Message from the skies 2019 - Chapter 1 - Billy Letford - Love Letter to Europe
Message from the skies 2019
Billy Letford's Love Letter to Europe
Leith Theatre, Ferry Road, Edinburgh, Scotland
About the creative team
Writer: Billy Letford’s debut collection Bevel was published by Carcanet in 2012. A chapbook of his poetry And then there was skin was translated into Slovakian and published by Vertigo in 2014. He has travelled to India with Commonwealth Poets United, Iraq with Highlight Arts, and, with an Edwin Morgan Travel Bursary, helped to restore a medieval village in the mountains of northern Italy. His second full collection Dirt was published by Carcanet in 2016.
Designer: James Houston is a motion designer who lives and works in Glasgow. Technology continues to serve as a prompt in his work which ranges from video experiments to commercial motion graphics. He has found a tested and worthwhile strategy for finding creative forms of expression via revisiting old or nostalgic ideas through the lens of contemporary technology
About this location
Love, war, neglect, despair, hope, healing ... Leith Theatre has had its ups and downs but is on the brink of returning to full use. The complex opened in 1932. In 1941 bomb damage closed it for two decades until it finally reopened in 1961. The 70s brought famous bands including AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, and Kraftwerk. But in 1983 the theatre closed except to host the International Festival until 1988. It fell into disrepair. In 2004, a plucky community group stopped it being sold and has been working hard to get it back up and running. Hidden Door Festival in 2017 opened the whole theatre for the first time in almost 30 years demonstrating its great potential. It returned in 2018, followed by the International Festival.