theatreVOICE

The symposium on the work of Howard Barker held at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (the RSAMD) in Glasgow on May 24, 2008 (which is now streamed on theatrevoice.com) offers some important insights into Barker’s thoughts about his theatre, its international success and its neglect by the English theatre establishment. It also […]

365, the National Theatre of Scotland’s production at the 2008 Edinburgh International Festival, is a highly unusual project. Originating with its director, Vicky Featherstone (artistic director of the NTS), it found playwright David Harrower accepting a commission on a specific subject; the first time he has written an original play in this way.
   The play’s subject matter - young adults […]

The recent appointment of Andy Arnold as artistic director of the Tron Theatre in Glasgow (audio interview for theatreVOICE conducted June 9) comes at an important time for Scottish theatre. Like the Tron, the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh (where Dominic Hill was recently appointed as artistic director) appears to be re-energised by a change in leadership. Arnold’s first […]

On Sunday, June 15, Glasgow’s splendid Ã’ran Mór venue played host to the annual Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS). The event was programmed as part of the city’s West End Festival (WEF) and was, by popular acclaim, the best CATS gathering since the awards began in 2003. Tremendous though the previous events (hosted on Sunday afternoons in Stirling, Dundee […]

How often have you heard the claim that a playwright has “found the universal in the specific”? It often seems as if such an observation is the highest form of critical praise; as if finding “the universal in the specific” is the greatest achievement a playwright could make. Â
   However, it seems to me that this obsession with the seemingly boundless […]

The recent Europe Theatre Prize (held in the Greek city of Thessaloniki in April) forced audiences, practitioners and critics to negotiate the often treacherous territory where politics and aesthetics meet.
The many Greek and international guests of the programme were in Thessaloniki to see work by a variety of European companies and artists, including the winner […]