First Details and Creatives Announced For Ambitious Paisley Theatre Project in 2021 to 2022

Details have been announced for The National Theatre of Scotland, Slung Low, and Renfrewshire Leisure, collaborative theatre project in Paisley; a community engagement programme embracing the radical spirit of Paisley's people. The programme will begin in Spring 2021 and will culminate in an epic outdoor production across the town in September 2022.

This large-scale participatory arts project will harness the town's vivid history of community spirit, solidarity and radical politics, and unleash it for the 21st century as part of Future Paisley- a programme of economic, social and physical regeneration using the area's rich culture and heritage to transform its future.

The finale of the project will be Victorious: a new epic piece of people's theatre written by Julia Taudevin and created by National Theatre of Scotland and Slung Low with the people of Paisley, to be performed there in September 2022.

Directed by Alan Lane, Artistic Director of Slung Low and written by Julia Taudevin, one of Scotland's leading radical theatre-makers, Victorious will be a musical about a future we might be heading towards, taking place over a whole day in various locations around the town.

The inventive, multi-media experience will see audiences don audio headsets to immerse themselves in a thrilling journey through Paisley's radical heart. The drama will unfold not just on stage but on the streets of the town and in amongst its elegant architectural landmarks, where dramatic encounters and surprising experiences will see audiences made to feel part of the production themselves as they become swept along by its story.

Set 20 years in the future, a professional cast of 12 will be joined by more than 250 community performers to bring the story to life. The production will take place over a period of 8-hours with audiences coming and going over the course of the day and will be soundtracked by a virtual jukebox of some of Scotland's favourite popular hits.

The people of Paisley are invited to help shape the project over the coming months, with public engagement on the project set to begin in April 2021. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, engagement for the project will be restructured to adapt to social distancing regulations.

Slung Low is an award-winning theatre company specialising in making epic productions in non-theatre spaces, often with large community performance companies at their heart.

Future Paisley is a programme of economic, social and physical regeneration building on the work already done to use Paisley's internationally-significant culture and heritage story to change its fortunes. It continues the excitement and momentum experienced during the town's UK City of Culture 2021 bid.

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