Man to Man with Tilda Swinton to have Scottish run

Tilda Swinton’s Man to Man will have a season in Scotland this autumn.

Swinton will return to the stage this autumn to first star in the show at the Royal Court Theatre, almost 30 years after she first performed the role.

Swinton reprises the role of Ella/Max, having previously appeared in the Traverse Theatre and Royal Court productions in 1987. The play follows a woman in 1930s Germany who assumes her dead husband’s identity in order to survive through war, dictatorship, hunger and hardship.

Written by Manfred Karge, translated from German by Anthony Vivis and revised by Stephen Unwin for this production, Man to Man will open at the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Downstairs for a sold-out season from 5 September to 24 October 2026, with a press night on 11 September.

The production will then transfer to the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh from 29 October to 7 November before moving to the Berliner Ensemble in Berlin, where it will premiere on 9 February 2027. A New York engagement is also planned for spring 2027.

The production reunites members of the original creative team, with Stephen Unwin directing, Bunny Christie as set and costume designer and Ben Ormerod as lighting designer. The team also includes sound designer Elena Peña, projection designer Matt Powell, movement director Kane Husbands, design associate Verity Sadler, props supervisor Lily Mollgaard, voice coach Hazel Holder and associate director Eleanor Burke.