DAWN SIEVEWRIGHT TO STAR AS ROSE-LYNN HARLAN IN THE
WORLD PREMIERE OF NICOLE TAYLOR’S NEW MUSICAL
WILD ROSE
OPENING AT THE ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE EDINBURGH
DIRECTED BY JOHN TIFFANY
Olivier Award-nominated Dawn Sievewright will star as Rose-Lynn Harlan in the upcoming world premiere of brand-new musical Wild Rose, written by Nicole Taylor (One Day, Three Girls, The C Word, The Nest) and directed by John Tiffany (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Black Watch).
The production begins its life in Scotland where the piece is set, opening The Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh in 2025 as part of the company’s Spring season. Based on the critically acclaimed award-winning film of the same name written by Taylor, directed by Tom Harper and produced by Faye Ward (Fable Pictures), the production opens on 14 March, with previews from 6 March, and runs until 5 April.
Dawn Sievewright returns to The Royal Lyceum Theatre, where she previously appeared in Twelfth Night (also Bristol Old Vic). Sievewright received critical acclaim and an Olivier Award nomination for her role in Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour – a National Theatre of Scotland production which also played at Live Theatre, National Theatre and in the West End at the Duke of York’s Theatre. Her other theatre work includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC), No Love Songs (Dundee Rep and Traverse Theatre), The Welkin (National Theatre), Spuds (A Play, A Pie and A Pint), My Left/Right Foot (National Theatre of Scotland), Pinocchio (National Theatre), The A-Z of Mrs P (Southwark Playhouse), Glasgow Girls (Theatre Royal Stratford East, National Theatre of Scotland, Citizens Theatre), Legally Blonde (Savoy Theatre) and Quadrophenia (UK tour). Her television work includes The Undertow, Shetland and Star Wars: Andor, and for film Man & Witch and Never Seen the Sea.
Dawn Sievewright said today, “It’s hard to put into words how I feel about this story, how I feel about Rose-Lynn Harlan. I don’t think there’s ever been a character to come my way that has so perfectly spoken to the world I grew up in. She defies her surroundings and speaks to the wee muddled up lassie in me. To the ‘too aggressive’, to the ‘calm doon!’ and to the massive beating heart of Scotland that sometimes…can only be expressed through music. She scares me – in the best possible way.
“Nicole Taylor has written the guts of Glasgow and woven it so expertly with a soundtrack of such gallus music that the Lyceum audiences are going to be leaping from their seats. I am beyond buzzing to get back into a rehearsal room with the legend that is John Tiffany and his incredible creative team.
“We’re bringing Rose-Lynn home… I can barely keep my heart in my chest.”
John Tiffany added, “In Dawn we have found the perfect alchemy for Rose-Lynn – an extraordinary actress, with an extraordinary voice and she captures perfectly the life-force of Rose-Lynn. I’m looking forward to getting into rehearsals with Nicole and Dawn and reimagining this brilliant story for the stage and bringing this fierce woman to life.”
Released to critical acclaim in 2018, the film, directed by Tom Harper, produced by Faye Ward for Fable Pictures, and blessed with an incredible soundtrack, won the BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Feature Film, Best Writer for Nicole and Best Actress for Jessie Buckley – the latter was also nominated for a BAFTA Film Award. It was nominated and won several other awards, including 10 Independent Film Award nominations, winning the Best Independent Film Award for Best Music; as well as several awards for Best Original Song for Glasgow (No Place Like Home) including the Critics’ Choice Award.
The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Caledonia Productions and Gavin Kalin Productions present
WILD ROSE
A NEW MUSICAL
By Nicole Taylor
Director John Tiffany; Choreography Steven Hoggett & Vicki Manderson; Set Design Chloe Lamford;
Costume Design Katrina Lindsay; Lighting Design Jessica Hung Han Yun; Sound Design Tony Gayle;
Music Supervision, Orchestration and Arrangements Sarah Travis & Davey Anderson;
Casting Charlotte Sutton CDG
Executive Producers: Faye Ward of Fable Pictures and Nia Janis of Playful Productions
6 March – 5 April
SING YOUR OWN SONG.
There is only one thing in Rose-Lynn’s life that has ever made sense: country music.
Fresh out of jail for past mistakes, and bursting with incredible raw talent, charisma and cheek, the free-spirited Rose-Lynn dreams of escaping Glasgow to make it as a singer in Nashville.
But her mother Marion has had a bellyful, insisting that she settle down, ditch the fantasy, and focus on raising her two young kids.
Rose-Lynn reluctantly agrees to take a cleaning job and finds an unlikely champion in her new boss Susannah, bringing her dream closer than ever. Now Rose-Lynn must decide if risking everything will really pave the road to Nashville.
From Nicole Taylor, BAFTA-winning writer of the original film and global sensation One Day, and renowned director John Tiffany (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Once), Wild Rose is an uplifting and heartwarming new musical about motherhood, dreams and finding your three chords and the truth.
This world premiere production will feature songs from country music legends including Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Wynonna Judd, Chris Stapleton, Caitlyn Smith, The Chicks, and Patty Griffin, alongside the film’s award-winning original song Glasgow (No Place Like Home).
Based on the film written by Nicole Taylor, directed by Tom Harper and produced by Faye Ward for Fable Pictures.
Acclaimed screenwriter Nicole Taylor’s credits for television include Three Girls (which won five BAFTAs including for Best Writer and Best Mini Series), The C Word and The Nest. She most recently adapted David Nicholls’ novel One Day into a critically acclaimed smash-hit 14-part series for Netflix. For film, Nicole wrote the multi-award-winning Wild Rose.
John Tiffany studied Theatre and Classics at Glasgow University. He trained at the Traverse Theatre and has been an Associate Director at the National Theatre of Scotland and the Royal Court. For his work on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, John received Tony and Olivier Awards. He directed Once at NYTW and on Broadway, for which he received a Tony Award. For the Royal Court, his work includes Road, Hope, and The Pass. For the National Theatre of Scotland his work includes Black Watch, for which he received an Olivier Award, Let the Right One In (also West End and international tour), Macbeth (also Broadway), Enquirer, The Missing, Peter Pan and The Bacchae. Other credits include The Glass Menagerie at American Repertory Theater (also Broadway, EIF and West End) and The Ambassador at BAM. Tiffany was a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University in the 2010-11 academic year.