Liam Rees Premieres THE LAND THAT NEVER WAS In Edinburgh And Glasgow This March
The show premieres in Edinburgh and Glasgow this March, visiting Capital Theatres and the Tron Theatre.
The Land That Never Was is a new play from emerging Scottish theatre maker Liam Rees, which tells the true story of Scotland's most infamous con artist, asking audiences what and why they believe. The show premieres in Edinburgh and Glasgow this March, visiting Capital Theatres and the Tron Theatre, following a performance at Dublin's Scene + Heard Festival in February 2025.
The Land That Never Was tells the true story of Gregor MacGregor - yes, his real name - who, in 1820, announced that he was not only the son of a local Stirlingshire banker, but also the Prince of Poyais. In an attempt to capitalise on huge investment in colonial ventures in the new world, Gregor created a fictional country complete with parliament, honours system and coat of arms; successfully deceiving the British public, including two ill-fated boatfuls of hopeful emigrants.
Blending traditional theatre, storytelling, and confessional stand-up, The Land That Never Was explores not only our collective identity and history of colonialism, but why people lie and why we are often desperate to believe them. The Land That Never Was sees Liam draw parallels between Gregor's story and his own experiences as a bored Edinburgh tour guide lying to tourists, masterfully toying with the audience by presenting both charitable and unsympathetic accounts - ultimately asking what we're willing to believe.
The Land That Never Was is the ambitious new work from theatre maker Liam Rees, developed with support from Vanishing Point, Capital Theatres, Summerhall, and National Theatre of Scotland. It previewed at London's VAULT festival and Camden People's Theatre in 2024. Liam has worked with the Traverse Theatre, National Theatre of Scotland, A Play, A Pie and A Pint, HOME Manchester, NTGent, Ontroerend Goed, and BRONKS. In 2025, he joins Dublin's Dead Centre as an Associate Artist and will develop a new multimedia project with the Young Vic in London.
The Land That Never Was performs in Edinburgh at The Studio at Festival Theatre on Friday 14th March and in Glasgow at Tron Theatre on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd March, on whose streets Gregor MacGregor once employed balladists to sing of the beauty of Poyais.
The Studio at Festival Theatre, Edinburgh - Friday 14th March
[Link goes live on Thursday 30th January]
Tron Theatre, Glasgow - Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd March, 7.45pm
https://www.tron.co.uk/shows/the-land-that-never-was/
About Liam Rees
Liam Rees is a theatre maker focused on new writing and devised theatre. His work is eclectic, nomadic, and driven by an interest in liveness, formal playfulness, and the audience's role in bringing a story to life. After a degree in French and Spanish at the University of Edinburgh he worked in Belgium at BRONKS Theater for Young Audiences, and assisted artists like Milo Rau, Ontroerend Goed, and Omar Elerian.
He's directed new writing like The Devil Drinks Cava by JD Stewart for A Play, A Pie, & A Pint, and Sycamore Grove, a suburban horror "like Desperate Housewives meets Rosemary's Baby" (4* Corr Blimey) by Daniel Williams at Theatre503 and the Edinburgh Fringe. He was commissioned by HOME to create The Enlightened, a live-digital hybrid show about true crime cases that took place simultaneously in the UK and India before playing at the Junges Ensemble Stuttgart. Noises Off Magazine said "It's the interaction with the audience that becomes The Enlightened's biggest strength … it turned individual spectators into a group of conspiracy theorists"
In 2023 Liam was a Supported Artist with Vanishing Point, where he first developed The Land That Never Was with support from Capital Theatres, Summerhall, and National Theatre of Scotland.
In 2024 he was selected for Gradus, an artist development initiative with the Teatro Due and Teatri di Reggio Emilia in Italy, and was part of the Next Stage Programme at Dublin Theatre Festival.
In 2025 he will develop a new multimedia project with the Young Vic in London and joins Dead Centre as an Associate Artist where he will develop his creative practice through mentorship with Dead Centre's Artistic Directors, and immersion in the company's creation processes. He will be Assistant Director on a new Dead Centre production in 2025.
The Land That Never Was is at the Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin on 15 February
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