Would you mind giving us an insight into what your show/event/performance is?
Prophets is a dark new drama about faith and violence. It plays out on a British Overseas Territory in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. A palaeoclimatologist turns up and finds 48 people utterly convinced they are in the presence of a new messiah – known only as the Prophet.
Tell us about the creative team and the process involved?
Team Prophets (we don’t have a collective name yet; the faithful? The congregation? The choir? The apostles?) is led by our director Fraser Scott (Common Tongue, Athens of the North), producer Leah Byrne (NTS Producing fellow), designer Emma Moran (Let the Right One In, 2025), and our actors Rebecca Wilkie and Xander Cowan. All of these incredible people have come together to tell this story, and as the writer I feel honoured to have them onboard. As a writer, I only bring half the play to the room; the rest happens in rehearsals. We’re in the middle of discovering that right now so that means I have to step away and let it go, and allow the piece to thrive under the care of a team who share my vision for it. We’re actually getting on very well and have so far succeeded in not replicating a cult-like atmosphere. I suppose I would say that though, wouldn’t I? A classic hallmark of a cult is denying they’re a cult.
How does it feel coming to (back to) the Fringe?
Kind of horrible and exciting all at the same time. Last time I did the Fringe, in 2023, I did a show called ‘Everything Under the Sun’ and it was a surprise hit. No one was waiting around for that show but it found its audience and got a few awards including a prize from the Scottish Arts Club and a Scotsman Fringe First. That was unreal. I think in some ways the ‘second album’ thing has haunted me a bit. Three years is long enough away from the Fringe. This play has lived with my for years and I think it really needs to get out there now, it’s the right time for it. The Fringe is a strange and baffling combination of arts festival and trade show. It’s the only time you can meet people in the street and like a traveller in some ancient ye olden time stop them and ask: “what have you seen?” and they will regale you with stories about Americans doing improv or a show about planets getting coffee (copyright on that btw).
With shows from all over the world at the Fringe, what sets yours apart?
Prophets sits at a really distinct niche of Scottish new writing, folk horror, global politics, and religious drama. It’s thoughtful and exciting and put together by one of the coolest directors in Scotland. It’s been my intention to write something as ambitious and world-spanning as the island dramas you’d get David Greig and Zinnie Harris in the 90s / 2000s. It’s a big international story that begins on a Scottish stage and made by a Scottish team.
On that, is there anything in the production or production team’s backgrounds which influences the way the show is performed or told?
One of our actors, Xander Cowan, has spoken a lot about Michael Johnson’s 2025 play ‘Derby Day’ and the step up it gave him as an actor. Embodying a lot of tensile vulnerability, this character with secrets, pulled apart like wire, there’s similar expectations around the (many) roles he plays in Prophets. He’s got to hold a lot of secrets and he’s got to give them up, it’s the root of a lot of conflict in the text.
Our set and costume designer Emma Moran is relatively new to the scene but I think she’s one of the most exciting designers in Scotland. Her production of ‘Let the Right One In’ at RCS, directed by Fin den Hertog, was really beautiful and haunting. We wanted to work with Emma as soon as we saw it. Her level of intentionality and attention to detail is so special and as a writer she treats the work with such depth and respect, she treats the play as a living document with history and weight. The dark and gritty energy of LTROI carries over to Prophets, substituting post-war Swedish asylum vibes with barren island cargo cult.
Is there anything specific you’re hoping the audience will take away?
The play is fundamentally about free will vs prophecy. Why do bad things happen to us? Do we get to decide who we are? Are we forcibly shaped by the things that happen to us? Do we decide what changes us – or does God?
Your Ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t…?
The festival audience is unmistakably international in character, they’re generally supportive, they love stories and that’s what I love about them. The enthusiasm of Fringe audiences that are up for going to places even if they’re dark or a little strange or scary. Most of all, my big bet with all my writing is that audiences are hungry for these kinds of stories that connect Scotland to the contemporary dramatic currents of the whole wide world. As for who isn’t there, I hope there aren’t any overly sensitive cult leaders who might see themselves cast in a negative light. That would not be ideal.
It’s an intense month, so where you’re able, how do you plan to relax, and are there any other shows you intend to see or want to recommend?
I feel guilty when I try to relax. I’ve got Prophets and a reading of a different play at TravFest so it’s pretty relentless and I’m just praying to make it through alright. In September and October, I am planning to travel and recharge. My diet consists of Monster energy drinks (peach zero sugar thanks), strawberries, and lentil crisps. I have anxiety nightmares about the show and I’m struggling a lot with the heat. Having a producer and a director helps shield me from having to carry too much of this myself, I literally wouldn’t be able to do this without them. It’s because of that team that I can actually see other shows besides my own during August.
I am particularly buzzing to see Kari Hall’s ‘hame. teeth. CLUB.’ at Underbelly. Both our shows had their very first sharing at Page 2 Stage on the same night in November 2023 so it feels like fate (or prophecy?) to have them both going to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2026. Kari is an exciting voice in Scottish new writing and her show is going to be really excellent; an irreverently honest exploration of working-class womanhood, escape, and all the contradictions that make a person real. I’ve got my ticket.
Prophets runs at Venue 139, Roxyboxy at Assembly Roxy
Runs: 5th – 31st August at 20:30pm
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