The Stage

Albee’s The Goat leads Traverse spring season, in break from Edinburgh venue’s new writing policy

Published Wednesday 23 December 2009 at 14:05 by Thom Dibdin

Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre has announced that the Scottish premier of Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? will feature in its spring season.

While the controversial and award-winning play challenges taboos around sexual preference, the inclusion of a play which was premiered in 2002 also challenges a taboo in the philosophy of the Traverse which describes itself as “Scotland’s New Writing Theatre”.

Traverse artistic director Dominic Hill explained to The Stage “It is almost a new play - it is new to our audience. I am doing it alongside a brand new play, Linda McLean’s Any Given Day in June. I am trying to get the same cast for both and you can buy tickets for both.

“It makes it feel like an event, it feels like the old Traverse. I am always trying to create a sense of excitement about the varied work that we do - and that is not just about doing new work for new work’s sake.”

The other home-grown production of the season is a co-production with EK Performance of What We Know in February, written and directed by EK’s Pamela Carter. It is the second of the theatre’s “Traverse Too” strand of new productions which started with David Greig’s Midsummer (a play with songs), which it has just been announced will open London’s Soho Theatre’s spring season.

The Traverse’s collaboration with Glasgow’s Oran Mor lunchtime theatre, Play, Pie and a Pint, returns for a second run in March with week-long runs of plays by Simon Stephens, Graham Eatough and Maggie Rose, Ella Hickson, Gregory Burke and Zinnie Harris.

The Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival of theatre for Children returns in May, while Scottish Opera bring their Five:15 - Operas Made in Scotland to the Traverse for the first time, later in that month.