Cast And Creatives Announced For Stewart Laing's THEM! From National Theatre Of Scotland

Directed by Stewart Laing, written by Pamela Carter, associate director Eve Nicol, designed by Stewart Laing and Nick Miller, lighting design by Zerlina Hughes, sound design by Fiona Johnston. video production by Anna Chaney, choreography by Natali McCleary.

Cast includes Kiruna Stamell, Rosina Bonsu, Ross Mann, and Zachary Hing, and 150,000 leafcutter ants, with songs and music by Carla J Easton.

At Tramway, Glasgow from 27 June to 06 July 2019 with an opening performance on Saturday 29 June at 7.30pm

Power and people and pop music!

Them! is a visionary new multi-media performance event from Stewart Laing and long-term collaborator Pamela Carter tackling the nebulous nature of identity in a changing world. In a performance propelled by music, television, film, and dynamic theatre-making, expectations will be subverted from beginning to end.

Them! brings the audience onto the set of a live TV chat show. The lights are up, cameras are rolling, the host meets their guest, and the house band perform. A celebrated Scottish theatre-maker appears on the couch promoting his new Glasgow-set remake of Them!, the seminal 1950s creature-feature.

But everything begins to change, and as the scene shifts from the TV studio to a crowded club night at the end of the world, the audience see race, class, and cultural identity come to the fore.

A diverse cast of performers will take to the chat show stage in the roles of host and interviewees. Each of the performer's unique characteristics contribute to a compelling narrative about the nature of identity and what makes us who we are.

Kiruna Stamell plays the show's Host. Kiruna is a celebrated Australian actress, known for her work in Moulin Rouge, EastEnders, Life's Too Short and roles with the National Theatre and in London's West End. She is joined on the sofa by Rosina Bonsu, Ross Mann, and Zachary Hing.

The production will also feature live music composed and performed by Glaswegian synth-pop heroine Carla J Easton and her band. A founding member of all-girl pop/rock outfit Teen Canteen, Carla's second solo album Impossible Stuff was released to critical acclaim in October 2018. A filmed extract from the Them! remake, which features Eugene Kelly of Scottish alt-rock trendsetters The Vaselines, is also central to the production.

Taking inspiration from the original '50s B-movie Them! which sees a nest of giant irradiated ants attacking Los Angeles, the production will feature a colony of 150,000 leafcutter ants, which will be installed at Tramway for the duration of the run. The ant colony has been supplied by Andrew Stephenson, one of the world's leading experts in Leafcutter Ant husbandry.

Stewart Laing and Pamela Carter specialise in creating complex narrative projects, blending multiple art forms, collaborating with diverse talents from cinematographers, model-makers, TV directors, visual artists, designers, performers and musicians.

This will be Stewart's first project in his new role as Associate Director with the National Theatre of Scotland. He has previously worked with the Company on the ambitious meta-theatrical event show Paul Bright's Confessions of a Justified Sinner, which was a success on its premiere at Tramway in 2013 and presented as part of the Edinburgh International Festival in 2015. He is also Artistic Director of Untitled Projects.

Dates: 27 June to 06 July 2019
Venue: Tramway, 25 Albert Dr, Glasgow G41 2PE
Time: 7.30pm
Ticket price: 12/15 ( 5 for Futureproof Passport holders)
Booking: www.nationaltheatrescotland.com