Traverse Theatre Announce Two New Creative Appointments

The Traverse Theatre is excited to announce two new creative appointments for 2018, which see the theatre continue to support and champion woman writers in developing a piece of work from first spark to finished script. Both appointments will result in the completion of a new full-length play.

Awarded IASH/Traverse Creative Fellow 2018, playwright Frances Poet will work on the commission of a new play inspired by a current interest of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) - is pain an essential part of being alive? Poet, whose debut original full-length play Gut opens at the Traverse in April, will have an office and full fellowship at IASH, whilst receiving dramaturgical support from the Traverse's artistic team.

Adura Onashile - who first worked with the Traverse on her Festival 2016 directorial debut, Expensive Shit - will be our 2018 Writer in Residence, after being awarded a bursary under the Channel 4 Playwrights' Scheme. Celebrating and supporting the brightest British writing talent, the Bursary will see Onashile spend a year at the Traverse on attachment while she works on a new full-length commission.

Both playwrights have received myriad previous praise and recognition for their work - including Poet's Gut being shortlisted for the Bruntwood Prize 2015, and Onashile's Expensive Shit winning a Fringe First award in 2016.

Orla O'Loughlin, Traverse Artistic Director, says:

"I am delighted to welcome Adura and Frances to the Traverse in 2018. Both are writers of huge integrity, unafraid to ask the difficult questions and break new ground in form. The Traverse is proud to support playwrights at every stage of the creative process and I am thrilled to begin this journey in support of two such exciting artists. We look to our playwrights to examine the big ideas of our day and in doing so we invite our audiences to be part of a conversation about the possibility of change. Both Adura and Frances embody this spirit of grappling with what it means to be alive right now and are a testament to the continued vigour and sheer ambition of new writing in Scotland."

Frances Poet, playwright and IASH/Traverse Creative Fellow 2018, says:

"The IASH/Traverse 2018 Creative Fellowship marks my second attachment to Scotland's home of new writing. Five years ago I was one of fifty writers in a development programme that offered me the perfect transition from Literary Manager to fledgling playwright. I can't think of another theatre I would rather call home as I continue to develop my craft and embark upon this new exciting association with IASH. And I will need the Traverse's formidable writer-led support as I write STILL; a play about birth, death and pain that will draw upon my own experiences of watching my father die as well as my own and my friends' experiences of birthing our children. Realising the idea scares me but the fellowship will encourage me to be fearless and ask big questions about the human condition and the nature of pain in a world that often seeks to eliminate it."

Adura Onashile, playwright and Traverse 2018 Writer in Residence, says:

"I am delighted to be attached to the Traverse through the Channel 4 Playwrights' Scheme. It's a wonderful opportunity to be a part of the work the Traverse team does and to learn from some of the innovative and groundbreaking artists they work with. It is also an opportunity to understand more about how the Traverse puts together its rich and revered programme of work - in Scotland, internationally and during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Having the year's attachment is a unique opportunity to develop as a writer through writing a new play for the Traverse stage, within a supportive and inspiring environment. By the end of the year I hope I am a more confident writer, have contributed to the brilliant work the Traverse does and have learnt from the knowledge and experience of the Traverse team."