Enda Walsh’s Arlington Comes to Scotland

Scottish dance-theatre company Shotput has announced the Scottish Premiere of Arlington by legendary contemporary playwright Enda Walsh. The show will tour across three iconic venues this autumn, including Cumbernauld Theatre; Tron Theatre, Glasgow; and Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. Told in three acts, Arlington will see theatre and dance combine in a tale for two actors and one dancer.

Known for their experimental investigations into the darker sides of contemporary life, this is Shotput’s first Scottish tour since they were awarded multi-year funding. Arlington will be directed by the company’s Co-Artistic Directors Lucy Ireland and Jim Manganello, with a creative team made up of Shotput’s associate artists, Lighting Designer Emma Jones; Video Designer Rob Willoughby, and Scenic and Costume Designer Anna Yates, as well as Sound Designer Garry Boyle and Composer Cat Myers returning from Shotput’s maverick Totentanz.

Set in a dystopian world dominated by surveillance and control, Arlington follows Isla, a young woman held inside a mysterious high rise facility, waiting for her number to be called. Telling stories of her dreams for the world outside, her only human interaction is with an anonymous man on the other side of the wall. Today there is a new listener. Their encounter sparks a fragile connection that defies the cold mechanisms of the world around them, and what starts as a seemingly small human interaction turns into something much more terrifying and sublime.

Aisha Goodman will take on the role of Isla, Alex Austin joins as the Young Man stationed outside Isla’s door, and Jack Anderson will perform the dance-based second act. Arlington explores themes of love, freedom, and the enduring power of human connection in the face of oppression; Shotput’s rendition is about telling stories slyly activates our human impulse for narrative, questioning present realities and imagining new ones.

Jim Manganello and Lucy Ireland said: “We are so thrilled that Shotput gets to have a go at this play with dance by Enda Walsh, a writer who we’ve been obsessed with for many years. Enda’s wicked sense of humour, his slant take on the world, and the space he opens for athleticism and dance feels like a perfect fit for all the things we love to do. Arlington is a hidden masterpiece and we’re delighted to be bringing it to Scottish audiences for the first time. Whatever you think this play is at the beginning – a dystopian satire, a dream, a love story – we promise that it will mutate and defy expectations over the course of its running time and as you think and talk about it after. Funny, difficult, terrifying, beautiful. We’re honoured that we get a go at capturing all that and sharing it.”

Shotput is a dance-theatre company based in Glasgow, founded by and led by Artistic Directors Lucy Ireland and Jim Manganello. The company makes live performance as a shared space to explore difficult ideas, collective joy, and uncontainable human nature. Their productions are physically and visually rigorous, rooted in experimentation and collaboration. Although live shows are the heart of their company, Shotput defines the team’s work not as a collection of shows, but as a web of relationships, collaborating with artists, audiences and communities – ‘an engine of experimentation in Scotland‘.

Enda Walsh is one of the most renowned contemporary playwrights of our time. Winning multiple Fringe First awards throughout his career, his work has a long history in Scotland, with multiple productions at the Traverse Theatre, including Medicine, Disco Pigs, Ballyturk and more. Shotput’s production of Arlington will mark its Scottish Premiere.

Shotput will tour Arlington from 17 October – 8 November.

Main Image: Artwork by Shotput

Back to HOME