The Studio is set to stage the world première of This Is A Gift, a new play by Edinburgh-based Icelandic playwright and director Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir, set in Leith, based on the Greek Midas Myth, that explores class, care and consequences.
If you could have one wish, what would it be?
Zoe is about to head off to university, assuming she’s got the grades. Dad’s gilding business is struggling but they don’t talk about that. Summer is here and everything is about to change. Hopefully.
When Silvain passes out against their door, Zoe and dad take him in and care for him – a simple act of kindness that has unexpected consequences. As a token of his gratitude, Silvain’s friend, Dennis, offers dad a wish. But all wishes come with a price. Gold does not glitter. Gold just blinds.
Directed by Sam Hardie (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Pitlochry Festival Theatre), This Is A Gift featured as one of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 37 Plays, a national playwriting project in 2023 which created a series of 37 brand new plays that reflected the world we live in. The new play was also longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting the same year.
Playing the role of Zoe will be the acclaimed, award-winning Scottish actress Blythe Jandoo whose theatre credits include Gypsy, The Maggie Wall and Sunshine on Leith (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), Peter Pan (Clyde Auditorium Glasgow), and she also featured in the Walt Disney Pictures Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast.
Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir is an Icelandic director, playwright and dramaturg based in Edinburgh. Her writing includes Deliverance by Brite Theatre (produced by Vanishing Point), Kit Kat (Breakfast Plays, Traverse Theatre) and Can This Be (Prague Fringe). In Spring 2022 she was Resident Director at the Tron Theatre where she directed Me and My Sister Tell Each Other Everything (which she was nominated as Best Director at the 2022 CATS Awards) and hang. Her recent freelance credits include ChildMinder (Traverse Theatre), Variant (A Play, A Pie and A Pint) and Maryland (Traverse Theatre).
Playwright Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir said:
“This Is A Gift is a love letter. To Leith. To Scottish humour. To youth. To the Greek myths. To parents and children and care. To the outsiders. To growing up poorer than other folks and the ambitions that come with that. To being on the precipice.
It was such an honour to have it performed script in hand as part of the 37 Plays at the Royal Shakespeare Company – I did my Masters on Shakespeare and his love of language is such an inspiration to me. I mention that as even though it is a piece of new writing it owes a lot to the old masters and their craft. It is a very lyrical, rhythmic piece, it is a rollercoaster ride of big emotions and striking imagery. Expect a bit of magic, an old story told in a new way, a young perspective. Expect a stunning solo performance and marriage of artforms. Expect it to be both intimate and epic, personal and divine. Expect the unexpected. I’m beyond thrilled to have it premiere at gorgeous Pitlochry and can’t wait to hear your reactions.”
This Is A Gift runs in the Studio at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 24 June – 11 September. Tickets and further information are available from the Box Office on 01796 484626 or online at pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com.
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Blythe Jandoo
