Brian Cox is set to make his return to Scottish theater after a decade-long hiatus in “Make It Happen,” a new satirical play about the 2008 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) collapse from acclaimed playwright James Graham (“Dear England,” “Sherwood”).
The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning “Succession” star will play renowned 18th century Scottish economist Adam Smith, known as the father of modern capitalism, as the ghost of fiscal past, in what marks the first major artistic work to tackle RBS’s pivotal role in the global financial crisis. The play centers on the bank’s former CEO Fred “The Shred” Goodwin and his fervent belief in Smith’s capitalist principles, which preceded the institution’s catastrophic downfall.
The play will open the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival on Aug. 1, following previews at Dundee Rep Theatre in late July. The production is a collaboration between National Theatre of Scotland, Edinburgh International Festival and Dundee Rep Theatre, in association with Playful Productions and Neal Street Productions.
“It’s been a long time since I played in Scotland — it’s good to be back,” said Cox, who last appeared on Scottish stages in “Waiting for Godot” at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in 2015.
Graham, whose recent work “Dear England” won the 2024 Olivier Award for Best Play, said the timing feels right to examine the crash’s lasting impact: “We still live in the long shadow of the 2008 financial crash and our inability to reset from that inheritance and its divisive legacies, so it feels right to be interrogating it artistically. But we hope to do so in a show full of music and story, larger-than-life characters, cheeky humor, and some ghosts from Scotland’s centuries’ long past thrown in as well.”
The production will be helmed by Andrew Panton, artistic director of Dundee Rep Theatre. “It’s a personal honor and huge responsibility to tell what became a global story that started in the city close to where I grew up,” Panton said.
The play will run at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre through Aug. 9. The full Edinburgh International Festival program will be unveiled on March 13.