 The CATS' whiskers
CLARE Grogan made a delightful appearance at the ceremony for the Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland last weekend. The guest presenter declared her lifelong affiliation to Scottish theatre, chastised Herald critic Neil Cooper for no longer having an Altered Images poster on his wall and made it known to all theatre directors that she was available for work. She was on stage at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre to hand over no less than three awards to Catherine Wheels for White (actor Andy Manley making a valiant effort despite a sleepless night after the wedding of puppeteer Shona Reppe, who won best design) and two awards to Ankur/Pachamama for Roadkill – one for Mercy Ojelade for best female performance, the other for best production. Pictured are Ojelade and director Cora Bissett at the post-awards party (pic: Tom Main). Other winners included Dundee Rep, the Traverse, Stellar Quines/Royal Lyceum and the National Theatre of Scotland. Full list of winners here. It is the last of three consecutive CATS ceremonies at the EFT and, as it turns out, the last to be overseen by John Stalker. The chief executive is standing down at the end of this month after 10 years in post with the intention of returning to "theatre production in the independent sector and the support and development of new and emerging artists". More details in the Stage here.  Gray matters
TO celebrate the 30th anniversary of the publication of Lanark, the Edinburgh International Book Festival is topping and tailing this year's programme with events dedicated to novelist, artist and playwright Alasdair Gray. The closing event on Monday 29 August is presented in partnership with the National Theatre of Scotland and is a performed reading of Gray's Flek, a version of Goethe's Faust. As well as Gray's literary associates, such as Liz Lochhead, Alan Bissett and Louise Welsh, the cast will include David MacLennan, Cora Bissett, Paul Birchard and Gerda Stevenson. Elsewhere in the festival, NTS artistic director Vicky Featherstone will introduce a session with Andrew O'Hagan as part of the company's Staging the Nation series.  Other news
REMEMBER this Tuesday is when the NTS's Five-Minute Theatre goes live on the internet with 235 performances – including The Garibaldi Paradox starring Alison Peebles and Anne Lacey (pictured) – broadcast over 24 hours . . . Gerry Mulgrew and Alison Peebles will be together on stage for the first time in almost ten years in Henry & Ingrid: Some Words for Home as part of Refugee Week Scotland at the Tron, Glasgow on 21 June . . . The first post-Dominic Hill season at the Traverse will include the Salon Project, a piece of music-theatre inspired by the rituals of the 19th-century salon and staged by Stewart Laing's Untited Projects . . . and if you want to learn about acting in Gaelic, the RSAMD has just the summer school for you at the start of August. OPENING SOONFive Minute Theatre, NTS, Jun 21 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bard in the Botanics, Botanic Gardens, Glasgow, Jun 22–Jul 9 No Time Has Passed in Hippoland, Sonic Boom, Ramshorn Theatre, Glasgow Jun 22–25 LAST CHANCE TO SEETotal Football, Ridiculusmus/NTS, Barbican, London, May 18–June 18 Lark, Clark and the Puppet Handy, Raindog, Tron, Glasgow Jun 14–18 |  |
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9 June 2011 The Guardian Knives in HensBy David Harrower. A National Theatre of Scotland review. 
20 May 2011 The Guardian By David Greig. A National Theatre of Scotland/Royal Lyceum/RSC review. |
