In a first time collaboration with Edinburgh based playwright Steve McMahon, site specific Brite Theater presents his Assembly Festival ART Award winner, Sandcastles.
McMahon’s play moves back and forth in time and memory to depict the tumultuous lifelong friendship of millennials Hannah and Beth. Beth is moving to New York. Hannah should be happy for her. When Beth goes missing Hannah can’t reconcile how she reacted with the fact that Beth might be gone. Sandcastles is an exploration of grief, millennial angst, friendship and growing up; a bold piece of storytelling that will stay with you for a long time.
The play’s Director Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir, who is an associate artist at Glasgow’s Tron Theatre said “I was drawn in by the beauty and emotional depth of Steve’s script’. ‘It’s a coming of age story peppered with tantalising visions of New York, a true to life female friendship (which we hardly ever see on stage) and a grappling with grief. For Brite Theater it ticked a lot of our boxes. It’s a female centred piece, with migrants at its heart, delivered directly to the audience in a way that includes them in the storytelling. It’s both truly Scottish and fantastically international. And it speaks to the now in a way only new writing can. We couldn’t resist putting it on as a Brite Theater piece and the ART Award made it possible.”
McMahon, who is also an actor based between Edinburgh and the US, where he trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City says “I was inspired to write Sandcastles by my own migrant experience as an Edinburgh native moving to, and settling in, New York, with all the hopes and fears and thrills and heartache that brings. It’s a joy and a relief to get to bring the show to the Fringe, a couple of years later than planned, and to finally get to work with Kolbrún and Brite Theater, with the support of Assembly Festival.”
Venue: The Front Room Assembly Rooms, George Street, EH2 2LR
Time: 12:50 Running Time: 60mins
Dates: 4th August – 27th August. (except 16th & 17th August)
Tickets: From £8.50
Age suitability 14+
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 