Future Acts

The National Theatre of Scotland has joined forces once more with BBC Scotland to create a special hybrid project focussed on the future, created by a team of leading Scottish theatre-makers, filmmakers, actors and artists.

The future has been foraged by six writing and directing teams for a series of interlinked shorts; AI, cultural identity dating, queer love, climate change and cloning. The personal and the political are all playfully explored through innovative storytelling blending theatrical and filmic genres.

OPTIMUM Writer: Uma Nada-Rajah Director: Stewart Laing Performed by Anna Russell Martin and Ross Mann

Two strangers meet for a date in a Glasgow beer garden. An AI system has declared them to be optimally matched. There’s no need for guess work or uncertainty. But can an algorithm really predict love?

STILL ALIVE Writer/Director: Hope Dickson Leach Performed by Keith Fleming and Nadia Albina

Hector wakes up, cloned into a younger body by a dubious biotechnology company, his only company a temp worker, at the end of a very long shift. He soon discovers that a second chance at life may not be everything he hoped for.

BED TO THE FUTURE Writer/Director: James Ley Performed by Martin Quinn and Jay Newton

A young Scottish queer couple visit a futuristic bed shop where a simulator promises to reveal the perfect future for their relationship. Only it’s not quite what they had imagined.

BROTH Writer: Lesley Hart Director: Sally Reid Performed by Carmen Pierracini and Ryan J Mackay

After an on-air meltdown derails her career, former news anchor Rona Lawson is sent to report from a disappearing coastline. There, an unexpected friendship helps her discover that the future is not yet written.

SMOKE Writer: Kieran Hurley Director: Rianne White Performed by Nicolette McCormack with narration by Shirley Manson

This evocative and visually striking film explores the urgency and fear at the heart of the climate crisis.

UN-STATIC Writer: Natali McCleary Director: Josefa Celestin Performed by Maureen Carr and James Dawoud

A young man summons a Unicorn in search of answers about identity, belonging and purpose, embarking on a magical journey between the weight of the past and the promise of the future.