The Scotsman 27 June 2022

Hilary Brooks is bubbling with excitement. It is not only that she is back in the rehearsal room as musical director after so long in lockdown – although that is a huge part of the thrill. Nor is it only because her first show back involves actor-musicians on stage – adding an extra layer of complexity to deal with in her musical arrangements. It is also that, after more than two years of delay, she is finally working on that special thing, the premiere of a play by John Byrne.

“I’d forgotten how brilliant it is to do the job that I love doing and have been deprived of doing,” says Brooks. “It’s a joyous return to theatre and making music with people.” [READ MORE]

By Mark Fisher

MARK FISHER is a freelance theatre critic and feature writer based in Edinburgh and has written about theatre in Scotland since the late-1980s. He is a theatre critic for The Guardian, a former editor of The List magazine and a frequent contributor to the Scotsman and other publications. He is the co-editor of the play anthology Made in Scotland (1995), and the author of The Edinburgh Fringe Survival Guide (2012) and How to Write About Theatre (2015) – all Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. He is also the editor of The XTC Bumper Book of Fun for Boys and Girls and What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book (both Mark Fisher Ltd).