Traverse Theatre Company Presents Occupy-Based DEMOS, April 24

Traverse Theatre Company is set to stage an immersive, live theatre event inspired by the Occupy Movement, DEMOS by Tim Price. Directed by newly appointed Associate Director, Hamish Pirie, this one-off production marks the first Traverse project by the director, who joins the Theatre for a nine-month residency.

DEMOS is a verbatim play which presents two examples of working democracy, recorded in minutes taken from the General Assembly for Occupy London Stock Exchange camp at St Paul’s Cathedral, and the Hansard record for Prime Minister’s questions a day later.

With over 50 parts, the audience will play a key role in the performance by reading out lines from the script of DEMOS, which is available to read and download from the Traverse website.

This one-off production closes the Traverse Theatre’s Write Here New Writing Festival, and will include a special post-show discussion with Naomi Colvin, a supporter of Occupy London Stock Exchange who writer Tim Price cites as being instrumental in the realisation of DEMOS.

Traverse Associate Director Hamish Pirie has previously worked with playwright Tim Price on Salt, Root and Roe for the Donmar Trafalgar Season in 2011, recently nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, and Extreme Rambling by Mark Thomas for the Tricycle Theatre. Hamish has also worked as a director with Paines Plough, National Theatre of Scotland and at the Arcola and Bush Theatres.

Tim Price is a Welsh stage and television writer. His play For Once for Pentabus Theatre, directed by Traverse Artistic Director Orla O’Loughlin, will run at the Traverse until Saturday 14 April. Elsewhere this month, his Wikileaks-inspired play The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning opens as the highlight of National Theatre Wales current season.

DEMOS is part of Write Here, a nine-day celebration of New Writing, which will feature a variety of new work at different stages of development and give a look behind the scenes to the work of the Traverse literary team and playwrights in a series of readings, talks, workshops and performance.