Kieran Hurley's The Young Team leads the National Theatre of Scotland's 2027 programme, alongside a new thriller from Adura Onashile, a reworked The Trick Is to Keep Breathing and a return tour for Johnny McKnight's She's Behind You.
The Young Team, the stage version of Graeme Armstrong's novel, is one of two world premieres in the National Theatre of Scotland's programme for 2027, published this morning. The company has no building of its own, and the year's work is spread accordingly: across Scottish stages and streets, into schools and hospitals, onto screens, and as far as Hammersmith.
The programme also contains a reimagining of Janice Galloway's The Trick Is to Keep Breathing, a new thriller from Adura Onashile, a further tour of Johnny McKnight's panto show She's Behind You and a mass public art project with life-sized puppets on the streets of Edinburgh.
The Young Team
Kieran Hurley has adapted Armstrong's novel, and Rachel O'Riordan directs. It opens at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and then tours to the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow and the Lyric Hammersmith in London, which co-produces with the National Theatre of Scotland. The Hammersmith run was announced as part of the Lyric Hammersmith's 2027 season, with dates of 31 August - 25 September 2027.
The Trick Is to Keep Breathing
Michael Boyd's adaptation of Galloway's novel returns in a reimagined version directed by Caroline Hall, revisiting a book, play and production that were celebrated in the 1990s. This National Theatre of Scotland production tours to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Pitlochry in May and June 2027; its Glasgow dates, 19-29 May at the Citizens Theatre, are part of the Citizens Theatre's spring 2027 season. In a related project, The Next Stage, pupils from Kinross High School will make their own short pieces on the production's set and present them to an invited audience at Pitlochry Festival Theatre in June 2027.
When Our Time Comes
Onashile, a Scotland-based artist, writes and directs this new thriller for the stage, which deals with cycles of violence and the legacy of colonialism. It is made in collaboration with Nhlanhla Mahlangu, whose credits include Dark Noon. Previews are at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow in July 2027, ahead of a world premiere in Edinburgh in August.
She's Behind You
McKnight, one of the best-known names in Scottish pantomime, writes and performs the piece, and John Tiffany directs. The Traverse Theatre production, presented by the National Theatre of Scotland, returns by popular demand for a tour of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland in September and October 2027.
The Herds
Life-sized puppet animals will move through Edinburgh in June 2027 in a free public art project produced by the National Theatre of Scotland and Walk Productions, with ways for members of the public and schools to take part. It is supported by the City of Edinburgh Council's visitor levy.
True Story
Two stories picked from a nationwide call-out, and championed by the project's ambassador Lorraine Kelly, will be developed for public presentation in the autumn of 2027. The Story of Hamey and Dan follows a daughter caring for her father, who has a rare form of dementia, and the highland cow doorstop that helps them through. The Story of Force K6 recalls a military force of 180 from India, from the region that is now Pakistan, which was sent to the Scottish Highlands in 1942 after serving at Dunkirk, to prepare for operations in Norway.
Elsewhere in the programme
Shona Reppe and Alan Grieve take Trolleydarity – A Scratch and Sniff Staycation for the Discerning Static Traveller into a hospice and hospitals between January and March 2027. Theatre in Schools Scotland, now ten years old, continues its free touring programme for primary schools from November to June 2027 with Imaginate; its titles include Pop! by Vince Virr Dance Company, Two in a Barrel by Ruxy Cantir and Sarah Rose Graber, and Brrr by Hayley Earlam.
The company's work with South Asian artists and audiences includes Romeo and Juliet 1947, a rehearsed reading of the play by Joeravar Sangha and Taqi Nazeer presented with the Glasgow Mela, and Kal Sabir's short film Kinaara (Edge), about dementia in South Asian communities. Niall Moorjani's Sellout, developed through last year's South Asian Playwrights' Programme, premieres at A Play, A Pie and A Pint. On screen, Future Acts, six digital shorts made with BBC Scotland, arrives on iPlayer in January 2027.
The actor and director Sally Reid has joined the company as Associate Director. The National Theatre of Scotland also says it is in talks with partners about bringing back one or more of its existing productions in 2027, with details to follow.
Artistic Director Jackie Wylie said: "Our season this year asks important questions about power, who wields it and how it can be reclaimed. It honours artistic legends, brilliant works of literature and brings back beloved projects."
The full announcement is on the National Theatre of Scotland website.
The Young Team runs at the Lyric Hammersmith from 31 August to 25 September 2027.
