A play addressing the many identities of Scotland will be one of the first productions staged by the national theatre in 2014.

And although Kieran Hurley, the writer and director of the piece, entitled Rantin', is in favour of independence, the play does not take a position on next year's referendum, he said.

The National Theatre of Scotland's (NTS) new show, Rantin', will tour in smaller venues across Scotland from January, with an official opening performance at the Cove Burgh Hall on Bute after previews at The Arches in Glasgow.

Later next year, another touring NTS production, The Great Don't Know Show, will take a different tack, and present arguments for and against independence.

Rantin' will feature both theatrical pieces and music by Mr Hurley, Gav Prentice, Julia Taudevin and Drew Wright, also known as Wounded Knee.

Mr Hurley said the show will resemble a series of short stories or scenes interlinked by music, "like the set list of a gig".

He said one of the inspirations for the "part play, part gig" was John McGrath's famous 1970s play The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil.

"Rantin' is about identity and nationhood but it isn't actually about the Yes or No question which will be asked in September," he said.

"The Great Don't Know Show will tackle that head on, but Rantin' will not be defined by that question," added Mr Hurley.

"It is not about pro or anti [independence], but about the diversity of the nation, and that is by design rather than as a cop-out.

"Personally I am in favour of independence and will be public about that, but Rantin' does not take a stance; it is concerned with multiplicity, plurality and many points of view."

Elsewhere in the season announcement, the NTS said David Greig and Wil Wilson's The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart will tour in the US next year, with performances in Santa Monica, Texas and Miami.

Another major international tour will be for Mr Greig's Dunsinane, which will be the focus of the NTS's first tour in East Asia. It will be performed in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan in April and May next year.