Revolution Days: new play tells the real-life stories of the Arab Spring
The Scotsman 16 November 2021 There is a scene in Mariem Omari’s new play in which an aid worker finds herself in Tunisia and is overwhelmed by the vastness of…
Inspiring (very) young minds: 15 years of Starcatchers
The Scotsman 4 November 2021 A 15th anniversary is a significant milestone for any theatre company. But for Edinburgh’s Starcatchers, it is doubly so. This is the company that caters…
Bedknobs and Broomsticks: Scottish duo to bring Disney classic to the stage
The Scotsman 26 October 2021 You will know them as the masterminds behind some of Scotland’s most adventurous theatre productions. For the National Theatre of Scotland, they staged the wordless…
Nicole Cooper on The Tron’s all-female Tempest
The Scotsman 14 October 2021 If you’re an actor, a theatre can look like a closed shop. There are too few parts going to too few performers. Getting a break…
‘Today’s Don Juans are in office’ – Grant O’Rourke on modernising Molière
The Scotsman 7 October 2021 Audiences often ask writers where they get their ideas from. Maybe a better question would be when. For Grant O’Rourke, it was three o’clock in…
Kieran Hurley on updating Ibsen for the National Theatre of Scotland
The Scotsman 30 September 2021 The last time I interviewed Kieran Hurley for The Scotsman he was preparing for the end of the world. The performer and playwright was just…
Still game: Edinburgh’s 2021 fringe is a return to the festival’s roots
The Guardian 9 August 2021 On the wall in my kitchen is a calendar made by Edinburgh theatre critic Thom Dibdin. This time last year, he and his photographer brother…
Leith takes centre stage in new audio plays series
The Scotsman 31 March 2021 When the Covid-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, many theatre companies could only shut up shop. Not so Citadel Arts Group. The Leith company, which…
Panto king Andy Gray was one of Edinburgh’s most revered revellers
The Guardian 19 January 2021 It was 2010 and the world of Scottish theatre was reeling from the sudden death of Gerard Kelly, one of the great panto stars. I…
How to Write About Theatre Online Workshops
Critical Stages 30 December 2020 It is October 2016, and I am sharing a stage at Trinity College Dublin with Peter Crawley of the Irish Times. We are talking about…