The Traverse Theatre is introducing theatre tickets for £1 in a bid to make theatre accessible to all in 2020.
The new initiative, piloted in 2019, will be available to Under 25s and those receiving Job Seeker's Allowance, Employment Support Allowance, Universal Credit or Carer’s Allowance.
Tickets are available for all Traverse Theatre Company productions and co-productions (and most visiting company shows, too), across the entire run of a show.
Yesterday’s announcement came as the Traverse revealed its full January-April 2020 season of shows, which follows:
Mouthpiece (6-15 Feb)
Traverse Theatre Company’s hit about class, culture and appropriation, by Kieran Hurley. It sold out at Traverse Festival 2019, and won the prestigious Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award facilitating a New York transfer. It then goes on to tour to Tron Theatre, Glasgow (26-29 Feb); Adelaide Festival, Australia (6-14 Mar); and Auckland Arts Festival, New Zealand (19-28 Mar).
A Play, A Pie and A Pint
Òran Mór's season returns with an extended run of eight shows, taking in Infernal Serpent (31 Mar-4 Apr) by David Gerow; Celestial Body (7-11 Apr) by Morna Pearson; Rose (14-18 Apr) by Lorna Martin; The Storm (21-25 Apr) by Owen Whitelaw; Exquisite Corpse (28 Apr-2 May) by Conor O’Loughlin; Mary and Ada Set the World to Rights (5-9 May) by Jane Livingstone; Silver Superheroes (11-16 May) by Morna Young; and Milkshake (18-23 May) by Rob Drummond. Ticket price includes a pie and a drink.
Donny’s Brain (14 Apr-2 May).
The Traverse Theatre Company world premiere of delves into the eternal mystery of the human brain. It follows Donny and Emma on a funny and moving journey as all they know about love and loss is thrown into question.
Visiting Company productions
January
Producers’ Heroine (30 Jan-1 Feb) by Mary Jane Wells and Scottish Theatre
Written and performed by Wells, it tells the true story of US soldier and survivor of military sexual trauma, Danna Davis, with grit, lyricism and necessary black humour. Both performances will be followed by a post-show discussion with a curated panel of military, legal and survivor advocate experts.
February
Stephen Bailey’s Can’t Be Bothered (1 Feb)
The comedian and renowned gossip takes in a bit of storytelling, some inappropriate anecdotes and more sincerity than he’s ever dared before.
Tandem Writing Collective (7 Feb)
playwrights Jennifer Adam, Amy Hawes and Mhairi Quinn offer a taster of five topical new scripts and live music, performed script-in-hand by local actors, and featuring talented new directors.
Trojan Horse (11 & 12 Feb) by LUNG (in association with Leeds Playhouse)
A bold documentary theatre piece, written by Helen Monks and Matt Woodhead (who also directs) – tackling a local story that hit the national press, of Muslim teachers and governors who were accused of plotting extremism in Birmingham schools, adapted from the real-life testimonies.
Pride Plays (14 & 15 Feb) by Shift Theatre Company
Scotland’s first ever LGBTQI+ playwright festival – giving the stage to the voices of a community who still feel underrepresented in Scottish theatre. Part of LGBT History Month Scotland. Both performances will be followed by a post-show discussion.
Antigone, Interrupted (20-22 Feb) by Joan Clevillé
An intimate solo work marking Clevillé’s first creation as Artistic Director of Scottish Dance Theatre. Together with performer Solène Weinachter, it re-imagines the classic story for a contemporary world through the body and voice of a single performer.
Home is Not the Place (21 & 22 Feb)
Contrasts the remarkable story of the short life and lost work of her grandfather, Kerala poet PM John shortly before India’s independence, with her own, as an immigrant in the UK. Featuring music by Niroshini Thambar and visuals by Lorna Simpson and Jacqueline Matisse.
