We are thrilled to announce another new show coming to Scottish stages in 2025. The playwrighting debut of Ivor Novello winner Martin Green, KELI marks the culmination of a two-year deep odyssey into the world of brass bands.

KELI, a co-production with Green’s production company Lepus, was inspired by conversations that Green had for the BBC Radio 4 series ‘Love, Spit and Valve Oil’, and tells the story of a fiery, sharp-witted teenager in a former mining town and the best player her brass band has ever seen. Directed by Bryony Shanahan, KELI celebrates community, creativity, and the power of music.

The show will feature brass band music from Martin Green’s acclaimed album SPLIT THE AIR. Through collaboration with Whitburn Band, and other local brass bands around Scotland, this production continues to sustain ongoing relationships with Scottish brass bands and the communities they represent.

KELI will preview at the Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling before opening at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh and touring to Dundee Rep Theatre, Perth Theatre and Tramway, Glasgow in 2025, 40 years after the miners’ strike of 1984-85 and will reach audiences across the country who belong to communities that were hugely affected by strike.

Martin Green, writer and composer, said:

"To be making KELI with National Theatre of Scotland and Bryony Shanahan forty years on from the Miners’ Strike, feels absolutely right; an incredible team of visionary people. Perfect."

Bryony Shanahan, director, said:

"I am so thrilled to be working with National Theatre of Scotland, Lepus and Martin Green to bring Keli to life. It’s a story about community, legacy and above all, music and I can’t wait to invite audiences into Keli’s remarkable world and heart.”

Full info here.