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Latest: Friday 9 April, 2010

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More thrills in the hills

UNTIL now the only producing theatre in Scotland to sell more seats than Pitlochry Festival Theatre has been Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum. That is likely to change now the Perthshire theatre is to produce its first pantomime. This December's Cinderella, starring Martyn James (pictured as Baron Hardup with wardrobe supervisor Julie Carlin), is the first step on Pitlochry's path to become the biggest producer of theatre in Scotland. Based on current projections, the theatre expects that by 2012/13, the combined audience for its summer and winter seasons will account for almost 15% of total theatre attendances in Scotland

"PFT is justly proud of having maintained its producing output during the last decade," says artistic director John Durnin. "But now we want to go further, to create an even greater number of our own productions for an even wider range of audiences. These are radical developments, but we know there are gaps in Scotland's national theatre provision that only PFT is able to fill – and that the audience demand is there."

The plan is to increase the number of summer shows from six to eight by 2012 and, in that year, to produce an autumn show.

Firing up the canon

THOSE enjoying the discussion on the theatreSCOTLAND email discussion group about the canon of Scottish plays – if, indeed, there is a canon of Scottish plays – might like to get along to the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh at 6pm on 15 April. That is when Professor Randall Stevenson, co-editor of Scottish Theatre Since the Seventies (pictured), will be talking about "Dramatic developments: Scottish theatre from the 70s to the 90s". The lecture is free but ticketed: 0131 623 3918.

Curio and curiouser

THE Sunday Herald managed to rattle the people behind the self-styled Curio Festival, a web-based operation offering arts journalism training during the Edinburgh festivals. An article on Sunday 28 March pointed out that the website was promising to provide students with press passes without the agreement of the various festival press offices. In response, the website has issued a mea culpa saying, "the directorship take full responsibility for any content published on the Curiofestival website which may have been misleading."

The word "covering" has also appeared above the list of festival logos, which makes it look less as though the festivals have endorsed the operation. It remains to be seen whether any would-be arts journalists will stump up the £2495 course fee for "a unique teaching method which combines theatre and theory". Could there be a reason for it being unique?

Fleeto of foot

PADDY Cunneen has been waxing lyrical on the Play, a Pie and a Pint website about the successful Dutch tour of his poetic gangland drama Fleeto (pictured in the original production with Jordan McCurrach and Neil Leiper, pic: Lesley Black). One of his favourite moments, he says, was when the "gang members pinned a big FLEETO sign (with the mandatory choice Glaswegian 'greetings') to the back of Alison Peebles' scooter and off she whizzed through the Hague." The experience has motivated Cunneen to write a follow up.

Found in translation

A LIST that includes Tim Burton, Marion Cotillard, Rudolf Nureyev, Philip Glass, Declan Donnellan and Kylie Minogue now also includes the name of Katherine Mendleson. This week the Traverse Theatre literary manager was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ambassador, Maurice Gourdault-Montagne. She was given the accolade in recognition of her work with Francophone writers at the Traverse and other theatres.