The Traverse Theatre is Scotland's National New Writing Company. Since its founding in 1963, it has championed bold, contemporary voices and created space for writers to test, develop and premiere new work. Located in the heart of Edinburgh, the Traverse is a producer-led home for new writing, with two flexible performance spaces dedicated to bringing ambitious new plays to life.

A curse has fallen on Sally’s house. Unexpected, unwanted and hard to shake. Worst of all, no one will believe her. As the line between certainty and doubt begins to blur, Sally must decide whether to trust what she sees, and what happens if she’s right. Zinnie Harris (Further Than The Furthest Thing, This Restless House, Meet me at Dawn) writes and directs this Traverse Theatre world-premiere production at Traverse Festival 2026.

Supposing...

 It's a smash up. Mo (the Scottish one) and Réaltín (the Irish one) partied, played and blazed their way through the Edinburgh student dream. Set in Glasgow a couple of years later, For Dolores is about friendship, motherhood and coming to terms with your worst mistakes. Like twin stars in obsessive orbit, it's a friendship, a rivalry and an adventure. Risk is a delicious pleasure: until it all explodes in the blink of an eye. How far will they go for love?

For Dolores

Eilidh Loan is a young Scottish writer. Her first play, Moorcroft was a true story based upon her dad's amateur football team, and opened to critical acclaim when she directed it at the Tron in Glasgow. Cathy is a new comedy inspired by her grandmother, and how she dealt with the grief in her unique way after losing her husband. Cathy, Eilidh's grandmother, insisted that Elaine C Smith must play her and so she is.

Cathy

Following a hugely critically acclaimed London run, legendary performance artist Bryony Kimmings (I’m a Phoenix, Bitch, Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model, Fake It Till You Make It ) returns to the Fringe. Bog Witch follows part of Kimmings’ real-life story, the journey of uprooting her and her son’s lives to live in a tumbledown cottage in the wilderness, to plug back into nature as a last-ditch attempt to be happy and sane. 'Haunting and hilarious... a climate reckoning of both cosmic and quotidian proportions – and a theatrical time capsule of the way we live now' **** (Guardian).

Bog Witch

Featuring music by Grammy Award-nominated KT Tunstall, The Singer is a new piece of gig-theatre about Joe, a deaf artist who 'sings' with his hands, and Andy, a washed-up musician seeking a comeback. Joe experiences music physically, feeling rhythm through his body, crafting lyrics that pulse with life. Their unlikely partnership ignites, prejudice closes in and their bond is pushed to breaking point. A story of music, identity and connection, performed in spoken English and BSL. Music and lyrics by KT Tunstall, directed by Cora Bissett, based on the short film by Cora Bissett and Jamie Rea.

The Singer

Something has taken root in this town. A recluse, a disappearance, a mysterious folk song. And then there's you, Meles – a podcaster with a dying mother and a stalling career – about to stumble into something unfathomable. Something that could change everything. But is it your story to tell? A folk tale about folk tales, the art of letting go and the ethics of true crime, Badgers is a shape-shifting, mercurial new show from the team behind Outlier. Written by Malaika Kegode with music by Jakabol: 'Tremendous poetic drama' **** (Guardian). 'Exuberant, convivial energy' **** (Stage).

Badgers

Matriarch Vivienne Blackwood has always lived life on her own terms, much to the frustration of her fractured family. Summoning them for her 80th birthday party, they arrive expecting the usual family escapades. But as old tensions surface and beliefs collide, Vivienne’s reasons for gathering them soon unravels. She wants the party of a lifetime – but can her wayward family make it through the night? Sharp, darkly funny and unflinching, After Party is a bold and life-affirming story about a life-ending decision, and our responsibility to others, in life and in death.

After Party

1933 Berlin. With martial law in effect, political activism has become a capital crime. When a young Gestapo officer arrests a philosophy graduate student, her interrogation will endanger them both. Direct from its critically acclaimed Off-Broadway premiere, Jenny Lyn Bader’s new play – inspired by the real-life arrest of Hannah Arendt – illuminates the struggle for human connection and moral imagination in dark times. North American new writing theatre Luna Stage and Olivier, Tony and Emmy Award-winning producer Richard Jordan return to the Traverse following their 2025 Scotsman Fringe First sell-out production RIFT.

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