Grid Iron in association with Platform present the world premiere of
South Bend 
By Martin McCormick
Directed by Ben Harrison
Foley Artistry by David Pollock
Video Design by Lewis den Hertog
Set & Costume Design by Claire Halleran
Cast: Martin McCormick and Jess Chanliau
On tour in Scotland July – Sept 2018 including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Previews 27 & 28 July Platform, Easterhouse
Performances
1 – 27 Aug Gilded Balloon at the Museum
31 Aug & 1 Sept Byre Theatre, St Andrews
4 Sept Paisley Arts Centre
7 – 8 Sept Eden Court Theatre, Inverness
11 – 12 Sept Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
14 – 15 Sept Cumbernauld Theatre
19 – 22 Sept Tron Theatre, Glasgow
In 2006 Martin McCormick flew across the Atlantic to be reunited with a woman he had fallen passionately in love with. But in the four months of their absence she had changed. Changed her hair colour. Her body shape, her address. And almost as soon as he’s arrived he’s on the road again, penniless and hallucinating.
South Bend muses on journeys, on the dusty road, on long-distance love dissolving into the pixilated blur of Skype, on the vast distances of the Atlantic Ocean and the American continent and of men and women separated by a common language.
“Strangers would buy you drinks in bars because, ‘Hey, are you Scottish? This guy’s Scottish! Everyone! EVERYONE! LISTEN UP! This guy is Scottish. That’s awesome, man. Lemme buy you a drink dude. My last name is McDonnell!!”
“That’s actually Irish, but I’ll have a bottle of Corona thanks…”
Performed by Martin McCormick and Jess Chanliau, who plays all the other parts, and underscored by the live foley artist David Pollock, South Bend is a road movie for the stage – of hope, of love, of Eddie Izzard and an AIDS blanket. Of a small country and a vast one…of a good Samaritan and a relationship gone bad…
“Hilarious, full of pithy one-liners and simmering with menace… Pretty much as perfect as it gets” Across the Arts on Squash by Martin McCormick
“Grid Iron line up effortless, unpretentious, penetrating modern classics one after another” The Stage
Background:
Martin McCormick has previously worked with Grid Iron as an actor, first in 2008 in Yarn, its co-production with Dundee Rep and again in 2010 when his performance in its 10th anniversary remount of Decky Does a Bronco gained him a Best Actor nomination in The Stage awards. He has since become one of Scotland’s most exciting emerging playwrights and winner of Best New Play (CATS 2015 for Squash).
Grid Iron has a long track record of producing excellent and popular work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and is excited about performing in an actual venue for only the second time in its twenty-year Fringe history. While the script does not demand a site-specific presentation, the production style will resemble a TED talk, making the most of the lecture theatre feel of the Auditorium in the Museum and keeping a gentle sense of site-response while being very adaptable to other venues
Following its preview in Platform and run at the Fringe, South Bend will tour to The Byre, St Andrews; Paisley Arts Centre; Eden Court, Inverness; The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen finishing up in The Tron, Glasgow at the end of September.
Listing:
South Bend
By Martin McCormick
Presented by Grid Iron in association with Platform
Directed by Ben Harrison
Foley Artistry by David Pollock
Video Design by Lewis den Hertog
Set & Costume Design by Claire Halleran
Cast: Martin McCormick and Jess Chanliau
Previews 27 & 28 July Platform, Easterhouse platform-online.co.uk/
Performances
1 – 27 Aug Gilded Balloon at the Museum – gildedballoon.co.uk
31 Aug & 1 Sept Byre Theatre, St Andrews – byretheatre.com
4 Sept Paisley Arts Centre – boxoffice.renfrewshire.gov.uk
7 – 8 Sept Eden Court Theatre, Inverness – eden-court.co.uk
11 – 12 Sept Lemon Tree, Aberdeen –aberdeenperformingarts.com/venues/the-lemon-tree
14 – 15 Sept Cumbernauld Theatre – cumbernauldtheatre.co.uk/
19 – 22 Sept Tron Theatre, Glasgow – tron.co.uk
#SouthBendShow @gridirontheatre