The first play has just debuted in the new studio at Pitlochry Festival Theatre.
Sister Radio is an evocative and moving piece about sisterhood and migration.
From playwright Sara Shaarawi and director Caitlin Skinner, it is the story of two Iranian sisters, Fatemah (Lanna Joffrey) and Shirin (Nalân Burgess), who have been living together in the same flat in Edinburgh for 43 years.
Total silence
Here, they cook, read their coffee grains, listen to the radio, and mull over childhood memories from Tehran – in total silence. They no longer talk to each other.
However, when the Covid-19 pandemic hits, they are forced to deal with their memories of a betrayal that changed their relationship forever.
The play, co-commissioned by Stellar Quines Theatre Company and Pearlfisher, takes place over two timelines in the same Edinburgh flat, the 2020 pandemic, and the run-up to the Islam Revolution in 1979.
It examines the complexities of sister relationships, while focusing on the lasting impact our choices have on us.
Caitlin Skinner is Stellar Quines Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, while Sara Shaarawi is Cairo-born playwright, based in Glasgow.
Her writing has been commissioned and supported by various theatre companies, including the National Theatre of Scotland and Fuel Theatre.
Sister Radio will go on to tour Scotland and England in the autumn.
At Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Studio until September 28.
Tickets at pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com.Â
