Revisit plays which have been instrumental in shaping writing for theatre in Scotland, including work by some of our best known and best loved playwrights. We are celebrating the Traverse 40th Anniversary Year by holding monthly rehearsed readings of some of the world premieres produced through the sixties, seventies and eighties. As well as the writers, we are inviting back actors and directors involved in the original productions.

The Balachites
by Stanley Eveling
First performed 30 July 1963 at the first Traverse, 15 James Court on Lawnmarket.
Directed by Terry Lane

The Balachites was the very first new play produced by the Traverse as well as the first play by a Scottish based writer. Stanley Eveling went on to be the Traverse’s leading playwright from the 1960s to the early 1970s. Three men discussing the value of life in an empty house are interrupted by a young couple coming to view it. This reading of The Balachites will be performed in transverse, as it was in the original Traverse Theatre. The reading will be followed by a conversation between Stanley Eveling about his life and work with Philip Howard, Artistic Director of the Traverse