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7 August 2020
Stuck shearing sheep on an isolated island, surrounded by the ocean with nothing to enjoy but the bad weather and the company of his childhood friend, a man laments his situation in messages back to his wife on the mainland. But soon unpleasant secrets begin to come to the surface, and their friendship might not last the storm. Daibhidh Walker features in a haunting Gaelic-language short from writer Iain Macrae, directed by Liz Carruthers.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and Theatre Gu Leòr, with support from Hopscotch Films.
5 August 2020
Freed from life under her controlling husband Jim, lonely mother Betty is finally free to reach out to Stephen, her estranged son now living as a young artist in London. There’s so much to catch up on, and it’s high time they started planning for their futures. Janey Godley teams up with Jack Lowden and director Caitlin Skinner for a heart-warming and uplifting follow-up to her original Scenes for Survival short Alone.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project, with support from Hopscotch Films.
3 August 2020
In the late afternoon light, a father sends video messages as he struggles to find his way through the woods on the way to pick up his daughter. But remember, she’s not to tell her other dad he’s coming…. it’s to be their little secret.
Equal parts hilarious and sinister, Alan Cumming stars in the first of a bewitching new three-part short from writer Johnny McKnight, directed by Andrew Panton.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and Dundee Rep, with support from Hopscotch Films.
31 July 2020
Lockdown has been a lonely business, but luckily Becky from Radio Skotia is on the air to keep us company every step of the way. She’s always there to raise our spirits with a shout-out or share the perfect tune to cheer us up. But perhaps it’s time someone asked her how she’s doing? Elaine C. Smith stars as an upbeat radio DJ with a big heart in this new short from writer Val McDermid, directed by Maggie Kinloch.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotlandand BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project, with support from Hopscotch Films.
29 July 2020
When times are tough and you’re needing cheering up, there’s no beating a big bowl of warm, lentil soup. It’s a wee taste of home that’ll see ye through yer grief, even if ye cannae quite get the recipe right, the same as the way they used to make it… Annie Louise Ross features in this heart-warming short from writer Stewart Ennis, directed by Nic Green & Peter McMaster.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and The Gaiety with support from Hopscotch Films.
27 July 2020
What do you remember most about growing up? Chances are it might be the summers, with so much time to play they felt like they might go on forever. And it looks like this one might be the longest yet… Written by Noisemaker (Scott Gilmour & Claire McKenzie) and directed by Jemima Levick, The Longest Summer sees Richard Rankin star in a lyrical, life-affirming musical journey through childhood and hardship, celebrating the beautiful things that the world has to offer.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland and BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project, with support from Hopscotch Films.
24 July 2020
Lockdown is hitting hard, and Scotland’s National Theatre is desperate for submissions for its inspiring new project. Could the stage be set for the Kirktoon Players, the country’s “leading” amateur dramatics group, to step into the spotlight? Time to get their heads together and show these uppity professionals how it’s done.
Richard Conlon and Gail Watson co-write and star alongside Natalie MacDonald in a lively follow-up to the smash hit satire My Left Right Foot: The Musical from writer/director Robert Softley Gale.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and Birds of Paradise Theatre Company, with support from Hopscotch Films.
22 July 2020
After the end of the world, who expected wee Davey fae Tynecastle to be the last man standing? He certainly didn’t. But now he’s got the run of the place, and naebody to kick about with. The space is nice, but he’s starting to miss the wee pleasures of normal life. And the loneliness might be getting to him.
Greg McHugh writes, directs, and features in this darkly-comic and timely post-apocalyptic short.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project, with support from Hopscotch Films.
20 July 2020
When you live in the city every park is a haven, especially if you’ve got wee kids to keep busy. But when everything locks down, and suddenly everyone has to keep their distance, how do you explain that they can’t play like they used to anymore?
Martin McCormick features in a heart-warming short from writer Andy McGregor, directed by Ben Harrison, that celebrates the importance of appreciating the small things in life, even in the hardest moments.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project, with support from Hopscotch Films.
