In an outstanding new adaptation, the National Theatre of Scotland brings Ayrshire novelist Andrew O’Hagan’s book Be Near Me to the stage. The Palace Theatre Kilmarnock is thrilled to be hosting the world premiere of this major work in January 2009.

Be Near Me is a Booker Prize nominated, captivating and moving story about love, morality and regret, told through the experiences of an Oxford-educated Catholic priest. Father David is assigned to a new parish in a crippled Scottish town on the Ayrshire coast, where sectarianism runs rife. He is a naïve and unworldly man, ill-suited to his new parish.

Drifting away from his peers in the town, he is drawn to Mark and Lisa, a troubled teenage couple who attend the nearby school. Their everyday world of drunken nights and recreational drugs is as exotic and enthralling to him as his cloistered life is to them.

As events take a perilous direction, Father David’s infatuation splinters his life into pieces.

Be Near Me is adapted by the celebrated Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid who also appears in the central role of Father David. The cast also includes Blythe Duff and is directed by the National Theatre of Scotland’s John Tiffany, who directed Black Watch.

Be Near Me is a co-production between the National Theatre of Scotland and the Donmar Warehouse.

Be Near Me is part of Homecoming Scotland 2009.