Nan Shepherd: Howling at the Machine (26 & 27 Feb), written and directed by Erlend Clouston
The Dynamite Club (in association with The Secret Actors Company) give an animated lecture on Nan Shepherd, the author of The Living Mountain. It features Fats Waller, Jefferson Airplane, Sigmund Freud, Mount Everest, and more, plus the voices of Björk, Tilda Swinton, Karine Polwart and Gerda Stevenson.
The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff (27-29 Feb)
Northern Stage, in co-production with The Young’uns and Harbourfront Centre Toronto, present a musical celebration of northern working class activism, as Teesside folk trio The Young’uns perform a theatrical version of The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff. Featuring new material and animation
W*ank Buddies (29 Feb), in association with Live Theatre
Written and performed by Jake Jarratt and Cameron Sharp, this Scottish premiere touches on themes of identity, class, sexuality and masculinity to ask, what are boys really made of?
March
We Are In Time (3 & 4 Mar), written by Pamela Carter
By Scottish Ensemble and Untitled Projects’ (in association with Perth Theatre, Horsecross). It tells the story of a transplanted heart, through song, words and a new live score for strings and electronics by Icelandic composer Valgeir Sigurðsson.
Within Sight (5 & 6 Mar)
In The Works present poet Ellen Renton’s new spoken word theatre show – a one-woman performance on disability, running and the Paralympics, confronting ableism within our society.
The Secret Garden (6 Mar)
Family theatre company Red Bridge Arts present a contemporary retelling of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s literary favourite, adapted and directed by Rosalind Sydney for everyone aged six-plus.
Team Viking (11 Mar)
A Hundred Different Words for Love (12 Mar)
Revelations (13 Mar)
To be enjoyed individually, or as a trilogy on 14 March, Tangram Theatre Company stage a takeover of the Songs of Friendship works by James Rowland. Written and performed by Rowland. They combine story, comedy, music and song in a revelatory storytelling cycle about love, life, friendship and death.
HOTTER (12 & 13 Mar)
HOTTER Project and Ellie Keel Productions
Ex-girlfriends Mary Higgins and Ell Potter asked women and trans people aged 11 to 97 what makes them sweat, flush and gush. They made a sweaty verbatim dance party out of the answers.
MAIM (17 & 18 Mar)
A world premiere, presented by Theatre Gu Leòr with WHYTE (in association with Tron Theatre). Translated as ‘Panic’ in Gàidhlig, it is a call to arms, giving voice to the frustrations of the next generation who care deeply about the connection between their land and language.
The Department of Distractions (19 & 20 Mar)
Scottish premiere of Third Angel’s co-production with Northern Stage (in association with Sheffield Theatres). Written by Third Angel Co-Artistic Director Alexander Kelly with Stacey Sampson and the Company, it promises a conspiracy-theory documentary-exposé detective story for the 21st century.
seeds (20 & 21 Mar)
An exploration of the human story of a fatal stabbing, told through the eyes of those left behind. Shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award. By tiata fahodzi, and Wrested Veil in association with Leeds Playhouse, Soho Theatre and Tara Finney Productions present
NT Connections (24-28 Mar)
A yearly celebration of young people, theatre-making and the importance of access to the arts, for which the National Theatre commission ten new plays for young people to perform.
April
The Metamorphosis (1-4 Apr)
Franz Kafka’s influential, tragicomic novella is brought to life in an international co-production between Vanishing Point, Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione and Tron Theatre. Adapted and directed by Matthew Lenton, it’s the story of an ordinary man who wakes up to find he has been transformed into a giant insect.
Pass Out 2020 (22 Apr)
Edinburgh College’s Performing Arts Studio Scotland, the leading provider of performing arts education in Scotland, return to the Traverse with their end of year showcase this time creating new pieces on the theme of ‘dirt’.
Soundhouse (13 Jan-26 Apr).
Regular calendar of weekly Monday (and occasional Sunday, and even one Friday) gigs in the Traverse Bar Café.
Tickets available from Traverse Theatre