World premiere play with Brian Cox to open 2025 Edinburgh International Festival
Opening the International Festival this year will be the world premiere of a new play, Make It Happen, by James Graham, starring Succession's Brian Cox.
Article Source: Edinburgh International Festival
Last Updated: 24 January 2025 11:10
WORLD PREMIERE
A National Theatre of Scotland, Edinburgh International Festival and Dundee Rep Theatre co-production in association with Playful Productions and Neal Street Productions
Make It Happen
Written by James Graham
Directed by Andrew Panton
With Brian Cox
Opening performance of the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival on Friday 1 August 2025, then running until Saturday 9 August.
Previewing at Dundee Rep Theatre in late July and at the International Festival on Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 July.
Make It Happen is an epic new satirical play by acclaimed playwright James Graham, directed by Andrew Panton, Artistic Director of Dundee Rep Theatre. This unique co-production between National Theatre of Scotland, Edinburgh International Festival and Dundee Rep Theatre marks the return of Brian Cox to Scottish stages for the first time in a decade.
The world premiere of Make It Happen opens the Edinburgh International Festival’s 2025 programme of theatre, music, opera, and dance. It runs for a week at the Festival Theatre from 1–9 August, with previews at the International Festival on 30 and 31 July and at Dundee Rep Theatre from late July.
‘There is no such thing - as too big.’
Behold the rise, fall and fail of the biggest bank in the world – The Royal Bank of Scotland.
Helmed by Fred ”The Shred” Goodwin, with his fervent belief in the wisdom of the ‘founder of modern capitalism’, Adam Smith, the once prudent RBS soon plummets, placing Scotland at the heart of the global financial crash of 2008.
Set in Edinburgh, Make It Happen sees legendary actor Brian Cox return to the Scottish stage for the first time in a decade as Adam Smith, the ghost of fiscal past. Written by James Graham (Sherwood, Dear England), hailed as one of the most influential and finger-on-the-pulse writers of our time, and directed by the award-winning Andrew Panton, this bitingly funny new satire delves into the unchecked growth, spiralling greed and nail-biting hubris that brought the world’s economy to its knees.
This fictionalised satire features a mixture of characters and incidents inspired by real-life events, with others entirely imagined.
James Graham, writer, said:
"Like many writers, an Edinburgh stage is the first place ever I dared put a full play in front of an audience. To be invited to join the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival programme this summer is an honour and a thrill. And to work with the National Theatre of Scotland, the Dundee Rep, and of course - Brian Cox, whom I’ve been desperate to write for for as long as I can remember.
We still live in the long shadow of the 2008 financial crash and our inability to reset from that inheritance and its divisive legacies, so it feels right to be interrogating it artistically. But we hope to do so in a show full of music and story, larger-than-life characters, cheeky humour, and some ghosts from Scotland's centuries' long past thrown in as well..."
Andrew Panton, director, said:
”It’s a personal honour and huge responsibility to tell what became a global story that started in the city close to where I grew up. Working with an exceptionally talented cast, creative and production teams, I’m excited to be directing this new play, bringing it to audiences at Dundee Rep Theatre and Edinburgh International Festival stages.”
Brian Cox, actor, said:
“I'm excited to be doing a play written by James Graham who is such a great writer. It's been a long time since I played in Scotland - it's good to be back".
Jackie Wylie, Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Scotland said:
“I am thrilled that audiences will get to experience the combined talents of James Graham and Brian Cox, taking on the collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland in this epic new play, directed by the gifted Andrew Panton, produced in partnership with the brilliant institutions, Dundee Rep and Edinburgh International Festival. Dealing with seismic global moments that have shaped our national psyche, at the world’s most significant arts Festival is the perfect project for the National Theatre of Scotland and we are truly proud of this special collaboration”
Nicola Benedetti, Edinburgh International Festival Director, said:
“We are extremely proud to present a brand-new play by James Graham, ‘Make It Happen’, which will open the 2025 International Festival in August. This co-commission with the National Theatre of Scotland and Dundee Rep demonstrates our ongoing commitment to bringing vital Scottish stories to the world stage, and invites us to examine events that took place in Edinburgh but rippled across
the globe.
Illuminating this year’s festival theme ‘The Truth We Seek’, 'Make it Happen' exemplifies the level of ambition and thought-provoking work that defines the Edinburgh International Festival. We cannot wait to see you there.”
