Lots to look forward to in @playpiepint.bsky.social's Autumn season of 12 shows, including a hip-hop musical about William Wallace, a new drama from @jmacr.bsky.social, the playwriting debut of Hannah Jarrett-Scott, and more... playpiepint.com/plays/

Jamie Muscato - an Olivier nominee for his brilliant performance in Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 - will star as Dexter, with Sharon Rose as Emma, in the Edinburgh Lyceum's musical adaptation of One Day next year... www.thestage.co.uk/news/jamie-m...

And here is my chat with Janet Etuk, on doing Streetcar with Paul Mescal, on her wish for an out-of-work actors scheme, and her return to Rough Magic at The Globe... www.thestage.co.uk/features/jan...

"It should always be purely based on talent and on whether someone is right for the job, not based on how they look." Here is my chat with Lucy St Louis, currently starring in Top Hat at @chichesterft.bsky.social. www.thestage.co.uk/features/luc...

Sharing a few more bits that have been published recently... here is my review of The Great Gatsby at Pitlochry... www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/the-...

Thoroughly excited to start longlisting entries for @thestage.co.uk and @thebookseller.com's new British Audio Awards, AKA The Speakies this week. Here's a little bit I wrote about why they matter... www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/the-...

The Edinburgh Fringe is back - and so is The Crush Bar. Here is the first issue, featuring experienced festival-goers sharing their best tips on surviving and thriving at the Fringe. Lots more to come over the next few weeks... thecrushbar.substack.com/p/how-to-sur...

Here are Dave Pollock's thoughts on This Is A Gift at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, too... www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/this...

Thoroughly enjoyed Jennifer Dick's three-man version of Marlowe's Doctor Faustus at Bard In The Botanics on Friday night. A fleet and febrile adaptation. Review for @thestage.co.uk here: www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/doct...

And on Peter Arnott's The Inquisitor, back at A Play, A Pie and A Pint this week after its original run eighteen years ago... www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/the-...

Here are my thoughts on Douglas Maxwell's Man's Best Friend, currently at the Tron Theatre, then touring later this year... www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/mans...

Finally, a reminder that The Crush Bar, my Substack all about theatre, will return in mid-July with all things Edinburgh Fringe... and it will be sent into over 4500 inboxes! thecrushbar.substack.com/p/there-is-a...

And here is my interview with Miranda Raison, too, who is returning to theatre after almost ten years to star alongside Ralph Fiennes in David Hare's Grace Pervades in Bath. www.thestage.co.uk/features/mir...

Here is my @thestage.co.uk chat with Kadiff Kirwan, too - about his remarkable early life, cooking chicken on stage in The Hot Wing King, and his latest role in Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel at the Donmar Warehouse www.thestage.co.uk/features/kad...

Also, just wanted to share a few interviews that were published while I was away... Firstly, my @thestage.co.uk chat with Zachary Hart, who was so great in The Seagull with Cate Blanchett, and is now starring in Stereophonic in the West End... www.thestage.co.uk/features/zac...

Last Scottish stuff for now... - Catherine Wheels have unveiled a new iteration of its Make Space fund for artists/companies to make work for young people - Blythe Duff features in a fourteen-strong cast for the Citz' reopening show Small Acts of Love

Also, here is my brief chat with new Fringe boss Tony Lankester, around the launch of the full festival programme earlier this month. More from him in The Stage soon. www.thestage.co.uk/news/edfring...

Also, some local residents are campaigning to get the council to do something about the noise and disruption caused by Pleasance Courtyard during the festival. Details here: www.thestage.co.uk/news/residen...

There's too much Fringe stuff to mention but here are a few things... Firstly, Welcome To The Fringe, Palestine - a mini-festival celebrating Palestinian arts - is back after a 10-year hiatus. It will be at Portobello Town Hall from August 12-15. www.thestage.co.uk/news/palesti...

James Brining's first Lyceum season includes... - The Seagull starring Caroline Quentin - The Glass Menagerie from Dundee Rep - One Day musical - Cinderella - Lynn Nottage's Sweat, co-produced with the Citz - four new 30-minute plays staged elsewhere www.thestage.co.uk/news/edinbur...

More details emerged over the collapse of The Scottish Institute. All here in @thestage.co.uk. www.thestage.co.uk/news/scottis...

Some leadership changes... - Mike Griffiths is leaving the Lyceum - Kenny McGlashan is new chief exec of FST - Susan Douglas-Scott is new chair of Birds Of Paradise - Brian Cox is a new patron of Dundee Rep - Patricia Stead is interim chief exec of Cumbernauld www.thestage.co.uk/news/appoint...

Also, congratulations to all nominees at the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland, and particularly to the winners. Here are all the details in @thestage.co.uk. www.thestage.co.uk/news/critics...

First, here is Dave Pollock's four-star @thestage.co.uk review of Sam Hardie's revival of Grease at @pitlochryft.bsky.social. www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/grea...

Back at my laptop now after an eventful and delightful few weeks, and, in lieu of any other forum to share stuff, I'm going to post a load of news/reviews/more that was published while I was away on here...

The second episode of A Sense Of Direction, my new quarterly podcast for Stage Directors UK, is out today. It is a frank chat with Matthew Dunster about the ins and outs of directing in commercial theatre. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts. open.spotify.com/episode/3jyj...

