Festival City Theatres Trust Launches Young People’s Theatre Company

The Festival City Theatres Trust, which runs the Festival and King’s Theatres in Edinburgh, is delighted to announce the launch of The Attic Collective, a new theatre company for young people.

The Attic Collective will run as a repertory theatre company producing a contemporary, a classical and a musical performance each year on the main stages of the Festival and King’s Theatres. It will be a unique free talent development initiative offering professional training, industry access and performance opportunities. Following two rounds of auditions, The Attic Collective will be offering a year’s free training to 20 talented members aged 16-25. The first of these will take place at the King’s Theatre on 15-17 September. During the course of the summer, the theatres will provide free audition technique workshops to help prepare those interested in getting involved.

The new company’s director will be Royal Conservatoire of Scotland trained Susan Worsfold who already works closely with Jo Clifford, one of Scotland's leading playwrights, whose play War in America will premiere as the new company’s first production. War in America is a hard-hitting portrait of a degenerate European democracy, rife with corruption, hypocrisy, division and distrust, set against the backdrop of a religious war in America. Performances will be at the King’s Theatre on 27 & 28 January 2017.

Recent drama graduate, Festival and King’s Theatres employee and student ambassador, Connor Davies says, “The Attic Collective will be a fantastic opportunity for any acting graduate. I've just graduated and I'm finding it very difficult to get a job because there isn't a lot of professional work on my CV but with The Attic Collective I would be taking part in professional work and be working with some of the industry’s best. I think it is a brilliant concept and essential for any young actor serious about getting into the theatre industry.”

For more information about getting involved in The Attic Collective, please contact Producer and Learning & Participation Officer, Catrin Sheridan, [email protected]