunities to a group of emerging actors aged 18-26. The company, working with director Susan Worsfold and Creative Producer Catrin Sheridan, will present three productions over the year - a classical, a contemporary and a musical performance. It will present its first production an adaptation of the classic Greek comedy Lysistrata at the King’s Theatre
from 27 to 28 January 2017 with the inaugural year’s productions concluding with a revival of Bertolt Brecht’s Threepenny Opera in September 2017.
Full details at www.edtheatres.com/warinamerica