Capital Theatres and Pitlochry Festival Theatre have announced the finalists from the first round of applications to their new Musical Commissioning Hub.
The first production to be chosen is Niloo-Far Khan’s The Light Travels, a time-travelling musical that takes place in present day Edinburgh and a suffragette march in 1909. It will investigate the Empire’s role in the women’s suffrage movement and why women of colour have been written out of our history.
Next is Nessie, a tale that uses the myth of the Loch Ness Monster to explore the effects that climate change has on wildlife. The musical is created by Shonagh Murray, the co-founder of female-led theatre company Fearless Players.
The final production is Rebel. Created by Tommy Antonio, the production will tell the story of Anne Mackintosh, the forgotten hero behind the 1745 Jacobite rising.
Submissions for the Musical Commissioning Hub, which aims to develop Scotland’s talent and cultural output, opened last November.
The entries were chosen by a panel of experts, which included singer and actress Barbara Dickson, composer and musical creator Howard Goodall, and lead singer of Deacon Blue Ricky Ross.
Elizabeth Newman, artistic director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre said: “We received incredible submissions and it was extraordinary to work with such an exceptional panel during the Musical Commissioning Hub process. The three Artists and their big ideas were all very different and equally as exciting.”
Words by Ellen Leslie
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Image Credit: “Festival Theatre” by Mario RM is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0