Traverse Theatre ensures its Edinburgh Festival breakfast play tradition lives on

Breakfast Plays: New Tracks will see five new short plays receive their world premieres as podcast episodes. Traditionally taking place at 9am during the festival and enjoyed with a breakfast roll, this year, the bite-sized breakfast plays each tackle what happens following an earth-shattering event, with a new play being released each day at 9am from 24 to 28 August.

Eleanor White, of the Traverse says, “I am thrilled that we will be able to share the brilliant and visionary work of the writers involved in our 2020 Breakfast Plays: New Tracks with the entire world.

"The Breakfast Plays are a crucial part of our talent development programme, and there was never a question of them not happening this year. We are proud that the skills many of the writers have developed through their involvement in our Young Writers Group programme mean that they can tell compelling and thought-provoking stories in formats far beyond what we might consider conventional theatre.

"Delivering this year’s plays in an audio format is a natural progression and has allowed the writers to grow new skills in multiple areas of storytelling. Listen out in August - and remember to have a breakfast roll ready for the true Breakfast Play experience.”

The FIVE plays are Contemporary Political Ethics (or How to Cheat) by Jamie Cowan; Rabbit Catcher by Rebecca Martin, Matterhorn by Amy Rhianne Milton, The Watercooler by Uma Nada-Rajah and Doomsdays by Conor O’Loughlin.

Playwright Nada-Rajaha, whose play tells of co-workers meeting in a staff room where one must assess the mental fitness of the other, reflects, “Participating in the Breakfast Plays gave me the opportunity to take a new and experimental idea from its conception to a second draft. It is a welcome opportunity to put raw, of-the-moment work in front of a virtual audience.”

Conor O’Loughlin, writer of Doomsdays, which is set on 21st December 2012, the day the world was meant to end tells of the day a cult leader’s apocalyptic predictions failed, adds, "The Breakfast Plays offer a dream provocation to any writer, practically demanding a response primed with enough adrenaline to see festival audiences through the rest of the day.

"It’s a testament to the Traverse’s own reserves of energy and resilience that this year not only continues that tradition, but does so on an even grander scale and with unlimited scope. It may be a new form and platform, with rehearsal Zooms in place of rehearsal rooms, but the artistic team has at every turn provided the same incredible levels of support and bespoke development that make the Traverse the new writing haven it has always been.”

Each play will be available to listen to on demand and for free for 14 days after it has premiered. Episodes can be listened to on the Traverse website, Spotify, iTunes and Soundcloud

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

Subscribe to the Edinburgh Evening News online and enjoy unlimited access to trusted, fact-checked news and sport from Edinburgh and the Lothians. Visit https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director