Letters to the Lyceum

Lesley Hart reads Philip Howard's letter, on a theatre populated with the ghosts of past productions.

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Sam's evocative letter takes us back to his first encounters with the Lyceum as an usher, and latterly as a member of the Lyceum Youth Theatre.

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Tony Cownie's Letter to the Lyceum evokes the spirit of the theatre's resident ghost, Ellen Terry.

Read by Lesley Hart.

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Playwright Sara Shaarawi pens a letter about the unexpected experience of swapping the big city for lockdown on the Isle of Colonsay.

Read by Saskia Ashdown.

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Starting out from her roots in the lang toun; Val McDermid reflects on the 'perpetual promise' of theatre.

Read by Lesley Hart.

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From the surreal to the sensual, the profound to the practical, Alec Finlay's letter weaves a tapestry from memories of live performance in Scotland.

Read by Saskia Ashdown.

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Peter Forbes reads Neal Ascherson's Letter to the Lyceum on the sensuality, possibility and power represented by an empty theatre.

Music by Rachel Newton

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Peter Forbes reads a letter penned by musician and broadcaster Ricky Ross: a heartfelt tribute to a true devotee of Scottish theatre.

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Emma Frankland reads Harry Josephine Giles's letter, which considers how the example of mutual aid within the trans community can inform wider attitudes to art and community in the post-Covid world.

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Sylvia Dow reflects on her 75 year relationship with the Lyceum and the separation anxiety that has resulted from lockdown.

Read by Maureen Beattie.

Music by Rachel Newton.

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Ian Rankin recalls his first encounters with the Lyceum as an undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh, alongside later opportunities to view the craft of theatre making up close. Read by Steven McNicoll.

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Writing from Ramallah, Raja Shehadeh contrasts the coronavirus lockdown with that imposed on the West Bank in 2002. Read by Steven McNicoll.

Music by Rachel Newton.

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Playwright and academic Dan Rebellato's Letter to the Lyceum asks us to think about the 'everything and nothing' present in an empty theatre. Read by Emma Frankland.

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Maureen Beattie reads Lewis Hetherington's letter, which offers up a vision of the Lyceum as a living habitat for a diverse array of lifeforms.

Music by Rachel Newton.

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Jenny Lindsay readers her letter to the 'old lady of Grindlay Street,' reflecting on youth, ageing, and the significance of participation in theatre.

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Nicola Roy reads Jules Horne's letter about how the theatre is packed to the rafters with bogles and all the shows live on in the audience, who are looking forward to coming back after lockdown.

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Jules Horne is a writer and musician from the Scottish Borders who loves getting the train up to the Lyceum.

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Award winning novelist and former Edinburgh makar Ron Butlin writes to the Lyceum, and wonders if theatre can inspire us to re-think some of the big themes that have emerged out of the pandemic. How do we find better forms of leadership? How can we re-set our relationship to the planet?

Read by Steven McNicoll.

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David returns for a rake through the Lyceum's audience letters bag: in which characters old and new, on and off stage, pen a variety of romantic missives to the theatre they miss so much.

Read by Hannah Jarrett Scott. Music by Rachel Newton.

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Emma McCaffrey, who was set to perform with Lung Ha on the Lyceum stage this year, thinks back to how a chance encounter with an usher at our Stage Door led to her own involvement in theatre.

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Hannah Jarrett-Scott reads Denise Mina's Letter to the Lyceum: on the dramas of care, the qualities of sleep, and the joy of ice cream.

Music by Rachel Newton.

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Nicola Roy reads Ellie Stewart's evocative epistle about the multitudes that a re-opened theatre will contain.

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For playwright Linda Mclean, the shock of coronavirus recalls an earlier episode of trauma which underlined the need for laughter and colour in the darkest moments. Read by Maureen Beattie.

Music by Rachel Newton.

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Martin O'Connor's letter - 'Call Times' - transports us backstage and explores the strange state of limbo many actors now find themselves in.

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In the second instalment of our audience letters bag, Artistic Director David Greig introduces a selection of letters themed around the small everyday dramas and performances that have become part of life in lockdown. Local heroes, home-made chandeliers, lambs, posties and scooters all make an appearance and show that, despite a yearning to be back inside theatres, day to day life has been far from dull.

Letters read by Saskia Ashdown. Music by Rachel Newton.

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Things get a little steamy in Eve Nicol's letter on the pressures of lockdown longing for theatre.

Read by Hannah Jarrett-Scott.

Music by Rachel Newton.

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James Robertson considers the theatrical side of everyday life in lockdown: reflecting on how a minor mishap brought home the lived drama of ageing and memory.

Read by Steven McNicoll.

Music by Rachel Newton.

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In this letter, Mara Menzies contrasts the informal performance spaces of her childhood with the grandeur of the Lyceum auditorium, and the timeless nature of storytelling, with the experience of rapid change.

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David presents a selection of extracts from letters sent in by our audience, themed around people's first trip to the theatre. Expect tales of fairy dust, cheek bones to die (and travel all the way from Sheffield) for, epic journeys and jealously guarded mint creams.

Music by Rachel Newton, letters read by Saskia Ashdown.

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Jaimini Jethwa reads her notes on life in lockdown in Dundee - with a wry look at family, identity, zoom parties, and her home city's struggle to keep the 'fun' in 'Fundee'.

Music by Rachel Newton

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Jo Clifford, whose adaptation of Life is a Dreamwas set to come to life on the Lyceum stage this month, reflects on the salience of the play's message, and the vital role of theatre as a space for developing empathy.

Music by Rachel Newton

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Poet Tom Pow writes to the Lycuem about the power of intimacy and the importance of ritual, while considering the big questions that theatres should ask about our experience of the current crisis.

Music by Rachel Newton

If you've been inspired by this letter, why not send us one too? letters@lyceum.org.uk

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Evoking past Edinburghs, Ishbel McFarlane introduces us to a lady who lived just up the road from the Lycuem, and would go on to experience years of crisis and disruption just as challenging as our own.

Music by Rachel Newton

If you've been inspired by this letter, why not send us one too? letters@lyceum.org.uk

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George Gunn pens a missive from the far north of Scotland, where the wide open spaces and seabird colonies provoke thoughts of the intimate theatrical worlds created in Grindlay Street.

Music by Rachel Newton

If you've been inspired by this letter, why not send us one too? letters@lyceum.org.uk

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Hannah Lavery writes to the Lycuem about the many different facets of adapting to life in lockdown, from the poignant to the mundane, and thinks back to family traditions of attending Christmas shows.

Music by Rachel Newton

If you've been inspired by this letter, why not send us one too? letters@lyceum.org.uk

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