17 July 2020
A young man recalls escaping the horrors of civil war in Congo as a child, to seek asylum in Glasgow with his mother. He finds surprising parallels between the barbarity and exploitation at the heart of that conflict and the shocking revelations of murder and profiteering painted away beneath the surface of his new homeland’s history.
Thierry Mabonga stars in this extract from First Snow / Première Neige by Philippe Ducros, Linda McLean and Davey Anderson, and directed by Niloo-Far Khan.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project with support from Hopscotch Films.
15 July 2020
During lockdown, a kind-hearted postie achieves local celebrity status and a new nickname, entertaining locals on her round with a selection of colourful costumes. But her newfound fame is a double-edged sword and she must wrestle with her conscience to decide if the community’s smiles and selfies outweigh the sneers and sniping of snidey colleagues.
Natalie Moore Williams stars in this cheering new short from writer Ian Low, directed by Fiona Mackinnon.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and The Byre Theatre, with support from Hopscotch Films.
13 July 2020
Sick of being scorned, young Aleister Crowley wants the world to know his name, even if he must summon the forces of Hell to do so. From his remote Highland mansion he begins to cast a mighty spell… Unfortunately, black magic takes a while, and things aren’t going as well as he’d hoped: he’s bored, lonely, and nothing really seems to be happening. Maybe it’s all just a big waste of time?
Gordon Houston features in a wickedly funny new short from writer Denise Mina, directed by Amy Liptrott.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and Pitlochry Festival Theatre, with support from Hopscotch Films.
10 July 2020
Ash and Charlie are two regular, same-sex flatmates. Stuck indoors during lockdown, they eat together, laugh together, and watch shows together. But one night over dinner, stuck in a routine that they’re both a little too comfortable with, something happens that might just turn their friendship on its head.
Martin Donaghy and Oliver Bennett feature in a witty new short from playwright Meghan Tyler, directed by Leonie Rae Gasson.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project with support from Hopscotch Films.
8 July 2020
A rookie fast food bike courier races the clock as he navigates the streets of post-Covid Glasgow. Pondering his new status as a Key Worker – and dreaming of something even bigger – he plots his way across a daunting new landscape, featuring abusive customers, oblivious pedestrians and a ‘creepy wee manager who lives in his pocket.
Jatinder Singh Randhawa stars in this cutting new piece, written by Kevin P. Gilday and directed by Graham Eatough.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project with support from Hopscotch Films.
6 July 2020
Isolating in their separate homes during lockdown and coming to terms with a recent bereavement, a mother and daughter reflect on happier times while contemplating an uncertain future for their family. The online video call to plan the playlist for a virtual disco becomes a cathartic exploration of grief, defiance and hope, and a celebration of the healing power of music.
Julie Graham and Saskia Ashdown star in this lyrical and inspiring new piece from writer Hannah Lavery, directed by Julie Ellen.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and Macrobert Arts Centre, with support from Hopscotch Films.
1 July 2020
Making their way across a busy Meadows at the height of the Edinburgh Festival, Renton and Sick Boy upset Spud when they start tormenting a squirrel. Their ever-sensitive pal points out that vermin status is very much in the eye of the beholder, as two passing posh wifies make abundantly clear.
Actor Brian Duffy performs this extract from Irvine Welsh’s seminal Scottish novel Trainspotting in British Sign Language, recorded in Seoul, South Korea, directed by Davey Anderson.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project, Solar Bear, with support from Hopscotch Films.
29 June 2020
Following a disastrous natural event, the residents of an isolated island community in the middle of the Atlantic are left picking up the pieces and lamenting a way of life that has been lost.
A newly staged extract from Zinnie Harris’s first full-length play Further Than the Furthest Thing, performed by Kathryn Howden and Gilly Gilchrist and directed by Zinnie Harris. First staged at the Traverse Theatre in 2000, the play was most recently seen by audiences at Dundee Rep in 2012.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, with support from Hopscotch Films.
