🗣️ "BAFTA nominated actors are still five times more likely to have attended a fee paying school than the population as a whole." Great to see Lord Parkinson directly cite our research on the lack of class diversity in creative professions in a debate in the House of Lords ⬇️

Edinburgh Fringe With Spice have posted our 2025 update - a highly visual book, digital platform and ticketing giveaways for global majority audiences. Thank you all for your support including Underbelly @lyngardnertheatre.bsky.social @thestage.co.uk. <3 <3 x substack.com/home/post/p-...

Start of new podcast series (Un)Common Ground hosted by me and Tarek Iskander. First one considers the Hodge Review into @artscouncilengland.bsky.social. Erica Whyman, Ed Vaizey and Jo Crowley discuss with gloves off vigour. bac.org.uk/podcast/

Thanks to @lyngardnertheatre.bsky.social for this lovely interview for @stagedoorldn.bsky.social stagedoor.com/theatre-guid...

Lynda Rooke, president of Equity, has said that actors in subsidised theatres are now only getting half the hours they did back in 2004, a figure she called "a great concern." www.thestage.co.uk/news/news/ac... #FreelancersMakeTheatreWork

really good piece. Most careers start in smaller spaces.

Submissions for #TheStageAwards 2026 close at midnight tonight! Get your entries in quick to be in with a chance of winning in January. Apply now 👉https://www.thestage.co.uk/the-stage-awards/the-stage-awards

This looks good from the brilliant Eleanor Turney www.many-hats.org

"a debut play is not the ugly pancake you make before you make a batch of really fluffy ones"

There’s cowardice at work with theatres eyeing each other to see who does and doesn’t host before they commit. But what message does that send about creative freedom when organisations act so timidly arguing what is said from a theatre’s stages has no connection to how that organisation operates?

Jeezus! at Underbelly is such fun. Deliciously irreverent.

The Stage's Lyn Gardner shines a behind-the-scenes light on Pleasance Two, the Edinburgh Fringe venue aimed at producers looking to test out new musicals or to scale up or tour their shows. Read her day in the life of... an Edinburgh Fringe venue 👇

“Starved of investment, British theatre has been cut to the bone. On the fringe, you can see the bones, and you can see them crumbling in front of your eyes.” Polished fringe shows from overseas shine an ugly light on UK arts funding, says Lyn Gardner 👇

Philosophy of the World, This is Not About Me, Aether all @summerhallarts.bsky.social , I Think It Could Work @zoo, Lost Lear, Red Like Fruit, A Gamblers Guide @traversetheatre.bsky.social , Bury the Hachet, City of Incurable Women, Hot Mess @pleasance.co.uk

The BoonDog Theatre Mentorship Scheme - Edinburgh 2026. www.boondogtheatre.com/mentors youtu.be/FyTJf9zoTKQ

Exceptional work at the @traversetheatre.bsky.social with Red Like Fruit and I'm Ready to Talk Now, both formally inventive as well as great stories.

So far @edfringe.bsky.social I have really liked Bury the Hatchet, Champions and Hot Mess, all @Pleasance venues.

The Chris Goode case isn’t about ‘genius’ culture but about theatre’s power structures and failures in safeguarding, argues Lyn Gardner 👇

Artistic directors are under more pressure than ever, as ethical scrutiny over sponsors like Barclays grows warns Lyn Gardner 👇

Breaking: An independent review into the last-minute cancellation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Royal Exchange in Manchester has pointed towards “significant systemic organisational and leadership failures” at the venue 👇

ACE’s proposed changes to its project grants may be paused for now, but that doesn’t erase fears of looming catastrophe for artists and companies, says @lyngardnertheatre.bsky.social 👇

New piece from me @thestage.bsky.social on planned ACE changes to Project Grants and why so many fear a looming catastrophe. Some of the changes would make touring even harder and be a death sentence for non-NPO funded companies. tinyurl.com/yxm77p58

💬 Freelancers are speaking up! 📢 “Pay us on time.” 📢 “Job security.” 📢 “Close the gender pay gap.” What challenges do you face as a freelancer? Add your voice to #ShapingTheArts. 🎥 👉 Submit your video today: https://buff.ly/40OvHB0 #FreelancersMakeTheatreWork

"It doesn’t help anyone when we divide women into the childless and the mothers” @lyngardnertheatre.bsky.social interviews Anna Morris for @stagedoorldn.bsky.social ahead of the Southwark Playhouse run of her show Son of a Bitch 🤬✈️👶 stagedoor.com/theatre-guid... ( @thethelmas.bsky.social )

Hi all, everyone should read this because while ACE has announced a delay and consultation to their proposed changes, what was leaked about what was going to be put in place from April 1 would have been catastrophic and the end for many companies and a migraine for NPOs too.

