SPARK,  the inaugural Highland New Play Festival, took place at Eden Court, Inverness from 18-21 January 2024.  The festival was presented in partnership with Eden Court and Playwrights’ Studio Scotland and was financially supported by Creative Scotland.  

SPARK was a celebration of theatre makers and playwrights from the north of Scotland, designed to support their development, and provide opportunities for networking and discussions with industry experts. It also allowed audiences to engage with the diverse creativity the Highlands has to offer and see plays in their earliest stages.

Over the four days of the festival we worked with 20 actors,16 playwrights, 8 directors, 15 musicians and poets, and 15 panellists made up of international academics, designers, directors and theatre-makers. We held nine play-reading events, four panel events on various subjects affecting theatre-making in the region. We also hosted two workshops on developing plays and both were oversubscribed. In addition, we presented two ceilidhs – music and spoken word performances. These were: Cruinn Comhla, an evening of Gaelic and Scots performances; and The Market Comes to Eden Court, a celebration of Inverness’s Market Bar, which has presented music and other live performances every night of the week for over 50 years. 

SPARK consisted of four engaging strands to appeal to both audiences and the growing body of theatre professionals in the Highlands: 

Script Sessions: rehearsed readings of new plays. Audiences will get to hear never-seen-before plays from new and established playwrights before they reach the stage with the audience invited to give feedback and engage in a discussion about the play afterwards. 

Scratch Sessions: an opportunity for audiences to get a glimpse into the creation and development of new plays, with writers presenting extracts from work-in-progress with an opportunity for feedback and discussion afterwards. These sessions also allow playwrights to develop new ideas and work on specific sections of their plays with a director and a group of actors.  Writers were selected via an open call facilitated by The Playwrights’ Studio. 

Speakout Sessions: ranging from practical panel discussions about career paths in theatre to topical discussions about the place of Highland theatre in the wider world.  Featuring guest experts from home and abroad.

Ceilidh Sessions will top off the festival, celebratory events with live performances from local artists, poets and musicians on the Friday and Saturday night.

This was the first edition of SPARK.  Our aim is for SPARK to become a biennial event; a new cultural fixture for January in the Highlands.

Professional Participant Responses

“It is honestly one of the best things I have been involved in in years. I felt excited each day working on a new script and bringing it to life for the writer !”

“It felt like a pivotal moment for Highland arts and theatre. One which inspired people to put their heads together to imagine a brighter future.”

“The overall vibe and energy of the SPARK festival were amazing, creating a wonderful atmosphere that made the whole experience unforgettable. But what really made it special for me was getting to team up with some incredible people, especially the director and the actors.”

“I loved how many people from all across the country were kicking about Eden Court for four days. It felt like a really exciting space, the way theatre should always feel. Everyone was supportive and there was a lot of interest in talking about the craft. It was super exciting and really nourishing, I was really moved at a lot of different moments, the work (and the focus on writing in particular) was so affirming. … I felt that this was a very empowering few days that forged new creative connections. I came away from it feeling like I really belonged in the industry and that where I come from didn’t really matter, we are all about the work.”

“I left the Highlands due to lack of opportunity as a creative. This festival has helped me reconnect to a Highland creative community. It was an opportunity which as an emerging writer has given me so much confidence and incredibly valuable feedback for going forward. The variety of work that we could see was also really fantastic. It felt like a wonderfully diverse range of voices and was very inspiring.”

Audience Responses

“…maybe the best ever Highland located event…the quality and talent involved was amazing.”  

 

“This was a brilliant festival…more of this please!” 

“A really vital and professional event, which I was so glad to see was well attended. The running was smooth, and exactly what I had hoped it would be with a great opportunity to get involved…A ginormous thanks to Dogstar, EC (Eden Court) and PSS (Playwrights’ Studio Scotland) for making this happen!! PS- the PSS having a book stand was a SUPERB addition. More of this please!!”