'The script comes last' - Finn and Lewis Den Hertog on making EIF show When Prophecy Fails
As they prepare to bring their show When Prophecy Fails to the Edinburgh International Festival, Finn and Lewis Den Hertog tell Joyce McMillan about their unusual way of working
American dreams, American nightmares. Given the huge economic, political and cultural power of the United States, it seems that for the last century, we have all spent some of our time living in one or other of these; and never more so that in this 21st century.
All of which makes the 2026 Edinburgh International Festival – with its bold programme inspired by the 250th anniversary of the United States – an ideal platform for the fiercely talented young Scottish company Groupwork, led by brothers Finn and Lewis Den Hertog, and Finn’s partner in work and life, the choreographer-director Vicki Manderson.
Finn Den Hertog is now a rising star director, whose production of King Lear, starring Maureen Beattie, is currently thrilling audiences at Pitlochry; and Lewis’s magnificent work with film, video, images and sound has been vital to dozens of major Scottish theatre shows over the last decade.
As little lads growing up in 1990s Scotland, though – the sons of award-winning actress Ann Louise Ross, and her late husband Nils Den Hertog – Finn and Lewis were always fascinated by the powerful American screen culture that shaped their young imaginations, particularly by sci-fi and supernatural shows like The X Files.
It’s therefore no accident that Groupwork’s two most recent shows, The Afflicted (2019) and When Prophecy Fails (2025), have both been inspired by the eerie tension between the outward decency and tranquility of American suburban life, and the stuff of the horror stories and sci-fi fantasies that are often set there. And now, Groupwork’s brilliant and visually stunning 2025 show When Prophecy Fails, about a 1950s doomsday cult in suburban Illinois, is about to appear in the 2026 Edinburgh International Festival, before an autumn tour across Scotland.
“We first began to explore the ideas behind this show around the time of the Brexit referendum and Donald Trump’s 2016 election,” says Lewis. “I became interested in the idea of cognitive dissonance, or what happens when people’s firmly held beliefs just don’t match the truth of their own experience.
“I discovered this 1956 book, When Prophecy Fails, which is one of the founding texts on cognitive dissonance; and when we realised that this story also featured all this 1950s American sc-fi imagery about aliens and flying saucers – well, we were definitely going to make a show about it.
“The thing about this American material is that it’s both incredibly specific to a time and place, and completely global and universal; because those American images, particularly from the mid 20th century, have become a vital part of world culture.”
“For us, though,” explains Finn, “the script really comes last, when we’re working as Groupwork.
“We tend to work first from the source material, then from images, choreography, music.
“We experiment, we develop a sense of the show’s texture and movement; then towards the end, Lewis and I will sit down and write whatever text or story we need, to complete it. And it really can be the most thrilling creative process, working this way.
“If you’re creating work about group dynamics, after all, and what a group does when its beliefs come into conflict with reality – well what better place to examine those themes, at the moment, than America?
“We’re absolutely thrilled to be presenting this show at the Festival, because although we’re a small company, the way we work, and the subjects we tackle, have always been inspired by the best of international theatre and dance; so in a sense, an international stage like this feels like home.”
“But we’re also delighted to be touring this around Scotland, too,” adds Lewis.
“There is a fantastic tradition of touring theatre in this country, something we very much grew up with; so it’s a real joy that we can begin to take our work out to audiences across Scotland, as we will be doing, this autumn.”
When Prophecy Fails is at The Studio, Edinburgh, 27-30 August, as part of the Edinburgh International Festival, and then on tour to Aberdeen, Paisley, St Andrews, Dundee and Greenock, from 17 September-23 October, and at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow, in February 2027.
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