"One of the great things to come out of #LetsCreate is that everybody has had to sit up and take notice of questions around quality and accessibility". And about time too. Insightful piece from @lyngardnertheatre.bsky.social

"I've always felt our work was genuinely radical, yet I was aware that because of its audience, it was beneath the notice of many in the industry" @lyngardnertheatre.bsky.social meets the pioneering companies making theatre for disabled and neurodiverse audiences👇

Artists often fail. It is part of the job because it is only by taking a gamble and risking falling flat on their faces that they have any possibility of delivering great art.

And we’re off. The Women’s Prize for Playwriting is now open for submissions 🏆 Thread below:

Excellent article by @lyngardnertheatre.bsky.social in @thestage.bsky.social “The arts are not holding out a begging bowl; they are offering a partnership to kick-start growth of many kinds and are well placed to do so.” #Theatre #TheatreSky #Culture

"Culture is not the icing, it is the cake. Not nice to have, but essential to support people living longer, happier, more fulfilled lives in places in which they feel pride and a vested interest." - @lyngardnertheatre.bsky.social

or they start with one and there vision and mission drift as their own continued survival becomes the primary concern.

This piece is such a good read. Well worth your time.

Deadline for applications for Women in Journalism Scotland 2025 mentoring scheme is tomorrow - 18 December. www.wijscotland.com/news/wij-sco...

Nicholas Serota’s tenure as ACE chair extended for a further 18 months https://buff.ly/4iH8Ij4 #ChangingFaces

Our analysis of new ONS GDP data shows a worrying decline in the creative arts and entertainment industry, which has shrunk by 15% since the Labour government took office in July 2024. Urgent investment in arts & entertainment is necessary. www.equity.org.uk/news/2024/eq...

Local government culture spend cut by more than 50% since 2010 – report www.thestage.co.uk/news/local-g...

Chuffed to bits to see @lyngardnertheatre.bsky.social list Fresh Ink: Hull Playwriting Festival as one of her reasons to be cheerful 😀 The festival will return in July and we announce our next seven commissioned writers in January. www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/lyn-...

We strike again tomorrow and Friday. Please support us SHARE our posts WRITE to [email protected] JOIN US - the picketline was packed last week. Will be the same tomorrow. The strength of feeling is undimmed 💪⬇️

Could the rise of Bluesky kick-start a revival for online theatre debate?, asks @lyngardnertheatre.bsky.social 👇 www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/coul...

Save the date 🗓️ We're hosting a peer-to-peer, drop-in session for Hull freelancers to come do their tax returns together, in our rehearsal space on Tuesday 14 January (11am-2pm). You bring your receipts, we'll bring the tea and biscuits.

When you're planning your community project, don't start by asking 'how does the community need to change?' Start by asking 'how do we need to change?'

The Women’s Prize for Playwriting is to return next year with an increased first prize of £20,000 👇 www.thestage.co.uk/news/news/wo...

What a great opportunity!

Big day for Scottish culture today. This time last year, Shona Robison pledged to up culture spending by £25m for 2025/26, as part of the wider promise to increase it by £100m by 2028/29. This afternoon, we will see whether that promise is fulfilled...

If funding cuts to the arts industry continue “there will be no professional sector in 10 years”, the chief executive of Arts Council Wales has warned. https://buff.ly/4gjKUA9 #FreelancersMakeTheatreWork

Take a minute to admire Anne Estelle Rice’s portrait of author Katherine Mansfield. Katherine sat for it while she and Anne were staying in Cornwall in 1918. More in my latest Substack: airtsandpairts.substack.com/p/an-excepti... Credit: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

📣 The 2025 Women in Journalism Scotland mentoring scheme is now open 📣 Mentors include: Laura Kuenssberg Heather Dewar Kirsty Wark For the full list and how to apply 👇 www.wijscotland.com/news/wij-sco...

Announcing five guest performers at our 50th Anniversary Gala on 10 Feb 🖐️ Jade Anouka (His Dark Materials; Dune: Prophecy) Monica Dolan (Mr Bates vs the Post Office) Alfred Enoch (How To Get Away With Murder) Tom Sturridge (The Sandman; Sea Wall) Amy Trigg (The Little Big Things)

Off to University of Edinburgh tonight to give a talk based on this timeless and timely question posed by Nicola McCartney.