Scotland, PA, with music and lyrics by Adam Gwon, and book by Michael Mitnick begins performances this week and we can't wait for you to experience this incredible work. Not only is Scotland, PA a Roundabout commission, but it is also the first new musical with an original score that we have produced in eight years.

I am incredibly excited to be welcoming Adam back to the Roundabout stage. Adam is an immensely talented writer, and I am so proud that we are now producing our second new Adam Gwon musical in Scotland, PA. Adam’s musical Ordinary Days made its New York debut as part of Roundabout Underground in 2009. Since then, Ordinary Days has become a sensation, with performances all around the world.

Every Roundabout Underground writer is also commissioned to write a second show for us. Adam’s commission, of course, became Scotland, PA. However, Adam decided to bring in collaborators to his commission, rather than go it alone.

Michael Mitnick is himself an incredibly accomplished writer, and I am thrilled that he is joining the Roundabout family with this production. He is a Drama Desk Award nominee for his musical Fly By Night, and his work has been seen on stages all over New York and the country, including at the Geffen Playhouse and South Coast Repertory. I am also proud to be welcoming Lonny Price back to Roundabout as the director of this production. Lonny has previously directed 110 in the Shade… and “Master Harold”…and the Boys for us, and I know that he has brought his signature zeal and wonderful guiding hand to Scotland, PA.

Over the last several years, it has been my great fortune to watch Adam, Michael, and Lonny work together to develop Scotland, PA from just the seed of an idea, with its heart firmly placed in one of Shakespeare’s most powerful and enduring works, into this deliciously twisted comedy about power and revenge that you will soon see on the stage of the Laura Pels Theater.

Scotland, PA is based on the cult-classic film of the same name, directed by Billy Morrissette. This musical, as well as the film, reimagines Shakespeare’s Macbeth as a tale of American drive and greed—an idea as compelling to us now as it was to Shakespeare then, and to Billy in 2001. Unlike Macbeth¸this tale does not take place in the Scotland of Europe, but in small-town Scotland, a dead-end 1975 Pennsylvania town. Our two underachieving anti-heroes, feeling stuck working at the same fast-food restaurant that has employed them since their teenage years, decide to take their fate into their own hands. With heart-stopping humor, roof-raising rhythms, and spine-tingling suspense, Scotland, PA brings to life the explosive collision between ambition and fate. It explores how what we desire is influenced by what we think we deserve—and, of course, what happens when we always want more. I am so thrilled to be giving this timely new musical its world premiere at Roundabout.

I am particularly proud that Scotland, PA is kicking off our 2019-2020 season. This year, we are featuring more new works at Roundabout than in any season in our 54 years. We’ll be producing another new musical, Daniel Zaitchik’s Darling Grenadine, as part of Roundabout Underground, along with the world premiere of Dave Harris’s Exception to the Rule. The other plays you’ll see here in the Laura Pels Theatre will also be world premieres: Hilary Bettis’s stunning 72 Miles to Go…, and a new Roundabout commission from Underground alum Jiréh Breon Holder, …what the end will be. The American Airlines Theatre will also feature new work, with Noah Haidle’s Birthday Candles.

It is thrilling to have so many new voices arriving on Roundabout’s stages, both on and off Broadway. I invite you to share with me your thoughts about Scotland, PA, as well as the rest of our season, by emailing me at artisticoffice@roundabouttheatre.org. I truly value all of your feedback.

Thank you once again for joining us, and I hope you enjoy the world premiere of Scotland, PA.

Sincerely,

Todd Haimes

Artistic Director/CEO