25 June 2020
When a loyal employee is betrayed by the company she’s given twenty years of her life to, it’s the latest in a lifetime of injustices. Struggling to contain her anger, long-suppressed impulses boil to the surface as she plots a suitable revenge.
Tracy Wiles features in an incendiary new short piece written by Apphia Campbell and directed by Natalie Ibu.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and the Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland, with support from Hopscotch Films.
24 June 2020
Gazing from a window upon the polished propriety of genteel Victorian Edinburgh society, a young woman takes delight in imagining the pent-up carnal desire bubbling beneath the surface of the city’s straitlaced exterior.
Molly Vevers stars in this playful musing on locked down lust in ‘the most erotic city in the world.’Directed by Stasi Schaeffer and produced in association with the Royal Lyceum Theatre “Dreaming of Edinburgh is an extract from Peter Arnott’s play “The Breathing House”.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, with support from Hopscotch Films.
22 June 2020
Bedevilled by writer’s block, an unsupportive partner and a bad case of the heebie jeebies thanks to the neighbour from hell, Julie Wilson Nimmo stars as a would-be children’s author seeking inspiration from an unlikely source. Written and directed by Greg Hemphill, this creepy new comedy short is a pure scream.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project with support from Hopscotch Films.
19 June 2020
A global lockdown might feel like the perfect time to write a piece of reflective drama, but for one bickering couple the creative process leads to nothing but disagreement. Directed by Finn den Hertog, Douglas Henshall & Morven Christie feature in this inventive new short from writer Tena Štivičić, a witty and hilarious take on relationship frustrations and lockdown creativity.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project, and Shetland Arts, with support from Hopscotch Films.
18 June 2020
Following a breach of the nation’s lockdown rules, one of the government’s most senior scientific advisers is forced to practice for his grovelling public apology in a fictitious new short sharp drama. As he struggles to justify his actions, he slowly comes to terms with what he has done, and the horrifying scale of his mistake becomes clear.
Featuring Mark Bonnar, written by Rob Drummond, and directed by Jack Nurse.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project with support from Hopscotch Films.
17 June 2020
Nuala hasn’t got a lot on now Marie is gone. Never one to dwell, instead she’s taken to watching her neighbours across the road do that thing they insist on doing at their window. And as the days and weeks roll on, she becomes sure that joy is on its way for everyone.
Maureen Beattie features in this heart-breaking new short from writer Michael John O’Neill, directed by Dominic Hill.
Produced in association with Citizens Theatre.
11 June 2020
Patrick Martins & Emma King perform an extract from the new play by May Sumbwanyambe, directed by Justin Audibert.
Based on a remarkable true story, Enough of Him explores the life of Joseph Knight, an African man brought to Scotland as a slave by plantation owner John Wedderburn to serve in his Perthshire mansion.
Produced in association with Pitlochry Festival Theatre, where Enough of Him had been due to premiere in October 2020.
Release date: 10 June 2020 | 9pm
Lorraine McIntosh performs in a new short from writer and director David Greig, an elegant, lyrical celebration of the first moments of young love. Sitting at home, a woman reminisces about the party where she met her soulmate, from the heart-racing bliss of a first conversation to fearing that a perfect moment has been spoiled by saying just the wrong thing.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, with support from Hopscotch Films.
Release date: 12 June 2020 | 9pm
James McArdle and Dani Heron appear in this frantic and twisting new short drama from writer Rona Munro. Directed by Jordan Blackwood.
Trapped in fear of his life and desperate to escape the criminal connections of his girlfriend’s family, Scott reaches out to Laura, childhood sweetheart and former fiancé, for help. But old wounds begin to reopen as they both weigh up their options.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project, with support from Hopscotch Films.
8 June 2020
A newly-performed extract from stage play Venus as a Boy, adapted from the novel by Luke Sutherland and featuring Tam Dean Burn. Co-directed by Tam Dean Burn and Christine Devaney.