Paisley born Fred Goodwin was the Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group between 2001 and 2009, presiding over RBS’s rapid rise to become the world’s largest company (by assets) and the fifth-largest bank (by stock market value), and their even more rapid fall in 2008, which coincided with the worldwide economic crisis. Make It Happen is the first major artwork exploring RBS’s role in this tumultuous period in recent history.
'James Graham is fast becoming the pre-eminent playwright of his generation.' The Guardian
James Graham is an award-winning screenwriter and playwright, whose recent work includes Dear England (National Theatre of GB and West End) which won the Olivier award for Best Play in 2024 and is currently being adapted into a BBC miniseries. Other theatre work includes: This House (National Theatre of GB, West End and UK tour), which was chosen by popular vote as the best play of the 2010’s for the major theatre publisher Methuen; Punch (Nottingham Playhouse and transferring to the Young Vic in spring 2025); Best of Enemies (Young Vic, 2022), winner of the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award; Tammy Faye (The Almeida), and Ink (The Almeida), which transferred to Broadway and was nominated for six Tony Awards; Labour of Love (Noel Coward Theatre, 2018) which won the Olivier award for Best Comedy.
For television, James is the writer and creator of Sherwood which first aired on BBC One in 2022 to five star reviews, winning the Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama and two BAFTAS.
Other TV includes Brexit: An Uncivil War, broadcast on Channel 4 and HBO, and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie. His Channel 4 drama, Coalition won the RTS Award for Best Single Drama (2019), and Quiz (ITV and AMC), adapted from his stage play and directed by Stephen Frears, was one of the most watched UK TV dramas of 2020.
Andrew Panton is an award-winning theatre director and currently Artistic Director and Joint CEO of Dundee Rep Theatre. For Dundee Rep, his directorial credits include August: Osage County, The Children, A Christmas Carol, Oor Wullie, Passing Places and Spring Awakening. He has previously worked with National Theatre of Scotland as director on digital lockdown short Out of the Woods with Alan Cumming and A Sheep Called Skye, and as staff director on the original UK & International tours of Black Watch. He has also directed productions for the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Citizens Theatre Glasgow, Royal & Derngate, Perth Theatre and The Stephen Joseph Theatre. His recent work includes A History of Paper, which won a Scotsman Fringe First, an immersive production of Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, and the gig-theatre musical No Love Songs which will transfer to Sydney and New York in spring 2025. Andrew’s work for television includes: Children in Need, The Naked Choir and The Voice (BBC) and he was a creative director for the opening ceremony of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Brian Cox is an award-winning Scottish actor, known for his work on stage and screen. Born in Dundee, he trained at Dundee Rep Theatre before going on to work at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company where he first gained recognition for his portrayal of King Lear.
His numerous accolades include two Olivier Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Recent entries on his extensive list of theatre credits include Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Wyndham’s Theatre) and The Score (Theatre Royal Bath). His screen work includes Succession (HBO), Braveheart (Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox) and Nuremberg (TNT).
Brian returns to Scottish stages for the first time in a decade, last appearing on Scottish stages in 2015 in Waiting For Godot at the Royal Lyceum Theatre. He previously worked with National Theatre of Scotland in 2020 when he played Inspector Rebus in a special digital short, John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues written by Ian Rankin for their lockdown Scenes for Survival series, created in partnership with BBC Scotland.
Creative Team: Set Designer: Anna Fleischle; Costume Co-Designers: Anna Fleischle and Angelica Rush; Movement Director: Emily Jane Boyle; Musical Supervisor and Arranger: Martin Lowe; Lighting Designer: Lizzie Powell; Sound Designer: Tingying Dong; Video co-designers: Lewis den Hertog and Anna Fleischle; Associate Designer: Angelica Rush; Casting Director: Stuart Burt CDG
Supported by Sir Ewan and Lady Brown
Make It Happen is also supported by the Scottish Government’s Festivals EXPO Fund through Creative Scotland.
Previewing at Dundee Rep Theatre (late July); opening at Edinburgh International Festival, at the
Festival Theatre, (previews Wed 30 & Thurs 31 July) Fri 1 August – Sat 9 August
Full cast to be announced.
More information here - nationaltheatrescotland.com/events/make-it-happen
Tickets will go on sale for performances at Edinburgh International Festival on 27 March, with priority booking available.
The Edinburgh International Festival’s full programme will be announced on 13 March 2025.
Image credit: Colin Hutton
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