Two months into her role as the Traverse’s artistic director, Orla O’Loughlin has launched one of the most exciting new writing festivals Edinburgh has seen in years. Write Here will showcase work from the theatre’s Young Writers Group graduates alongside talks by Traverse luminaries Zinnie Harris and Gregory Burke and rehearsals of new plays by Peter Arnott, Rob Drummond and Morna Pearson.

O’Loughlin says: ‘It’s an offer to the audience to come and see a wide range of work at very different stages of development by writers at different stages of their career. The gesture is come and get involved, come and participate. It’s a two way process: it’s not just about us saying “here’s some work, come and see it”. It’s actually come and tell us what you think of it, meet the writers, ask me a question.’

Demos, a new audience-driven verbatim play by 2012 Olivier Award nominee Tim Price, will end the festival and promises to be a thrilling climax. ‘Tim spent a lot of time around the Occupy movement, recording and speaking to people,’ O’Loughlin explains. ‘He wrote a play with over 50 parts, which asks what democracy is and what democracy looks like. In order to stage it, it requires people to get involved. Part of the joy is how is this going to work? Is it going to work? It’s an offer to the audience to come and make it happen. I can’t think of anything quite like it – and that’s the whole purpose of doing it.’

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Mon 16–Tue 24 Apr