Muster Station: Leith

Written by Nicola McCartney, Tawona Sitholé, Uma Nada-Rajah and Ben Harrison.
Directed by Ben Harrison
Commissioned by Edinburgh International Festival

An indoor, site-responsive promenade production in Leith Academy as part of Edinburgh International Festival.

15th – 26th August 2022
Leith Academy, 20 Academy Park, Edinburgh EH6 8JQ

AWARDS

  • Nominated: Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland – Best Technical Presentation category

View the Evacuation Information video here…
(The audience received this video by email, prior to attending the show) 

Question: How are we to treat others?
Answer: There are no others

Ramana Maharishi

The seemingly unthinkable has occurred.

We have become those people from the remote places we see on our screens. Thrust into crisis and driven from our homes into uncomfortable proximity with others whom we had pretended to happily co-exist with but perhaps preferred to ignore, inside the Muster Station, our fragile prejudices and assumptions are exposed.

However, as time passes and stories are shared, will the barriers dissolve to reveal a common humanity united in crisis? Or will the disintegration continue beyond and hope of recovery?

Animating the spaces of Leith Academy, Muster Station: Leith brings together the distinctive voices of Nicola McCartney, Tawona Sitholé, Uma Nada-Rajah and Ben Harrison.

They are joined by a multi-award winning creative team which includes Set and Costume Designer Karen Tennent, Lighting Designer Simon Wilkinson, Composer David Paul Jones and Choreographer Emily Jane Boyle.

In the tradition of Grid Iron’s more political work, including the ground-breaking Roam at Edinburgh Airport, Muster Station: Leith was an arresting and provocative promenade experience from the ‘magicians of site-specific theatre’ (Scotsman).

Muster Station: Leith signals Grid Iron’s third production as part of Edinburgh International Festival, following Variety in 2002 and Leaving Planet Earth in 2013. Grid Iron were also proud to be Artists in Residence in Leith Academy as part of EIF’s residency with the school. Find out more about the Festival’s Learning and Engagement work at eif.co.uk/L&E.

Muster Station - Poster

Production photography by Jess Shurte & Ryan Buchanan.

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What The Press Said

“Muster Station: Leith makes a convincing job of turning abstract hypothesis into tangible experience. A few more steps down our apocalyptic road and this is what it could be like… it demonstrates in a visceral and unsettling way something of the forces, both political and meteorological, we are up against.”

“As our world builds up borders, out theatres endeavour to tear down walls. Pioneering site-specific theatre company, Grid Iron, continue to see such barriers and rip them apart.”

“the acting of those involved was extraordinary… Together they brought to life some of the most endearing, frustrating, incredibly human characters I’ve ever witnessed. That credit also goes to a team of writers who were unafraid to create characters that were charismatic whilst being flawed and even unlikeable at points…. Their work provided numerous poignant and gripping moments. It was an exhilarating journey from scene to scene…. Overall, Muster Station: Leith was a thoroughly gripping experience. True escapism and an unfiltered exploration of human nature.”

“It’s hard to define exactly where the edges of performance lie. Big ‘Muster Station” signs on the way into the Academy are surrounded by tacked up pictures of lost people. The ushers have ‘Guardian’ on their tabards as they queue you up for processing under the eyes of security people, ominously marked ‘Force’… It is seamlessly done. The feeling of losing control is created simply by being made to put your phone in a sealed bag…

If the writing creates its own reality, the whole production is shot through with Grid Iron’s meticulous attention to detail… And for all that this is theatre, there is no escaping the realisation that this is right on one thing: the time for dire warnings is past. The question now, is what to do.”

“This is site-specific theatre at it best…This is brilliant work from writers Nicola McCartney, Tawona Sitholé, Uma Nada-Rajah and Ben Harrison. Even as the cold hand of fear clutches at your heart, it’s funny. It’s technically sci-fi – in as much as this is a vision of the not-too-distant future – but the story’s told in such an eminently believable way that calling it sci-fi is too dismissive. The writers have done their research and skitter from one terrible consequence of climate change to another with barely a pause for breath. And the story’s woven through with a fascinating eye on equality spun around the centuries old question: in the event of disaster, who deserves to be saved?

Muster Station grabs you by the throat and then laughs in your face at your foolish optimism that things might have turned out better. It’s no wonder that the show has already sold out.”

“a classic Grid Iron performance that uses the resources of the physical space to dig at a human theme. This is never not a school, drawing parallels to the pandemic in which civic buildings were repurposed for mass events. But it’s a lot more besides…tying together complex threads around power, class, race, colonialism, climate in nuanced and unforced style.”

“If it feels like we’re living in a real life disaster movie right now, Edinburgh’s site-specific auteurs Grid Iron are here to take the temperature of the times in epic fashion…. Utilising the full expanse of the school, Muster Station: Leith reimagines the venue as part sanctuary, part concentration camp for those on the run from an environmental catastrophe close to home.”

“The company’s work is ground-breaking, some of the best performance work I’ve ever witnessed as a scholar of theatrical work, which is situated on edges and in unusual intercultural situations with those seeking refuge… The production announces itself as “an immersive experience” but like Roam before it I am already experiencing it as life-changing. The word “transformational” has become a little too glib but it is merited here… Thank you, Grid Iron.”

“For those prepared to enter fully into the drama, the experience is undeniably harrowing, although not without its moments of humour; and every detail is driven along by a powerful, often menacing score by David Paul Jones, and meticulously delivered by a creative and production team of more than 100 people, including writer-director Ben Harrison and fellow-writers Nicola McCartney, Uma Nada-Rajah and Tawona Sitholé, and a superb eight-strong professional cast.”

