HIV ALOUD: RAISE THE CURTAIN

The Edinburgh Playhouse and Waverley Care are pleased to announce a new collaboration, HIV ALOUD: RAISE THE CURTAIN, an arts initiative to share stories of those living with HIV.

Article Source: Edinburgh Playhouse
Last Updated: 6 October 2025 15:00

Part of the charitable mission of Waverley Care is to reduce the stigma and raise awareness around HIV. This project, which will be delivered by Edinburgh Playhouse Creative Learning has received £20,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund to help achieve this aim and best serve these communities.

HIV ALOUD: RAISE THE CURTAIN will be a creative writing intensive of weekly workshops led by a dedicated creative writing associate artist for a diverse group of 30 participants aged 18 years and older who are living with HIV. With accessibility and inclusion in mind, this programme will be free for those selected and will culminate in a showcase on the Playhouse stage of their collectively created script.

Our partnership will focus on how people living with HIV can “live well”, and to tell these stories as a celebration of life. No one should face isolation, and the main purpose of this project is to empower those living with HIV to live full and healthy lives.

Christopher Ward, National Operations Manager of Waverley Care, shares,

“Waverley Care is thrilled to partner with Edinburgh Playhouse Creative Learning to launch HIV ALOUD: RAISE THE CURTAIN – a programme of weekly creative writing workshops led by an associate artist. The project will culminate in a script performed by professional actors on the Playhouse main stage.

The Edinburgh Playhouse sits at the top of Leith Walk, in Edinburgh’s ‘pink triangle’, a historic centre of LGBTQI+ life in Scotland’s capital. While the city still carries the unspoken trauma of the AIDS epidemic, HIV ALOUD is for anyone whose life is affected by HIV today. With the venue’s Creative Learning team rooted in the local community and its deep understanding of the area’s history, the Playhouse is the ideal home for the project.

This pioneering initiative will empower people living with HIV to creatively express themselves, challenge stigma, raise awareness, and celebrate what it means to live well with HIV today.”

As part of the educational initiative, all Edinburgh Playhouse staff will undertake HIV awareness training including a short history of HIV in Edinburgh. Gordon Millar, Theatre Director of the Edinburgh Playhouse, comments,

“We are thrilled to work in partnership with Waverley Care to deliver this life-affirming creative work. This investment into our community wouldn’t have been possible without the support of The National Lottery Community Fund, and so we thank them for funding the amplification of truly vital stories to be told from those living with HIV today. We are proud to have worked with Waverley Care in our venue as a Playhouse Charity Partner collecting bucket donations within the theatre and this is another opportunity, and a special one at that, to give back to our community in collaboration with this impactful organisation.”

We are currently seeking to commission a creative writer who is living with or has lived experience of HIV to work alongside Edinburgh Playhouse and Waverley Care to deliver this project. This artist will have experience working in community settings and will work in collaboration with the partnership to consult participants about the best way to serve their needs and to ensure their authentic stories are heard. The application for this contract role can be found here.

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HIV ALOUD: RAISE THE CURTAIN

The Edinburgh Playhouse and Waverley Care are pleased to announce a new collaboration, HIV ALOUD: RAISE THE CURTAIN, an arts initiative to share stories of those living with HIV.

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