The National Theatre of Scotland has today launched Play Dates, a new digital series for children and families. Produced in association with Starcatchers and Imaginate, Play Dates will offer an online programme of entertaining, interactive activities for children and their families created by some of Scotland’s leading theatre-makers and practitioners.

The programme will include interactive storytelling workshops, freewheeling Unicorn Dance Parties, a step-by-step guide to creating your own theatre show, and special games and exercises to play through video calls with friends.

Play Dates has been created especially for this period whilst schools are closed, offering children and young people, as well as parents and carers, online educational inspiration and theatrical home entertainment. All activities will be free to enjoy, and available to audiences through the National Theatre of Scotland’s website and social media channels.

The programme will launch on Tuesday 26 May at 2pm, and will run for eight weeks. New workshops will be released every day, between Tuesday and Friday, for online audiences to access and take part in.

Further summer Play Dates activities will also be announced over the coming weeks.

Jackie Wylie, Artistic Director, National Theatre of Scotland says

“Scotland has a brilliant community of theatre-makers and creative practitioners who are unable to make theatre on our stages during these challenging times.

We have commissioned this Play Dates series, alongside leading children’s theatre organisations, Starcatchers and Imaginate, to enable a group of facilitators to share their unique talents and skills with children and families at home. We hope to offer creative inspiration and high quality entertainment to children as well as fun for all the family to take part in whilst the schools are closed”

Full details on the Play Dates programme and all of the artists involved can be found here.