True Story

For Communities
The room is dimly lit and a bookcase is in the background. There is a desk with a computer on it. The screen reads "True Story".


Everyone's got a story to tell

What's yours?

In our 20th birthday year and for the first time ever, National Theatre of Scotland invited the public to share the real-life stories that you thought deserved to be told on Scotland's stages.

We created a shortlist from all the entries and then two incredible story were selected and will be brought to life by a team of leading Scottish theatre artists, for public presentation in 2027.

Thank you to our True Story Ambassador Lorraine Kelly
And our True Story Champions Greg McHugh, Irvine Welsh, Len Pennie, Val McDermid and Shereen Nanjiani.

 

The chosen Productions are:

Soldiers line up to be inspected.

The Story of Force K6

The first thing they heard was the screaming. Not men. Not bullets. Aircraft.
find out more
A purple Highland cow doorstep sits on a bench

The Story of Hamey and Dan

Hamey became the favourite child but I didn’t care because I had a soft spot for Hamey as well.
find out more

20 years of compelling real-life stories

Over the last 20 years, the National Theatre of Scotland has gained a world-wide reputation for turning compelling real life Scottish stories into brilliant new plays that have been shared with audiences in Scotland and beyond. 

The soldiers in the Black Watch regiment, deployed to Iraq in Black Watch. The group of girls from Glasgow, who fought for their friend to be saved from deportation in Glasgow Girls.  The story of Adam who crossed borders and genders to find himself in Adam. The historical exploits of three Scottish medieval Kings in The James Plays. Or the story of Fred Goodwin and the rise of fall of RBS in Make it Happen. Our 20th birthday programme also included Stand and Deliver: The Lee Jeans Sit-In which brought the powerful story of the Lee Jean’s Factory workers to life in a new piece of touring gig theatre.

All these exceptional stories have captured the imaginations of audiences over the last 20 years.