You know a country by its values. By what a country values. And it turns out thatwhat a country values can change overtime. Sometimes, though, there's a sort of cognitive delay between the country you think you are in, and the country you've actually become. For example, you can keep selling yourself, to foreigners, as the country of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen, and luring busloads of tourists to Stratford-upon-Avon and Bath, and put a statue of George Orwell in front of the BBC, and imagine yourself a cultured and literate nation, which the rest of the world admires for its devotion to the written word - but if you then chronically underfund your cultural institutions, and treat your cultural workers with contempt, many people will suspect you of being full of it. And as the decades pass - and fewer and fewer Shakespeares and Austens and Orwells emerge from your little island - even more people will begin to suspect that in truth you do not value culture at all, and are in fact running a giant heritage museum in which the only cultural workers you respect are the dead ones.

With alt text.

I’m so flippin proud of this production, which has been made by a team of such ambition, rigour and expansive thinking – AND it’s really funny!

only on until Saturday, so get yourself a ticket ASAP for some “pure theatrical alchemy”

Photo of five people, black and white, young and older, looking happy

Call out for writers with lived experience of homelessness or poverty to submit monologues for a new anthology to highlight the complexity of the experiences of homelessness and poverty – struggles, resilience, hope, humour.

Please share :)

mtos.cardboardcitizens.org.uk/anthology/

come hang out and think about how plays can be small but also big!

Beige background with Graeae logo in red. Text reads, We Are Working - Allow Us To Continue

We have released a statement on the impact of recent proposed policy changes & benefits reform within the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper.

graeae.org/resource/gra...

Our community cannot & should not take this further assault on civil liberties!

A photo of Jess Thom, a white, wheelchair using woman looking into the camera with a serious expression. She is wearing a blue and green hoodie, black padded gloves and is pictured in from of a brick wall

I’m profoundly sad to say that as of today, I’ll no longer be able to do my job as co-artistic director of #Touretteshero because of a recent decision by #AccessToWork to cut my support by 61%. Read & share this post, the hardest I've had to write: www.touretteshero.com/2025/05/23/a... 1/4

with the grey it’s also a bit Oliver Bonas circa 2019

I feel… not all that inspired tbh

fabulous news!

to celebrate Joe’s excellence, here’s one of my fave ever production photos, from his play The Legend of Ned Ludd last year @liveveryplay.bsky.social :

(courtesy of Marc Brenner)

Withnail & I in the rain, with text reading: We’ve texted war plans to The Atlantic by mistake!

A screenshot of an article, which begins: “At the risk of sounding heartless, it looks as if toxic masculinity is the new sexual abuse: the inevitable answer to why a character in a film, book or TV drama appears inexplicably unhappy, aggressive or damaged.” It then proceeds to argue that Adolescence hammers home the malign effect of toxic masculinity too much, and – broadly – that we should stop going on about it all the time.

in a world of chaos and uncertainty, it’s reassuring that the Spectator’s take on Adolescence is precisely as you’d expect: reactionary, and arguably just misunderstanding the programme – which is far more nuanced than this would suggest.

thank god for a bit of stability eh

as the government dismantles PIP, what a gift this week to see the launch of @dadafest.bsky.social’s RAGE exhibition at @liveveryplay.bsky.social, and spend today at @graeaetheatre.bsky.social’s Beyond showcase for disabled artists.

Raucous, tender, and full of fire - congrats to all.

London's Royal Court Theatre spotlights in-house talent with scratch night The Royal Court in London is to shine a light on the overlooked talent of front-of-house teams, with a scratch night dedicated to their creative work

👏 Loving this! The Royal Court is shining a light on the overlooked talent of front-of-house teams with a special scratch night dedicated to their creative work. 🎭✨

🎟️ More here: www.thestage.co.uk/news/news/lo...

#Theatre #WeAreCreative #FreelancersMakeTheatreWork

black sprayed graffiti on a yellow metal door, saying “I don’t fuck with artist men!”

a black sign on a white wall, with long letters in all capitals, saying ‘LADY DRAMA’.

something’s up in Seville

Best thing anyone’s said to me about the current emergencies. “Writing matters because someone needs to write the truth of our times, because we will be told it didn’t happen.” @csvich.bsky.social

@mynextdraft.bsky.social is here and all #theatre and #playwright peeps should follow them !

I currently have two remaining spaces for script consultation & feedback in February. Get in touch on my website for more info!

If you're getting ready to submit to a prize (e.g. Women's Playwriting Prize 👀 ) please leave plenty of time to rewrite and implement your feedback!

seeing four shows this weekend, starting (somewhat surprisingly) with the Strictly live tour!

glorious, ridiculous, and I have to say far hornier than i was expecting – from judges in general, and the audience specifically for Nikita

(fair enough tbh)

Mariupol Drama - HOME Mariupol Drama is a poignant testimony from actors who were sheltering inside the Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre in Mariupol, Ukraine during the tragic events of March 2022.

Mariupol Drama at HOME is such a shot in the arm: testimony from a war zone, performed by those forced to flee their bombed theatre.

Haunting, unflinching and brimming with the need to keep going, keep making the destruction tangible for audiences, and rebuild for the future.

On until Sat.

gonna start sending cease and desist letters whenever i work on something that gets a bad review

a TRAVESTY!

i love this story so much.
She’s an ICON

yeah i’ve apparently trained mine to only see cats, as a result of liking your cat

which to be fair is better than endless fascists in the other place but still

hey this is fantastic news!

great appointment – for writers, directors, audiences, everyone.

really exciting stuff.

ROLLING RESIDENCIES WINDOW 5

Final reminder!

£4,000 of funding available for artists local to Sheffield Theatres to develop new ideas with support.

Short application form!

Deadline: midnight on Friday 10th January.

shorturl.at/d9mLz

‘Silence put my cancer into focus’: how a retreat helped me put my diagnosis into words After the worst year – cancer, chemo, a mastectomy at just 32 – Emma Hall went to a silent retreat. Here, she reveals how it gave her the strength to confront her fears

my brilliant, bold and unflinching friend Emma is in the paper, and I well recommend giving her gorgeous piece a read.

benefits to dating theatre critics:

• plays you’d never otherwise see (for free)!
• endless warm white wine at press nights (also free)!
• crashingly nerdy production analysis whilst on nice dates = legit romance!

negative: slagging off my enemies’ work in print would be ‘unethical’ apparently 😒

inspirational!! 🐀

Image of Theatre 2 sign at HOME Mcr with logos overlayed: "PlayMakers Takeover" and HOME

A dynamic purple and blue background with active shot of movement director Aiden Crawford. Text overlayed: "Physical Play Workshop with Aiden Crawford" and PlayMakers Offstage logo.

A photo of a Box of Tricks social with people chatting in the background. A logo of and text overlayed: "PlayMakers Blood Beats Social"

A fast-moving city image with blurred traffic with the PlayMakers logo and the following text in green: "Accelerate Showcase"

📝 Join us for our PlayMakers Takeover: our regular drop-in Culture Café, a Blood Beats mixer for LGBTQ+ writers, a movement workshop and our Accelerate Showcase from writers aged 35+.

🗓️ Sat 25 Jan at HOME Mcr

🎟️ Book Now >>> https://s.mtrbio.com/bhsowviqrs

The Naomi Wilkinson Award for Stage Design 2025 Applications now open! Deadline 6th Jan.

New Design Award for emerging female designers:

www.toldbyanidiot.org/the-naomi-wi...

I just wanna watch Jeff Goldblum mincing around and pettily causing natural disasters