Playwright George Grant’s second show at Edinburgh Fringe this year is In The Cold Light. You can also read his interview about Operation Blank.
“The gravestones of two friends pull a journalist into an investigation he hopes will bury the past. Instead, it unearths the harsh reality of staying silent, confronting him with the one story he refused to tell. Following his five-star run in 2025, Scottish playwright George Grant returns with this powerful meditation on identity and grief. Making its Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut, In the Cold Light is a sharp, funny and quietly devastating exploration of how we mourn – and what we leave unsaid.”
Where: Stephenson Theatre at theSpace
When: 7-29 Aug (not 16 or 23)
Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/in-the-cold-light
What can you tell us about your show? What is it about and where did the idea come from?
A journalist investigates an unproven romance between two friends from the Victorian era. As his investigation progresses, it gradually teaches him more about himself, confronting him with the one romance he refused to have. The script has taken many forms over the past year, but it all started when I came across a statue of two Victorian climbers on the Isle of Skye.
Their friendship was both endearing and confusing to me, and I was curious if perhaps there had been a romantic element to it. A year of speaking with their descendants left that idea without legs, but I was still curious to explore it, now as a purely fictional story rather than a biographic one. The end result was In the Cold Light.
How would you sell it to audiences in one paragraph?
The gravestones of two friends pull a journalist into an investigation he hopes will bury the past. Instead, it unearths the harsh reality of staying silent, confronting him with the one story he refused to tell.
What’s next for the show?
I want to take it on the road! I’ve got a place to stay in London, so I’d love to take it on a tour around the capital. I also think this script would adapt really well to the big screen, so there’s a nice long-term goal…