Future Acts + Q&A
<div><b>This screening </b><b>will be followed by a Q&A.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><div>A cinematic collage of six surprising, Scottish short stories pitching audiences into the future. </div><div><br></div><div><i>Future Acts</i> is created by a team of celebrated and award-winning Scottish theatrical and film talent.</div><div><br></div><div>Produced by National Theatre of Scotland, in association with Shakehaus productions and distributed in cinemas across Scotland by Cosmic Cat.</div></div><div><br></div><div><i>In partnership with BBC Scotland </i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>Supported by The Weir Charitable Trust</i></div><div><br></div><div><div>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 young and more experienced team of leading Scottish theatre-makers, filmmakers, actors and artists.</div><div><br></div><div>The future has been foraged by six writing and directing teams for a series of interlinked modern shorts; Ai, cultural identity dating, queer love, climate change and cloning; the personal and the political, are all playfully explored.</div><div><br></div><div>The six shorts embrace theatrical and filmic genres and have been sited in distinctive Scottish locations including a bunker, a bed shop, a beer garden, a coastal path and a caravan. </div></div><div><br></div><div><div>FILMS FEATURED:</div><div><b><i><br></i></b></div><div><div><b><i>Bed to the Future</i></b></div><div>Writer/Director: <b>James Ley</b></div><div>Performed by <b>Martin Quinn</b> and <b>Jay Newton</b></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div></div><div><div><b><i>Un-Static</i></b></div><div>Writer: <b>Natali McCleary</b></div><div>Director: <b>Josefa Celestin</b></div><div>Performed by <b>Maureen Carr</b> and <b>James Dawoud</b></div><div>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.</div></div><div><br></div><div><b><i>Broth</i></b></div></div><div><div>Writer: <b>Lesley Hart</b></div><div>Director: <b>Sally Reid</b></div><div>Performed by <b>Carmen Pierracini</b> and <b>Ryan J Mackay</b></div><div>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.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div><b><i>Smoke</i></b></div><div>Writer: <b>Kieran Hurley</b></div><div>Director: <b>Rianne White</b></div><div>Performed by <b>Nicolette McCormack</b> with narration by <b>Shirley Manson</b></div><div>This evocative and visually striking film explores the urgency and fear at the heart of the climate crisis.</div><div><br></div><div><b><i>Optimum</i></b></div><div>Writer: <b>Uma Nada-Rajah</b></div><div>Director: <b>Stewart Laing</b></div><div>Performed by <b>Ross Mann</b> and <b>Anna Russell-Martin</b></div><div>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?</div><div><br></div><div><b><i>Still Alive</i></b></div><div>Writer/Director: <b>Hope Dickson Leach</b></div><div>Performed by <b>Keith Fleming</b> and <b>Nadia Albina</b></div><div>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.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div>The National Theatre of Scotland is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2026 with a programme that acknowledges the game-changing theatre that has defined the Company’s output over the last two decades. Hybrid digital and broadcast theatre-making has been pioneered by NTS during this time including the guerilla live film project, <i>Five Minute Theatre</i> (2005), the Scottish BAFTA winning drama <i>Adam</i>, also in partnership with BBC Scotland, and <i>The Strange Undoing of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde</i> in 2021/22 which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, following a live capture at Leith Theatre which was streamed into cinemas.</div><div><br></div><div>In 2020, NTS pivoted to become a digital production company when theatres were closed during the Covid 19 pandemic. During this time, the Company partnered with BBC Scotland and BBC Arts to create <i>Scenes for Survival</i>, an unprecedented series of short sharp digital artworks in response to the lockdown. These were shared across partners’ platforms, and a selection was made available on iPlayer. Their reach exceeded 20 million views across social and broadcast channels and were acknowledged as an incredible response to the times Scotland the world experienced six years ago. </div><div><br></div><div><i><b>Future Acts</b></i> follows on from this project, exploring hybrid digital storytelling that focuses on script, story and performance.</div></div>PT1HN/C 18Martin Quinn
Jay Newton (<i>Bed to the Future</i>); Maureen Carr
James Dawoud (<i>Un-Static</i>); Carmen Pierracini
Ryan J Mackay (<i>Broth</i>); Nicolette McCormack
Shirley Manson (<i>Smoke</i>); Ross Mann
Anna Russell-Martin (<i>Optimum</i>); Keith Fleming
Nadia Albina (<i>Still Alive</i>)
James Ley (<i>Bed to the Future</i>); Josefa Celestin (<i>Un-Static</i>); Sally Reid (<i>Broth</i>); Rianne White (<i>Smoke</i>); Stewart Laing (<i>Optimum</i>); Hope Dickson Leach (<i>Still Alive</i>)
James Ley (<i>Bed to the Future</i>); Natali McCleary (<i>Un-Static</i>); Lesley Hart (<i>Broth</i>); Kieran Hurley (<i>Smoke</i>); Uma Nada-Rajah (<i>Optimum</i>); Hope Dickson Leach (<i>Still Alive</i>)
Future Acts + Q&A"Future Acts + Q&A"Showtimes
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