Braw Clan will present the world premiere of The Needle Room by Martin Travers, touring rural venues across Clydesdale and Southern Scotland from September 17–27, 2025. The tense new drama will premiere in Carnwath before visiting Lanark, Leadhills, Coulter, Crawfordjohn, Symington, and Biggar, with an official press performance on Saturday, September 20 at St Nicholas Hall, Castlegate, Lanark.

Set in Lanark in 1934, The Needle Room follows Rebecca McCrea, a housekeeper for the wealthy Galbraith family. Despite a brutal upbringing, Rebecca has always tried to do what’s right, but as Clydesdale is gripped by a vicious heatwave and family matriarch Jessie Galbraith’s health declines, buried secrets erupt. Rebecca must face not only the cruelties imposed by social expectation but also the unthinkable choice staring her in the face.

The production stars Fletcher Mathers (Castle Lennox) as Jessie, James Mackenzie (Raven, Molly and Mack) as Duncan, and Shannon Lynch (The Dodo Experiment) as Rebecca. The play is written and produced by Martin Travers, whose credits include So Long, Wee Moon and Whatever Happened to the Jaggy Nettles, and is directed by Ros Sydney (Pekku, Small Wonders).

Performed in both Scots and English, The Needle Room is accompanied by a staged reading of rare 1930s newspaper clippings that inspired the play. Audiences will also enjoy Q&A sessions after each performance. The production will be published by Bloomsbury and available on tour. Tickets are offered on a Pay What You Decide basis and are available at brawclan.com/the-needle-room.

The drama is fictional but set in Castlepark, a striking Anglo-Japanese villa designed by William Leiper in 1880. Its unusual “pagoda” sewing room inspired Travers to create a story steeped in secrecy and history. “When I first climbed the dark creaking staircase to the sewing room at the top of Castlepark house, the hairs on the back of my neck told me I was entering a place stitched into the past,” Travers said. “The characters in The Needle Room are strong, complicated and driven. I feel lucky that Fletcher, James and Shannon are playing them, and can’t wait to see them breathe fire into Jessie, Duncan and Rebecca.”

Director Ros Sydney described the play as “darkly comic and vivid, singing with lively Scots language that creates a richly textured world. Though it is set in the 1930s, the obstacles these characters face—class, gender, disability, illness, trauma, shame, and the struggle for power—remain all too familiar today.”

Fletcher Mathers, who has voiced ScotRail trains for two decades and appeared in Braw Clan’s debut Secret Wrapped In Lead, said: “Since our first tour in 2023, Braw Clan has gone from strength to strength because rural people enjoy and support what we’re doing. The atmosphere is always electric. It will be a joy to tell Jessie’s story.”

Performances will run from Wednesday, September 17 in Carnwath through Saturday, September 27 in Biggar, with stops in Lanark, Leadhills, Coulter, Crawfordjohn, and Symington. Venues include town halls, village halls, and the Biggar Corn Exchange, with both matinee and evening options. A BSL-interpreted performance is scheduled for 3 p.m. on September 20 in Lanark.

The production is funded by Creative Scotland and SSE Renewables. It is recommended for ages 14 and up and runs 75 minutes with no interval.