“unnerving and compelling… The various stages of processing and immersive dramatic scenarios highlight the chaotic, dehumanising experience of displacement and evacuation. This feels like a wake-up call to complacency around the comfort of like in the UK and the lasting legacy of colonialism. However, hope and human connection emerge throughout each scene offering a balance of tone…. a balance of intense drama interspersed with comic moments… This is a rare opportunity to surrender your imagination to this unique theatre experience.”

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Video

View the trailer for Muster Station: Leith here…
Filmed by Fiann Macleaod, edited by Ruidi Collins.

Dates & Information

DateTimePrice
PreviewsAug 15 & 177:30pm (2h)£20
RunAug 18-21, 23-25,7:30pm (2h)£25
Aug 264pm (2h)£25

2hrs approx. (No interval. Toilet visits will be possible)

AGE RECOMMENDATION: 12+

FURTHER INFORMATION & TICKETS

www.eif.co.uk/events/muster-station-leith

ACCESS INFORMATION

BSL interpreted performances (including Front of House interpretation)

DateTimePrice
BSL interpreted performancesAug 202pm (2h)£25
Aug 247:30pm (2h)£25

This is an indoor, promenade performance with audiences moving though the venue, with a mixture of seating and standing.  All spaces are on ground level and are fully accessible to wheelchair users and people with other mobility issues.  Although there is no interval it will be possible to visit the toilet as we move between spaces within the building.

If you have access requirements, please make yourself known to front of house staff on arrival.

PLEASE NOTE

There are no café/bar facilities at this venue and doors will open just prior to the performance. Please arrive no more than 15 minutes before the start time as there will be no access to the building before then.

Writers

Ben Harrison

Nicola McCartney

Uma Nada-Rajah

Tawona Sitholé

Cast

Shyvonne Ahmmad (Zara)

Rachel Bruce (Izzy)

Pauline Goldsmith (Clarissa/Claire)

Joseph Ogeleka (Rufus/Chamu)

Paul McCole (Steve/Billy)

Tijan Sarr (Dan)

Olivia Sikora (Lina)

Naomi Stirrat (Fran)

Creative Team

Director:
Ben Harrison

Producer:
Judith Doherty

Director of Finance & Development:
Deborah Crewe

Assistant Director:
Niloo-Far Khan

Dramaturg:
Joanne Skapinker

Set & Costume Designer:
Karen Tennent

Lighting Designer:
Simon Wilkinson

Composer & Sound Designer:
David Paul Jones

Choreographer:
Emily-Jane Boyle

Costume Supervisor:
Sophie Ferguson

Design Assistant:
Morven McLeod

Assistant Lighting Designer:
Laura Martin

Fight Director:
Carter Ferguson

Associate Movement Director:
Darragh O’Leary

Video Designer:
James Blake

Finnish Language assistance:
Maria Oller

Production Team

Production Manager:
Fiona Fraser

Technical Manager:
Roy Fairhead

Head of Sound:
Joe Connell

Head of Lights:
Andy Gannon

Company Stage Manager:
Michael Graham

Deputy Stage Manager:
Katy Steele

Stage Management:
Lee Davis

Stage Management:
Hannah Henderson

Production Technician (AV):
Andy Reid

Production Technician (LX):
Sophie Wright

Production Technician:
Joe Davis

Production Technician (Sound):
Neil Dewar

Operator:
Laura Martin

Operator:
Ewan Fraser

Front of House

Front of House Manager:
Kath Lowe

Front of House Supervisor:
Kirsty Eila McIntyre

Stewards

Ross Jamieson , Morris Jefferies, Zoë Mclean , Cara Moloney, Laurie Scott, Kim Stronach.

Assistants

Harry Barr, Ruby Bernard, Daniel Boston, Lauren Bryson, Jamie Buglass, Amelie Chisholm, Emily Combe, Paula Cordiner, Ace Duncan, Aleena Edwardson, Lily Enguidanos, Arran Gilfillan, Bella Gordon, Lovell Hearn, Magdalena Lipiec, Evan May, Ben Saunders Maze, Craig O’Brian, Magnus Ord, Codie Smith. Erin Wallace, Murrin Leah Wilshaw

Marketing

Programme and Logos:
Emma & Oliver Quinn

Artwork:
Andy Quinn

Social Media:
Rosie Bans

Publicity Image:
Laurence Winram

Printed blanket makers

Lead Artist & Workshop Leader:
Sophie Ferguson

Workshop Leader:
Amy Firth

Workshop Leader:
Niloo-Far Khan

Megan Adair, Nicola Milazzo, Patricia Kenny, Verity Sinclair
and 250 Leith Academy pupils in second and third year.

Lifeguards

Danny Johnston, Amahn Kasbia, Alex Third, Lewis Thomas

BSL/English enterpreters

Paul Belmonte (Show), Rachel Amey (FOH)

Script Development Workshops

Rachel Bruce, Raghad Chaar, Lesley Hart, Hannah Henderson, Edward Hutchings, Joanna Ignaczewska, Phil McKee, Thierry Mabonga, Rachael Marsh, Joseph Ogeleka, Benjamin Osugo, Wendy Seager, Sara Shaarawi, Malcolm Shields, Naomi Stirrat, Gail Watson, and Amahn Kasbia and Ellie Findlay for Lifeguarding.

View Our Programme

To read more information about the show, including the Director’s Note and team biographies, have a look through our production programme.

Muster Station - Programme
View Production Programme

Video

This footage of the Water of Leith formed part of the scene, Rebellion, by Uma Nada-Rajah…

Find out more about our work with EIF’s Learning and Engagement department for
Muster Station: Leith in this short video…

Supporters

Creative Scotland - logo
Edinburgh International Festival - logo
Scottish Government - logo

Social Media

Join the conversation with Edinburgh International Festival…

Join the conversation with Grid Iron…

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