It was a banking catastrophe that brought a venerable Scottish institution to its knees, sending shockwaves across the globe.
Now, the story of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) ascent and subsequent collapse is being retold in Edinburgh with the premiere of the major new production, “Make it Happen.”
Veteran actor Brian Cox, portraying the ghost of economist Adam Smith, states that at 79, his focus remains on advocating for societal change to “give people a better break.”
The “biting satire” is poised to be one of the Edinburgh International Festival’s most anticipated plays, headlining thousands of shows debuting this weekend as the city transforms into the world’s largest arts venue for another year.
Cox is among the 2,000 artists from 42 nations participating in this year’s International Festival, complemented by an additional 4,000 shows at The Fringe, including 500 that were not registered in time for inclusion in the 2025 program.
While widely recognized for his portrayal of the ruthless billionaire Logan Roy in the television drama “Succession,” the actor emphasizes that his upbringing in Dundee has instilled in him a deep concern for those at the opposite end of the wealth spectrum.
“People forget their roots,” Cox remarked, as he joined EIF director Nicola Benedetti for the world premiere of “Make It Happen,” a collaborative effort between the National Theatre of Scotland, Dundee Rep, and the festival.
“Your roots are so important to you, and that’s why I prize my upbringing in Dundee,” he affirmed.
He specifically requested the role of the 18th-century Scottish philosopher, widely regarded as the father of modern economics for his seminal work, “The Wealth of Nations.”
However, the play posits that an earlier work, “The Theory of Moral Sentiments,” more accurately reflects Smith’s true philosophical leanings.
“There’s a line in the play where he says, ‘capitalism, I don’t even know what that means’,” Cox explained.
“He saw himself as a moral philosopher. He did not see himself as other people saw him. It was the conditions in which people lived that concerned him.”
Reflecting on his challenging childhood in Dundee, Cox disputes the notion that it was “terrible.”
“No, it wasn’t – it was a learning experience. Yeah, it was tough. It was as tough as hell.”
“You know, when your dad’s dead when you’re eight, and then you’ve got a mum who goes through a series of nervous breakdowns and has electric shock treatment, I mean, when she goes from a healthy 10-stone down to just over five-stone, you know, it’s just appalling.”
“But you live with it. You learn. But you do need people to say, ‘let’s give people the best advantage’. And that is not happening.”
At the age of 79, Cox demonstrates no intention of slowing down.
Following the play, he will embark on a national tour with a one-man show based on his memoir and has recently completed his first film as a director.
“Glenrothan,” a family drama centered around a Scottish whisky company starring Alan Cumming and Shirley Henderson, is slated for release next year.
“I’m a certain age now,” he acknowledges. “The end is much nearer than the beginning. So I just feel that all I can do is protest.”
“I can’t do much more than protest, but I do protest because I believe that we need to give people a better break than we give them.”
Cox initially committed to this play about the financial crisis several years ago, coinciding with Andrew Panton’s appointment as director of Dundee Rep.
“We first spoke at the opening of V&A Dundee,” Cox recalled. “He was keen to return to the Rep and do a play but we didn’t know what that would be.”
“Then Covid happened, which put a pause on everything, and we realised we needed a play which would bring people flocking back to the theatre.”
“Make it Happen” was suggested by Dundee Rep’s chairman Dr. Susan Hetrick, who worked at RBS shortly before the financial crisis and is now an expert in toxic workplace cultures.
“You don’t imagine that you’re going to be working in an organisation, particularly one that was as well regarded as RBS, and 15 years later that you’d be looking at this on stage,” she remarked.
“How something so successful, that was so lauded by academics and by business schools, could collapse.”
“Trying to understand what happened in the organisation, but also within the economy and society, is so important and I think there’s a lot of lessons and a lot of insights that we can take from it.”
At the heart of the play is Fred Goodwin, portrayed by Sandy Grierson.
A former accountant from Paisley nicknamed “Fred the Shred,” Goodwin was headhunted to RBS to lead the effort to build the largest bank in the world.
And for a time, it was. He relocated the bank’s traditional New Town headquarters to a greenfield site at Gogarburn near Edinburgh Airport, housing 3,000 staff, tennis courts, a medical center, and a corporate jet.
“The character that James Graham has written is fascinating,” Grierson said.
“It shifts from the bespectacled auditor to that Reservoir Dogs style, strutting around Gogarburn.”
“He’s a product of the times, especially for a working class lad from Paisley.”
It would be simplistic to portray Goodwin, who was stripped of his knighthood but retained his pension, as a mere pantomime villain or scapegoat. However, Grierson believes the play raises broader questions about society.
“To what extent does it get caught up in a mood and a time? People thought that the bankers in the high finance tribe had solved it.”
“They thought it was like alchemy. They were on top of the world until the alchemy came crashing down.”
Make it Happen will run at the Festival Theatre until Saturday 9 August.
Certificates will be delivered by first-class post, though many students will also receive a text or email.
Birthlink has been fined £18,000 after shredding the files to free up space in its filing cabinets four years ago.
SSEN said it was continuing to restore supplies after about 50,000 homes were left without power.
An amber storm warning, covering much of mainland Scotland and the western islands, is now in force until 22:00.
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