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One Hundred Voices

Scottish Parliament

Four stars

 

A winter coat and a kept promise isn’t too much to ask for in this theatrical installation that looks at the iniquities of the care system through the voices and experiences of those who have been through it. The National Theatre of Scotland’s main contribution to Edinburgh’s festivals season is an interactive critique of a failed system which isn’t looking like it’s going to get better any time soon.

 

An initiative led and scripted by playwright Nicola McCartney, One Hundred Voices forms part of Caring Scotland, a three-year listening project that has recorded and documented the experiences of Care Experienced people across the country. From this premise, audiences are navigated through an audio-visual tour of the care system in all its institutional messiness. Our guide - officially, at least - is Brian, an industry professional who does things by the book. Brian speaks to us through headphones, and is assisted - unofficially - by Kayla, who represents the hundred voices of the title, and who lived to tell her tale. 

 

What follows is a trip down the bureaucratic rabbit hole that takes us through a series of rooms highlighting the confusing circular journey made by the thousands shunted through the real thing. As Brian implores us to recognise the mechanics of the system even as he apologises for its breakdown, Kayla’s voice becomes increasingly confident enough to lay bare some uncomfortable truths. 

 

As brought to life by Genna Allan alongside Scott Kyle as Brian, it is Kayla’s experience that gives the piece its narrative heart. The sonic montage overseen by sound designer Niroshini Thambar features snippets of songs and poems alongside the real voices of some of those interviewed. With the show’s elaborate construction ingeniously designed by Karen Tennent, the effect is akin to a Kafkaesque escape room in which the only way out for Kayla comes in her secret space where she can imagine other worlds beyond. 

 

Following its Fringe run at the Scottish Parliament, with the last weekend forming part of the Festival of Politics, the installation tours venues across the country. This will be accompanied by Ten Portraits, an exhibition of photographs of Care Experienced people by Chris Scott. Given the Scottish Government’s own declared intentions to overhaul the Care system, one hopes those behind it make time to step in to Kayla’s world. She may have her winter coat, but broken promises are something she could do without. 

 

Until Aug 28.


The Herald, August 23, 2026

 

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