What makes new writing in Scotland unique?
On Monday 11 August, join a discussion chaired by Fergus Morgan (The Stage’s Scotland correspondent and freelance theatre critic), Gareth Nicholls (Traverse Artistic Director), Michael John O’Neill (2025 IASH / Traverse Creative Fellow), Isla Cowan (2024 IASH / Traverse Creative Fellow) and Apphia Campbell (2021 IASH / Traverse Creative Fellow), to discuss the future of Scottish theatre, contemporary theatre narratives and what writers want to address.
This event will also feature an excerpt reading of Michael John O’Neill’s new work in development, Headland, which is a result of the IASH / Traverse Fellowship for 2025.
Headland is set on the north coast of Ireland in 1902, where the sea is both lifeline and threat. Peter, a young fisherman burdened by grief and duty, finds himself tethered to a boy he can’t quite love and can’t fully leave behind. As the fishing trade faces collapse and family bonds strain, Peter is drawn toward a future with Lizzy, while the boy, isolated and desperate for meaning, falls under the influence of a charismatic outsider whose seductive creed of strength and purity offers belonging at a terrible cost. Blending poetic realism with mythic undercurrents, Headland is a haunting exploration of masculinity, grief, and the quiet rise of extremism in a rural community on the brink. This extract is shared from a first draft developed during the first months of Michael’s 2025 IASH/Traverse Creative Fellowship.
The event takes place at the Traverse Theatre on Monday 11 August from 4pm-5:30pm.
Tickets available here: https://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/event/scottish-writers-community-panel-discussion-festival-25