Cupid may have lived with the divine gift of ecstatic love, but it is also what’s killing him; turning his body into solid gold as he breathes his last and tries to make peace with the world from a lonely, stifling bed. Venus as a Boy was first adapted for the stage by Burn from the book by Sutherland in 2007, premiering at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before a UK tour.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and Curious Seed, with support from Hopscotch Films.
5 June 2020
Expecting a national lockdown to be the perfect time to attempt suicide, a young woman is instead rescued by her boyfriend and wakes on a crowded hospital ward. There she finds much-needed comfort from an unexpected and welcome source of humanity.
Kristi MacDonald stars in a new short piece from writer Uma Nada Rajah, who is herself working as a staff nurse for NHS Scotland during the current crisis. Directed by Beth Morton.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and Beacon Arts Centre, with support from Hopscotch Films.
3 June 2020
Peter Mullan stars in a surreal and hilarious new short from writer Douglas Maxwell.
After switching the food in his back-garden bird feeder, an idyllic lockdown experience is threatened after the birds make it clear they’re none too happy with the change. A showdown ensues, and as the fight escalates beyond his control the lines between man and beast begin to blur.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project, with support from Hopscotch Films.
Warning: contains strong language
1 June 2020
A newly conceived extract from the play written and directed by Gerda Stevenson and performed by Amy Conachan.
In this eerie Scots-language fable (based on an Inuit tale), a disabled teenager, swept away by climate-change catastrophe, finds herself transformed into a skeleton on the sea floor.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project, with support from Hopscotch Films.
27 May 2020
An extract from the play Fibres by Frances Poet, performed by original stars and directed by Louise Shephard.
Centred on the generations of men knowingly exposed to deadly asbestos over years working in the Glasgow shipyards, and the tragic impact left on them and their loved ones, Fibres is a bittersweet comedy infused with Glaswegian resilience and wit.
First produced in October 2019 in a co-production between the Citizens Theatre and Stellar Quines, the play toured Scotland to critical and audience acclaim. Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and the Citizens Theatre and Stellar Quines, with support from Hopscotch Films.
27 May 2020
An exclusive new Rebus short from Ian Rankin, starring Brian Cox as the irascible detective inspector and directed by Cora Bissett.
Weeks into lockdown and imprisoned at home, his only distant link to the outside world coming through infrequent visits from his long-standing colleague Siobhan, an ageing Inspector Rebus reflects on his bizarre solitary confinement.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project with support from Hopscotch Films.
27 May 2020
Written and performed by Janey Godley, directed by Caitlin Skinner.
Trapped at home with no company save for an adorable dog and a stubborn husband who just won’t be told what to do, a middle-aged woman offers a sobering and darkly funny glimpse into her lockdown experience.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project, with support from Hopscotch Films.
27 May 2020
A new short piece from novelist Jenni Fagan performed by Kate Dickie and directed by Debbie Hannan.
Trapped in self-imposed solitude in her bedroom and cut-off from those she loves the most, a lonely woman struggles to come through the hellish, isolating odyssey of her illness.
Isolation reunites Jenni Fagan with Debbie Hannan, who directed the 2019 stage adaptation of her stunning debut novel The Panopticon.
Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with BBC Scotland, Screen Scotland, BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project and Summerhall, with support from Hopscotch Films.
27 May 2020
Written by Stef Smith, starring Moyo Akandé and directed by Katherine Nesbitt.
During her solitude, a young woman offers a tender poetic lament to an absent loved one, and takes comfort in imagining a time when they can finally be together again.
Produced in association with the Traverse Theatre.
27 May 2020
A new short piece from writer Morna Pearson, performed by Ashleigh More and directed by Cameron Mowat.
When the lockdown comes into force a teenage girl in Northeast Scotland finds herself torn between which of her separated parents she wants to isolate with. She seeks solace in the nearby woods, a place where she can escape from the worries of her day-to-day life.
Produced in association with Aberdeen Performing Arts.
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