The Royal Lyceum Theatre’s Artistic Director, David Greig in association with Malmö Stadtsteater, brings his first wholly original play, Two Sisters, to be staged in five years to the stage.
Two Sisters is a story about looking back to your youth and looking forward to growing up. It’s a story about who we were when we were 16, who we become when we grow up, and the gap between these expectations.
The story takes place over a single weekend as we meet sisters Emma and Amy as they return to their childhood ‘paradise,’ a seaside caravan park. Yet, the park has changed, and their childhood now seems a blurred memory, as they delve into adult things, career anxieties and romantic complications. They encounter Lance, the DJ from back in the day, who resurfaces teenage memories and reminds them how far, or not so far, they have come from their teenage selves.
Wils Wilson, who collaborated with David on many shows, perhaps most notably The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, will direct a cast that includes Jessica Hardwick, known for Six Four, Float and The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart and Shauna McDonald, known for Spooks, The Scotts, The Descent, in the lead roles of Emma and Amy. Joining them is Erik Olsson in the role of Lance the DJ.
Artistic Director of Malmö Stadtsteater, Kitte Wagner commented “At Malmö Stadtsteater we have a vision to improve inclusion and communal feeling through theatre. Combining the best of Scottish and Swedish talent, this international project is a theatrical exchange – a true collaboration with The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh – allowing both theatres to reach a wider, more multi-faceted audience.”
David Greig commented “I’m excited to be working with Wils Wilson again on this co-production with Malmö Stadtsteatre. I’ve been working on ‘Two Sisters’ for about seven years and now is the time for it to find an audience. At the moment, it feels like everyone is really far apart: there are some understandable, incredibly sharp divisions between the generations when it comes to how they understand and experience the world. I want to do a show that helps people leave with a sense of empathy – feeling like we’re all the same in our fragility.
“We’ll be incorporating the audience’s own recollections of their teenage holiday years: what they wore, what they listened to, who they were in love with. This will all be brought to life through the amazing Jessica Hardwick, Shauna McDonald and Erik Olsson now announced and ready to bring this special piece of work to The Royal Lyceum Stage. The play is funny, it’s melancholy, it’ll have a lot of music in it. It will be a truly live theatre experience not to be missed.”
Dates: 10th February – 2nd March 2024
Pay What You Can preview: Monday 12th February 2024, 7pm
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 