I have seen what we have done…Where did we go
wrong?
Philosopher, David Hume and father of modern economics, Adam
Smith awake in Edinburgh in the early 21st Century. To their
bewilderment, joy and horror, it is a prerevolutionary world where
all the knowledge they ever dreamt of is at everyone's fingertips
and the utopia of a free market economy is a reality. But at what
cost to the planet and to humanity?
With their fellow traveller, Eve, a Scottish everywoman, Hume
and Smith embark on an extraordinary journey of enlightenment -
from the concrete New Towns of Scotland's central belt, to Silicon
Glen, Ecstasy and the gay clubs of Edinburgh.
The Tree of Knowledge is a wildly imaginative,
hilariously funny and deeply moving new play from one of Scotland's
most important playwrights. Jo Clifford was instrumental in
establishing the reputation of the Traverse in the 1980s with the
plays Losing Venice and Light in the Village.
Jo's recent plays include an adaptation of Goethe's
Faust and Every One for the Royal Lyceum Theatre.
The Tree of Knowledge was commissioned by the Traverse and
written while Jo was Creative Fellow at the Institute for Advanced
Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh.
Age recommendation: 14+
Space: Traverse One
Running time: 90 mins
Sign language interpreted performance: Thursday 22
December (7.30pm)
Audio-described performance: Thursday 22 December
(7.30pm)
Touch Tour: Thursday 22 December (6.45pm)
After Show Discussion: Thursday 22 December (sign
language interpreted)
Traverse
Theatre Club Tickets: £3 off on Saturday 10 December (book
before 4 December)
Schools Groups: £6 per ticket plus one teacher
free per 10 students.
Traverse Theatre Company World Premiere
Beholder Exhibition
In celebration in the tercentenary of David Hume, the
Talbot Rice Gallery holds the Beholder exhibition, exploring taste
and subjectivity in the visual arts.
19 November 2011 - 18 February 2012
www.trg.ed.ac.uk