National Theatre of Scotland

Formation

After Scottish devolution in 1997, long-discussed plans for a national theatre for Scotland began to come to fruition. In 2000, the Scottish Executive invited the Scottish Arts Council to conduct a feasibility study into a Scottish national theatre, and an independent working group subsequently reported in May 2001. The model for a National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) that was resolved upon was a commissioning theatre, a "theatre without walls", with no need for a new theatre building or a permanent company of actors, but making use of existing theatre buildings, actors and technical staff to create new work to be staged in venues throughout Scotland and internationally.

In September 2003, the Scottish Executive announced confirmed funding of £7.5M for the establishment of the NTS, with £3.5M for the year April 2004 to March 2005 and £4M for the following year. Robert Findlay, once Chief Executive of Scottish Radio Holdings, was appointed as chairman, and once a Board had also been appointed, the search for the first Artistic Director for the NTS began.

Artistic direction

Vicky Featherstone was the founding Artistic Director and held the post from before the theatre's launch in 2006, to 2013.

Laurie Sansom took up the post in March 2013. His resignation was announced in April 2016.

Jackie Wylie, former Artistic Director of The Arches in Glasgow was appointed as the Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Scotland in Spring 2017.

In September 2025, Liam Sinclair formally took the post of Executive Director and Co-Chief Executive.

Notable productions

Black Watch (2006) by Gregory Burke which won four Laurence Olivier Awards and multiple international awards.

Macbeth (2012) starring Alan Cumming, presented in Glasgow and at the Lincoln Center Festival and subsequently, Broadway, New York.

Let The Right One In (2013), adapted by Jack Thorne from John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel and screenplay, which won the 2014 South Bank Sky Arts Award for theatre.

The James Plays (2014), a historical trilogy by Rona Munro, which won the Evening Standard Theatre Award 2014 for Best Play.

Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (2015), adapted by Lee Hall, based on the 1998 novel The Sopranos by Alan Warner. The production won a Scotsman Fringe First Award, a Herald Angel Award and a Stage Award for Acting Excellence during its opening run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Research

Research into audience responses to two productions, Brian Friel's Molly Sweeney and Nicola McCartney's adaptation of S.R. Harris's A Sheep Called Skye, found that "review of the literature and case examples from the theatre sector has revealed the unique power of rural spaces and the tangible benefits of authentic rural marketing".

Europe Theatre Prize

In 2016, the National Theatre of Scotland was awarded the XIII Europe Prize Theatrical Realities, in Craiova, with the following motivation:The National Theatre of Scotland was created to appeal to a very wide audience and exists to work with it, with the particular feature, going beyond any sort of all-embracing populist approach, that it should manage to produce and take on tour first-class theatre. Its ambitions are to create work that arouses a strong response, that entertains and stimulates the audience with the precise cultural and social objective of not acting conventionally and inviting discussion of the central idea of what can be achieved through theatre.

References

References

1. David Pollock. (8 January 2013). "Vicky Featherstone: London calling". The Independent.
2. (May 2001). "Scottish National Theatre Independent Working Group". [[Scottish Arts Council]].
3. (11 March 2004). "National Theatre of Scotland Board welcomed". Scottish Arts Council.
4. (30 October 2004). "Theatre's first boss plots Act 1". Scotsman.com.
5. Joyce McMillan. (25 February 2011). "NTS artistic director Vicky Featherstone is in optimistic mood on its fifth anniversary". The Scotsman.
6. (11 September 2003). "National theatre vision realised". BBC News.
7. (11 May 2012). "Royal Court Theatre Announces Vicky Featherstone as Next Artistic Director at The Royal Court Theatre". Royal Court Theatre.
8. Thom Dibdin. (24 October 2012). "Laurie Sansom appointed to lead National Theatre of Scotland". The Stage.
9. (25 October 2012). "National Theatre of Scotland names new artistic director". [[BBC News]].
10. (26 October 2016). "The 'inspired' appointment of Jackie Wylie". [[The Scotsman]].
11. "Liam Sinclair to join company as new Executive Director".
12. Burke, Gregory. (2010). "Black Watch". Faber and Faber.
13. (5 July 2008). "A Greek God and His Groupies Are Dressed to Kill".
14. (27 January 2014). "Let the Right One In beats National's Othello at South Bank Sky Arts Awards". The Stage Media Company Limited.
15. (30 November 2014). "Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2014".
16. . ["2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Award Winners"](https://www.edfringe.com/media/award-winners#ScotFringeFirst). *Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society*.
17. (2012). "Re-defining rural marketing: Insights from touring theatre". International Journal of Rural Management.
18. "XV EDIZIONE".
19. "Catalogue XV edition - Europe Theatre Prize".