James Clements to Present THE BURNS PROJECT at The Georgian House

Rabbie Burns. A national hero and cultural icon for the global Scottish diaspora. Loved for his beautiful songs, ballads, and legendary epistles to friends, Scotland's most famous romantic poet and lyricist is theatrically unearthed in a specially commissioned theatre work this August - The Burns Project, written and performed by James Clements.

Joined by the multi-award-winning Cora Bissett as director, and created in collaboration with the National Trust for Scotland, Clements pieces together rarely-before-seen writings and recently digitised archival material belonging to The Bard to conjure a complex, irreverent, and honest portrait of a seminal Scottish literary figure.

Seeking to refresh and expand on existing personifications and representations of the poet, The Burns Project vividly brings to life the image of a man full of complexities and contradictions, capable of both deep love and callousness, of great progressiveness and political inconsistencies. It is a story of a man with high ideals, who sometimes fell short of them, with layers of intrigue and mystery - it is the story of an icon, and the story of us all.

Interactive and staged in-the-round in the style of a traditional Burns Supper within the Trust's historic building, The Georgian House, Clements moves through the framework of Burns' life and relationships to join the past with the present in a moving and provocative documentary theatre experience.

The Burns Project makes the National Trust for Scotland's fascinating archives crackle with new life as Clements delves deep into Burns' personal history and kaleidoscopic personality. Accompanied by traditional and original music from acclaimed Edinburgh-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Lisa Rigby, Robert Burns lives and breathes on the stage - in all his charm and his flaws.

The Burns Project is devised and performed by James Clements, a Scottish actor, writer, theatremaker and arts educator who splits his time between Scotland and the US. It is co-created with the National Trust for Scotland and multi-award-winning Fringe director Cora Bissett (June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music, and Me; What Girls Are Made Of).

The Burns Project will be in the Drawing Room of The Georgian House, Charlotte Square from 2-16 August, at 18:30.

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