Skip to main content

What's On Page Navigation

Rembrandt Man in Armour painting
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland presents:

The Killing Steel (Emergence 2026)

Fri 23 – Sat 24 January 2026

Part of Emergence Festival

Contemporary Music And Performance

Page Navigation

“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.

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

CCA: Centre for Contemporary Arts

Runtime: 50 Minutes

Price: £3.20 – £5

Brief mention of violent death; grief.