Pitlochry Festival Theatre will present the world première of To the Bone (18 August – 29 September) by award-winning Scottish playwright Isla Cowan.
Beth and Alf moved to the country to start again. But nothing turned out as planned. Eight years later, Beth returns to the house and is shocked by what she finds in its walls – and in herself.
Set in a secluded, rural cottage, To the Bone explores isolation and ownership, loss and longing, as Beth confronts her past and fights for her future.
To the Bone is an intense, intimate one room drama that cuts to the marrow of memory and asks what it is to grieve and to live; to remain and to endure; and to go on. A play about water and weeds, about finding resilience in the ruins of a relationship, a house, a home.
Isla Cowan is a playwright, performer, and director, from Edinburgh. Isla’s play She Wolf premiered at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe and was the winner of the 2021 Alpine Fellowship Theatre Prize, the 2022 Assembly ART Award, and shortlisted for the 2022 Filipa Bragança Award. Her other recent work for stage includes Progress Review (Stellar Quines, Traverse Theatre), Jack and the Beanstalk (Hopscotch Theatre Company), Alright Sunshine (A Play, A Pie, and A Pint, Òran Mór), and The View from 2038 (Royal Lyceum).
Isla Cowan said about her new play: “I wrote ‘To the Bone’ as an exploration of place and the past, houses, and bodies. I’m interested in ideas of haunting and how certain spaces and places – particularly former places of habitation – a house, a ‘home’ – have an overwhelming power to conjure memories and evoke deep rooted feelings we sometimes can’t even name. Alongside that, the home is an inherently political space – not only in the feminist sphere, due to histories of women being confined to the household, but also in terms of capitalism – finances, ownership, property – which feels pertinent today in the context of the housing crisis in this country.
‘To the Bone’ is about what happens to a house when a relationship falls apart, and how money and material possessions come to symbolise parts of our past, our self-worth, and what we’ve lost – and, ultimately, can be weaponised. I wanted to write about what it means to ‘return’ to a place and face up to the past, yet also, simultaneously, to have to grapple with the logistical, administrative challenges of assets and property while in a place of pain and conflict. As Beth returns to her former home, with the intention to sell the property, she is shocked by what she discovers in the house and in herself. I hope audiences will be surprised, entertained, and deeply moved by ‘To the Bone.’
Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director Elizabeth Newman added: “We are thrilled to be producing ‘To the Bone’ as part of our 2023 Summer Season. It has been a great experience working with Isla, which began when she first started attending our virtual Writers Room in 2020. I am equally thrilled to share the news that our new Trainee Director Sam Hardie will be directing Isla’s new play. Sam became Trainee Director in April after a hugely competitive process. She is a wonderful Director and one of Scotland’s most exciting theatre talents. I’m sure the combination of Isla and Sam will create something magical for our audiences this summer in Pitlochry.”
To the Bone’s cast will feature Rachael McAllister (Little Women and A Christmas Carol, Pitlochry Festival Theatre) as Beth; Joseph Tweedale (The Meaning of Zong, Bristol Old Vic and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Theatre Clwyd) as Alf and Trudy Ward (As You Like It, Jupiter Theatre) as Vee. The première will be directed by Sam Hardie (GIRLS, The PappyShow).
To the Bone runs at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 18 August till 29 September.
Tickets are now on sale and are available from the Pitlochry Festival Theatre Box Office on 01796 484626 or online at www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com
