Traverse Theatre Company to Present RIGHT NOW

Traverse Theatre Company presents a series of preview performances of Quebecois play, Right Now by Catherine-Anne Toupin.

A fresh modern play with a dark, unsettling heart, Right Now walks a delicate line between comedy and anxiety, teasing and thrilling its audience with an increasing air of psychological suspense. As Alice and Ben settle into their beautiful new flat they realise that the family across the hall hope to be more than just friends. Soon, Juliette, Giles, and their son Francis are wearing out the welcome mat and suggesting drinks, hors d'oeuvres and dancing. Things begin to heat up as innocent invitations lead to passionate encounters and unsettling revelations.

Right Now is directed by Traverse Associate Director Emma Callander, designed by Emily James, with lighting and sound by Renny Robertson and Michael John McCarthy (5 - 9 May 2015). The cast features the familiar faces of Meg Fraser as Alice, Richard Conlon as Ben, Paul Thomas Hickey as Francis and Benny Young and Vari Sylvester as Giles and Juliette.

These performances of Right Now follow a script-in-hand reading at the Traverse in November 2014 as part of New Writing from Quebec, a cultural exchange between the Traverse Theatre and Théâtre La Licorne in Montreal. Home of La Manufacture Theatre Company in Montreal, La Licorne mirrors some of the key passions of the Traverse Theatre, commissioning and producing some of the best new writing from Québec and beyond, and presenting a significant number of Traverse plays in translation.

Translated by Royal Court Literary Manager, Chris Campbell, Right Now was originally written and performed as A Présent by Quebecois actor and playwright Catherine-Anne Toupin and presented by Theatre La Manufacture at Theatre La Licorne, Québec.

Orla O'Loughlin, Traverse Theatre Artistic Director comments, "We had such a brilliant response to Right Now from our audience last November that we felt we had to bring it back. Catherine-Anne Toupin's writing is full of wit and suspense and it is an honour for the Traverse to present the first English language performance of this Quebecois play."

Jean-Denis Leduc, Théâtre La Licorne Artistic Founder Director comments, "There is such a huge rapport between Scotland and Quebec. This was never more apparent than last year when Orla and the Traverse team visited Montreal and when we visited the Traverse in November. La Licorne has staged many Traverse plays and it is exciting to have Catherine-Anne Toupin's wonderfully weird Right Now performed in Edinburgh."

The Right Now set features reproductions of 17 paintings of Edinburgh by local artist Jamie Primrose. The selection includes oil paintings and Indian inks portraying hazy sunsets, vast skies and spires over the cityscape.