Borders Pub Theatre home page

Borders Pub Theatre is a group of playwrights whose new writing is performed script-in-hand in all manner of informal settings across the Scottish Borders - from pubs to theatres.

Scroll down to find out more, and discover when the next show is on.

ABOUT BORDERS PUB THEATRE

What we do and how we started

First show in Selkirk

Caitlin rehearses Emily and Matt

Borders Pub Theatre puts on several shows each year. A theme is chosen and the playwrights come up with their own ten minute plays inspired (sometimes loosely!) by this common thread. The writers give each other feedback, and the plays are then polished ready for an audience. To make the journey from concept to performance as fast as possible the plays are acted 'script-in-hand'. A director and three members of cast are picked - all professionaly trained. The director meets up with them on the morning of the performance. Rehearsals are all day, then the performance takes place that evening. But although this time-scale is scarily tight we still use props, lighting, sound effects, music - all whisked together in a relaxed atmosphere.

Group of trainees at reception in Edinburgh

Playwrights with mentors

Tom Murray (L) and Jules Horne (2nd R)

The project sprang from an initiative by Fiona Sturgeon Shea and Playwrights Studio Scotland. The idea was to encourage professional quality writing for the stage in the Scottish Borders. Writers were selected competitively, and a year-long training programme started, with input from highly respected playwrights, directors, actors and dramaturgs from the top echelons of Scottish theatre - including the National Theatre of Scotland. The concept for a regular informal evening of short plays came from Leith Village Theatre in Edinburgh, to whom we are more than grateful. The concept is to perform anywhere from pubs to village halls to theatres - wherever an audience fancies an evening of fun!