The Highlands and Islands’ emerging playwrights will have a chance to bring their stories to life when SPARK, the Highland New Play Festival, returns to Eden Court in Inverness from 21 to 24 January 2027.
Organised by Dogstar Theatre in partnership with Eden Court and Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland, the four day festival will bring together writers, actors, directors and audiences to celebrate new theatre from across the region.
Following its first edition in January 2024, SPARK is returning with an expanded programme designed to encourage new writing and give audiences an opportunity to discover plays while they are still being developed.
At its heart is a simple idea that the Highlands and Islands have stories worth telling, and the people writing them deserve opportunities to be heard.
An open call will invite aspiring and established playwrights to submit ideas and extracts for the festival’s Scratch Sessions, with submissions welcomed in Gaelic, Scots, English and British Sign Language.
Eight developing plays will be selected for these sessions, allowing writers to work with professional directors and actors before presenting extracts to audiences for feedback and discussion.
The festival’s Script Sessions will feature rehearsed readings of six new plays, giving audiences an early introduction to work that has yet to reach the stage.
These readings will also offer opportunities for audiences to share their reactions and contribute to discussions about the stories and characters.
Alongside the performances, Speakout Sessions will bring together artists, audiences and guest experts from Scotland and further afield to explore the place of theatre in society.
Discussions will consider why people write plays and how artists respond to events affecting their communities and the wider world.
Workshop Sessions will provide practical development opportunities for playwrights, including, for the first time, a workshop open to anyone interested in writing for theatre.
There will also be a distinctly Highland flavour to the evenings, with Ceilidh Sessions featuring live performances from local artists, poets and musicians on Friday and Saturday.
For Dogstar Theatre, the festival forms part of a wider commitment to nurturing new writing across the north of Scotland.
Since the first SPARK festival in 2024, the Highland based company has worked with more than 60 aspiring playwrights through mentoring programmes, school workshops, writing courses and commissions.
Its development work has reached communities including Stornoway, Wick, Tongue and Inverness, helping to create opportunities for writers beyond Scotland’s established theatrical centres.
Dogstar has also built an international reputation for presenting original theatre, with productions performed across Europe, Australia and the United States.
SPARK offers an opportunity to bring that experience home while creating space for new voices and stories rooted in the Highlands and Islands.
The organisers hope the festival will become a biennial fixture in the Highland cultural calendar, providing a regular meeting place for playwrights and theatre professionals.
Further programme announcements are expected in the coming months, with tickets scheduled to go on sale through Eden Court’s box office in November.
The festival is supported by Creative Scotland.
