National Theatre of Scotland join the 2019 programme with work by Jackie Kay

Today we are delighted to announce that the National Theatre of Scotland returns to the International Festival in 2019 with the world premiere of Red Dust Road, an adaptation of poet Jackie Kay’s memoir.

Poet, writer and Scotland’s Makar Jackie Kay’s memoir Red Dust Road is brought to the stage for the first time by the National Theatre of Scotland and Manchester’s HOME. Published in 2010, the book won the Scottish Book of the Year Award in 2011, having been unanimously selected by the award’s judging panel. It navigates the challenges of growing up as a mixed race adopted Scot and recalls Kay’s experiences from her childhood in Glasgow to finding her birth parents over forty years later.

The stage production is created by playwright Tanika Gupta, the winner of the 2018 James Tait Black Prize for Drama, and director Dawn Walton, the founder and Artistic Director of Eclipse Theatre, one of the UK’s foremost black-led theatre companies.

Jackie Kay has won numerous awards for her novels and story collections, as well as writing extensively for television and the stage. She was awarded an MBE in 2006 and named Scots Makar in March 2016. In 2017, she collaborated with singers Ghetto Priest, Brian Bannatyne-Scott, David James and the Scottish Ensemble to create Had We Never, a special concert series exploring Robert Burns, slavery and Scotland, presented as part of the International Festival in the Great Hall of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

The National Theatre of Scotland returns to the International Festival following a successful run of David Greig and Gordon McIntyre’s Midsummer in 2018, as well as previous productions including Realism, The Bacchae, 365, Caledonia, The James Plays, Dragon, Paul Bright's Confessions of a Justified Sinner and Anything that Gives Off Light.

More information including performance times and booking details will be announced at the International Festival programme launch on Wednesday 27 March 2019.

Dates for your diary

Wednesday 27 March: Programme announcement, followed by priority booking for Ambassador Plus level
Thursday 28 March: Priority booking for Ambassador level
Friday 29 March: Priority booking for Patron and Patron Plus level
Saturday 30 March: Priority booking for Friend and Friend Plus level
Saturday 6 April: Bookings open for everyone

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