The Crush Bar does Only Connect (again)
Another theatrical version of the best quiz show on television, a round-up of the latest reviews, some links to click, and some stuff to listen to. All in this week's issue of Shouts And Murmurs.
Hello, and welcome to Shouts And Murmurs, a weekly email (mostly) for paid supporters of The Crush Bar, written by me, Fergus Morgan.
Every Tuesday, I round up the best theatre writing elsewhere - news, reviews, interviews, opinions - plus any other interesting or inspiring theatre stuff I find.
At the moment, you can only read the top bit for free, but have to become a paid supporter - it’s £5/month or £50/year - to access the review round-up and curated links below the paywall.
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Previously in The Crush Bar:
Last night was the final of Only Connect, the best show on television…
…so, seeing as it has been a fairly slow week for theatrical news, and seeing as I failed to come up with any interesting opinions yesterday, I have treated you to a theatre-themed riff on the quiz show for this week’s issue of Shouts And Murmurs instead.
Long-term subscribers might remember I did something similar back in 2023, when it baffled overseas readers, frustrated most of you, but thrilled a very small percentage.
Well, prepare to be baffled, frustrated or thrilled all over again. Like last time, I have put the answers below the paywall, so if you want to access them, you have to become a paid supporter for £5/month or £50/year. You can do that right here, right now.
Round 1: Connections. What links the following?
George Square; Cowgate; Bristo Square; Circus Hub
A little more than kin and less than kind; So foul and fair a day I have not seen; Where is my gracious Lord of Canterbury?; Now is the winter of our discontent
Lasdun; Forza; The Understudy; Atrium Café
Ipswich: Wolsey; Wimbledon: Wimbledon; Woking: Victoria; Newcastle-under-Lyme: Vic
Round 2: Sequences. What would come fourth in these sequences?
2007: Harrower; 2008: Churchill; 2009: Burke; ?
Michael Grandage; Josie Rourke; Michael Longhurst; ?
Lyric; Apollo; Gielgud; ?
Stephens; Tennant; Essiedu; ?
Round 3: The Wall. Find four groups of four in this grid. Play interactively here.
Round 4: Missing Vowels. Fill in the blanks in these four categories.
Strange deaths in Shakespeare: brdlv; tnbbr; tshtcls; drwndnwn
Scottish theatres: tn; trvrs; pvln; ctzns
Olivier Award-winning musicals: grndhgdy; prtnmncmt; cmfrmwy; grndhgdy
Styles of stage: prscnm; thrst; ntbr; nthrnd
That’s all. Answers at the bottom. Become a paid supporter if you want to see them.
In other news: Dundee Rep has had its council funding cut; The Producers is transferring to the West End; The Hunger Games play will open in Canary Wharf in October; Eve Nicol has been named creative director of Aberdeen Arts Centre; Francesca Moody has signed a deal with Phoebe Waller-Bridge to develop stage shows for TV; Paines Plough has revealed its 2025 plans; so has The Watermill Theatre; Callum Scott Howells will star in Ghosts at the Lyric Hammersmith.
Feel free to discuss those fiendish questions above in The Crush Bar’s thrilling new chat thing, which you can access via a desktop browser or the Substack app…
