Tag: Discussion

  • Thoughts on yesterday’s Edinburgh Performing Arts Development meeting

    Yesterday I went along to the Edinburgh Performing Arts Development meeting at the City Art Centre. EPAD is a project run by Lucy Mason and Nicholas Bone to bring those involved in Edinburgh’s performing arts together, get them talking to each other and finding practical ways to share resources and match up means and needs. It feels…

  • A response to Desire Lines from a grassroots theatremaker. Looooong.

    It’s taken me a while to gather my thoughts and decide how best to write about Desire Lines.   For those of you who, by dint of not being attentive Edinburgh arts folk, have not heard of Desire Lines, it is this: http://www.desirelines.scot. It’s a project started by a handful of people working in the…

  • Pre-Creepie Stool thoughts on strength and complexity

    Creepie Stool opens tonight. My plans to attend a rehearsal were scuppered by hospital time (no Fringe flu for me, this year I went for full-on gastroenteritis and getting pumped full of IV fluids instead). Consequently, tonight’s performance will be almost entirely new to me. (I say almost because I’m still expecting to recognise the…

  • A belated write-up of Creative Scotland’s Open Session in Edinburgh

    It has been over a week since the Creative Scotland Open Session in Edinburgh. I’ve been meaning to write about it since then, but every time I start a draft I get exasperated and abandon it in favour of the work I actually get paid to do. The official write-up of the day is here,…

  • A Response to the Creative Scotland Board Meeting Report

    The statement from Creative Scotland’s board gives me cause for hope. Like many artists I was expecting a stubborn refusal to acknowledge the scale of the problem, perhaps even denial that there is a problem in the first place. Instead we got a statement that was respectful, refreshingly low on empty corporate-speak and even showed…

  • A lengthy round-up of what people are saying about CSstooshie now

    Creative Scotland is the arts blogger’s gift that keeps on giving. How appropriate, as we head into the festive season. But there are gifts and gifts, and this one feels like one of those annoying noisy battery-devouring things where once you start playing, you somehow can’t stop. Perhaps that’s just me. I’m a bit tired…

  • Some thoughts on Artists Open Space

    It’s taken me a while to get round to writing up my thoughts on the Open Space at Waverley Gate. What with directing and producing two shows concurrently, this is the first spare moment I’ve had to write things down! With any luck, I’ll get round to answering some of the emails I’ve received in…

  • A Right Stooshie and the Question of Excellence

    So here’s what’s been happening: An open letter signed by 100 artists was sent to Creative Scotland, expressing dismay at the way the organisation has been run so far and requesting a fresh start. Click here to read it. Sir Sandy Crombie, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Creative Scotland, replied to the open…

  • Plugs and theatre politics

    Next week one of my short plays is being produced by Black Dingo as part of the company’s launch event. Information can be found by clicking here. I’ve got a lot of time for Black Dingo. This is a production company that aims to provide a really valuable resource for grassroots theatremakers – a one…

  • Talking to Creative Scotland: Making Plans

    This afternoon I had a meeting with Kenneth Fowler at Creative Scotland. It was a pleasant chat, refreshingly free of corporate-speak, and I should probably mention in the interests of clarity that he was the one who got in touch with me. The most important thing first: I got the go-ahead for an Open Space…