The Killing Steel

You forget. I hold the killing steel.

I don’t forget. But if it’s pressure we’re exerting, I’ll remind you that I can rob you of your beauty with a flick of my wrist. I can mar you in the eyes of history. You’ll live forever but my hand will decide how. Which one of us holds the killing steel?”

Over the span of sixteen years, an ambitious young woman paints Alexander the Great as he rises from prince to king to conqueror. Through losses and triumphs, both prodigies fight to reconcile their perception of themselves with the portraits reflected back at them.

Credits

Blaire Sharman (Playwright/Producer/Painter)
Francesca McBride (Director)
Archie Barrington (Alexander the Great)
Matthew Page (Dramaturg)

Content disclosures

Brief mention of violent death; grief.

Emergence Festival 2026

Emergence is a festival of new work from the graduating artists of the MFA Acting/Directing Classical and Contemporary Text programme.

Emergence 2026 will include a range of provocative live performances and gripping short films presented across four days in January, returning to Glasgow’s iconic Centre for Contemporary Arts and surrounding venues.

These creative projects are the result of what can happen when artists are given a small budget and autonomy to respond to the provocation: what is the future of theatre and film?