An Tobar and Mull Theatre will produce a stage adaptation of Sarah Moss' novel Night Waking later this year, written by Shirleen Mula, performed by Nicola Jo Cully, and directed Rebecca Atkinson-Lord. Tours all over from 28 September until 31 October.

Lots of good stuff in the Made In Scotland showcase, too, including F-Bomb Theatre's Float, Vee Smith and Sadiq Ali's The Unlikely Friendship, Ruxy Cantir's Pickled Republic, and a new show from Karine Polwart and Raw Material. www.madeinscotlandshowcase.com/current-shows/

So many exciting things in Francesca Moody's Shedinburgh fringe programme, including previous festival hits like Haley McGee's Age Is A Feeling and Kieran Hurley's Heads Up; and new work from Nick Cassenbaum, Christ Thorpe, Gary McNair and more... www.thestage.co.uk/news/tim-cro...

Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson to star in a musical adaptation of their 1990s sitcom The High Life, touring with @ntsonline.bsky.social next Spring, opening in Dundee on March 28. More here: www.thestage.co.uk/news/alan-cu...

Here is the Traverse's Fringe programme, featuring the return of John Tiffany, a Women's Prize for Playwriting Winner, Khalid Abdalla, a Gary McNair hit, and more. I'm most excited about seeing Dan Colley's Lost Lear again... a phenomenal show. www.thestage.co.uk/news/john-ti...

"We are at the beginning of a very complex time in theatre... the Royal Court, because of its status and the way it makes work, was ahead of the time..." Great to chat to Vicky Featherstone about NTS, the RC, and her new freelance life in @thestage.co.uk. www.thestage.co.uk/features/vic...

Also announced earlier this week, @rawmaterialarts.bsky.social's upcoming slate of exciting work, including... - Windblown, a new show from Karine Polwart at the Fringe - the return of So Young this Autumn - an expanded version of Scots next year - Rona Munro's James VI: First and Last next year

A whole bunch of interesting shows in @dancebase.bsky.social's Fringe programme, including @barrowlandballet.bsky.social's Wee Man and Tess Letham's What ever happened to Harmony Banks? www.dancebase.co.uk/dance-base-f...

Aberdeen Arts Centre has launched a £660k fundraiser - seeking to raise £180k by July, in order to restore its reserves and make a strong case to secure funding from the council's contingencies budget, after it lost out in March. More here: www.thestage.co.uk/news/brian-c...

The independent review of Creative Scotland is underway, and it wants to here from artists and communities in eight "roundtable discussions" held across Scotland between June 10 and July 2. More here: www.thestage.co.uk/news/creativ...

Police Scotland have confirmed that a fraud investigation into the collapse of the Scottish Institute is in "early stages." More here: www.thestage.co.uk/news/fraud-i...

And here is today's issue of The Crush Bar, which will be the last one for a few weeks... thecrushbar.substack.com/p/there-is-a...

"I was actually scared to go on stage before the first show because I thought people might boo me." Great to chat to Renee Lamb for @thestage.co.uk about Six, lockdown, wigs falling off, and her latest role in Nancy Netherwood's Radiant Boy @swkplay.bsky.social. www.thestage.co.uk/features/ren...

Here are Dave Pollock's thoughts on this week's A Play, A Pie and a Pint show, too... www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/good...

I adored this @pitlochryft.bsky.social on Tuesday evening. A beautifully staged production of a desperately moving debut play about two young Glaswegians. Runs in Pitlochry till Saturday, then heads to the Byre Theatre. Really deserves to go elsewhere after! www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/wate...

One Day will be adapted into a musical by the Edinburgh Lyceum and Simon Friend's Melting Pot. Runs Feb-Apr next year. Written by David Greig, directed by Max Webster, music by Abner and Amanda Ramirez, additional lyrics by Freya Catrin Smith. More here: www.thestage.co.uk/news/one-day...

The Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) nominations are out! You can find them all below. Ceremony is @traversetheatre.bsky.social on June 8! www.thestage.co.uk/news/critics...

So interesting to see Miller's Broken Glass in Nadia Fall's first season at the Young Vic. I've only seen it once before but it is such a fascinating, cryptic play about strange reactions to strange times. www.thestage.co.uk/news/nadia-f...

Some good news for final year students at the collapsed Scottish Institute... www.thestage.co.uk/news/scottis...

Here is this week's Shouts and Murmurs (mostly) for paid supporters of The Crush Bar, with... - a bit about the Fringe, the Scottish Institute, and the abuse of optimism - review round-ups of Here We Are, Hamlet Hail To The Thief, and more - lots of links thecrushbar.substack.com/p/as-a-theat...

An update on the Scottish Institute situation... www.thestage.co.uk/news/bath-sp...

Such a pleasure to chat to actor and writer Sid Sagar for @thestage.co.uk, who has a very busy summer ahead... www.thestage.co.uk/features/sid...

Here is this week's issue of The Crush Bar, feat. producer, author and now playwright Ellie Keel, whose debut play Skye: A Thriller will run at Summerhall during the Edinburgh Fringe... thecrushbar.substack.com/p/i-am-used-...

The Scottish Institute of Theatre, Dance, Film and Television has gone into liquidation, leaving employees and students fearing for their futures 👇