Janice Galloway’s classic novel THE TRICK IS TO KEEP BREATHING will come to the stage once again in 2027, as the National Theatre of Scotland announce a new staging of Michael Boyd’s 1995 adaptation, with dates confirmed at three major Scottish theatres.
Directed by Caroline Hall, the play will open at The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, from 12 to 16 May, before touring to Citizens Theatre, Glasgow and Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 19 May to 6 June 2027. Janice has sadly had to withdraw from public life in recent years due to illness, but her family are thrilled that this 2027 National Theatre of Scotland production will both celebrate Janice’s living legacy and honour Michael Boyd, the celebrated playwright, director and Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, who passed away in 2023.
In THE TRICK IS TO KEEP BREATHING, Joy Stone is reeling. Blindsided by the deaths of her mother and lover, nothing makes sense anymore, and everything begins to unravel. Joy takes us inside her mind as she fights to stay away from the edge with wit, grit and ever-present gallows humour that revels in the absurdity of it all.
In this adaptation, three actors embody the role of Joy, bringing her stream of consciousness to life as she scrambles to find the point of being alive.
THE TRICK IS TO KEEP BREATHING was Janice Galloway’s debut novel, published in 1990 and winning the MIND/Allen Lane Book of the Year and the Scottish Arts Council Book Award. The novel was republished in the UK by Vintage on their Classics list in 2015, and earlier this year a new American edition was published by Dalkey Archive Essentials, while the book has also been translated into five languages.
‘I’m excited to return to Scotland to direct Michael’s beautiful adaptation of Janice’s remarkable novel,’ said Caroline Hall, the play’s director. ‘It’s thirty years since we saw THE TRICK IS TO KEEP BREATHING onstage, and it’s a privilege to bring this story to life, for both audiences who know the novel, and for those who are new to it. An unflinchingly honest piece, it explores Joy Stone’s overwhelming grief with plenty of gallows humour and without a shred of sentimentality. It feels so relevant for today, as we see the heartbreaking spike in mental illness and mental health struggles, along with lack of access to professional mental health support. THE TRICK has meant so much to countless individuals, helping them to feel seen, validated and less alone. The sharpness of the writing helps you through the pain of the story, and it brings you to what the piece is ultimately about; how to find our way through and keep walking through life.’
The National Theatre of Scotland also recently announced a stage adaptation of Graeme Armstrong’s THE YOUNG TEAM, which is set to play in Edinburgh, London and Glasgow from Summer 2027.
Photo credit: James McNaught
About Janice Galloway
Janice Galloway is an award-winning Scottish writer of novels, short stories, prose-poetry, memoir and libretti. In 2023, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and in 2024 was awarded an honorary degree (DLitt) by the University of Glasgow. THE TRICK IS TO KEEP BREATHING was her first novel, and it won the MIND/Allen Lane Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel and Scottish First Book Awards. Subsequent works include CLARA (2002), THIS IS NOT ABOUT ME (2008) and most recently JELLYFISH (2019).
Praise for THE TRICK IS TO KEEP BREATHING
One of Publishing Scotland's 50 Books for 50 Years
Winner of Allen Lane/MIND Book of the Year and the Scottish Arts Council Book Award
Shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award, the Scottish First Book, the Italia Premio Acerbi, and the Irish Times International Fiction Award
‘It is a shocking and darkly funny portrait of mental illness, loneliness and waste… I am in awe of the closeness with which Galloway rubs at every raw feeling.’ – Douglas Stuart, Lit Hub
‘What makes THE TRICK IS TO KEEP BREATHING an entertaining white-knuckle ride is the reader’s sincere hope that the clever, sympathetic Joy, a bone-dry wit and caustic observer of her sorry situation, will pull back from the brink. Also, the verve of Galloway’s writing, which confidently embraces experimentalism (words occasionally slip off the margins, fonts are played with, dialogue reproduced) without it feeling forbidding or just for show. Joy’s stream-of-consciousness comes in taut sentences that spark with kinetic energy… Some novelistic worlds you could stay in for ever. Here, the convincingly drawn slough of despond is a setting that you long to see a vital heroine freed from. This is a sad novel, but not a depressing one. Trauma has pushed Joy out of kilter, but she does not rule out righting herself… There is hope.’ – Patricia Nicol, The Times
‘This is like a Scottish CATCHER IN THE RYE. You actually feel you’re inside this woman’s head, it is that visceral. And having experienced a downward spiral myself, I so admire her accuracy in every detail.’ – Alan Cumming, The New York Times, ‘10 favourite books’