The Crush Bar

May 13

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*Till The Stars Come Down*. Photo: Manuel Harlan.

This will be the last issue of The Crush Bar for a few weeks.

This newsletter usually goes on holiday in June, ahead of the annual explosion that is the Edinburgh Fringe. This year, though, it is going on hiatus – an extremely fun phrase, which makes it sound like an HBO series – a fortnight early. That is because, in just 22 days’ time, I will be getting married. Let’s hope it goes better than the weddings in Much Ado About Nothing, or Blood Wedding, or Till The Stars Come Down.

(Why do all weddings in plays go wrong? I can’t think of a single happy one. Here, Michael Billington argues it is because dramatists are “supreme ironists who see that the social rituals we create disguise the ugly realities beneath.” Thanks, Michael!)

Maybe because it is because of my impending nuptials, maybe it is because the sun is shining an alarming amount in Scotland, or maybe it is because I saw a brilliant debut play this week - Molly Sweeney’s Water Colour at Pitlochry Festival Theatre - but I am feeling particularly positive at the moment. There is, it seems, a lot to look forward to.

Firstly, there are the awards. Yes, the Tony Awards are taking place on June 8, but, more importantly, so are the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland, nominations for which were unveiled on Wednesday. Sadly, I can’t be at the ceremony at the Traverse Theatre, unless things really do go a bit Much Ado, but best of luck to those that will be. Prior to that are the Profile Awards for lighting design, which David Benedict has written passionately about here, and, later this summer, I am going to get stuck into the judging process for a new set of awards that will be announced imminently.

Then, there are the festivals: Brighton Fringe, Dance International Glasgow, Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, Norfolk and Norwich Festival, Manchester International Festival, and more. When The Crush Bar does return, though, it will be devoted to the Edinburgh Fringe, which might well be bigger than ever before this August, with 3286 shows currently set to perform. Bigger does not mean better, of course, and there is no sign that the festival’s myriad problems have been solved, but it does mean that there will be loads of exciting shows arriving in the Scottish capital this summer. Some I am already excited about include: TheatreGoose’s Aether, Ellie Keel’s Skye, Ed Edwards’ Ordinary Decent Criminal, Mechanimal’s Wild Thing, Alex Reynolds’ In The Land Of The Eagles, Luke Wright’s Pub Grub, and Maybe You Like It’s Down To Chance. The Traverse Theatre’s programme launches on May 29, ahead of the full programme being revealed on June 3, when I will be chatting to new Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society boss Tony Lankester.

"I am used to taking risks as a producer. I’m addicted to it, in fact."

May 9

Lankester is just one of a slew of new leaders in the theatre industry. There is also David Byrne at the Royal Court, Nadia Fall at the Young Vic (whose first season was announced earlier this week), Indhu Rubasingham at the National Theatre, Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans at the RSC, Timothy Sheader at the Donmar Warehouse, Elizabeth Newman at Sheffield Theatres, Taio Lawson at the Bush Theatre, James Brining at the Edinburgh Lyceum, Alan Cumming at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Kate Wasserberg at Theatr Clwyd, Nathan Powell at Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, and more. Sure, the tap of unimaginative musical adaptations is still gushing (this week’s announcements: a 50 First Dates musical, a Chaka Khan musical, and a One Day musical) but everywhere you look, there are fresh faces with fresh ideas, fresh creative collaborators, and fresh schemes to overcome the industry’s challenges.

Five talking points from Indhu Rubasingham's first National Theatre season

May 6

Above all, though, there are some seriously exciting shows coming up: bold new plays, thrilling adaptations, much-deserved West End transfers, and more. Here, to keep you occupied until The Crush Bar is back in a few weeks’ time, are ten worth seeing…

Ten shows to see over the next two months

The Fifth Step - various, until June 14

David Ireland’s blackly funny two-hander about the increasingly intense relationship between a young alcoholic and his older sponsor premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival last August. Now, Finn Den Hertog’s production transfers to @sohoplace for a ten-week run. Slow Horses star Jack Lowden reprises his newly award-nominate performance as Luca, and he is joined by Sherlock’s Martin Freeman.

A Streetcar Named Desire - NTLive, from June 5

Australian director Benedict Andrews has been blowing audiences and critics away for over a decade with his radical reimaginations of classic texts, from his production of Three Sisters at the Young Vic in 2012 to last year’s staging of The Cherry Orchard at the Donmar Warehouse. This summer, audiences can experience one of his biggest hits – his 2014 Young Vic production of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire starring Gillian Anderson as Blanche, Vanessa Kirby as Stella and Ben Foster as Stanley – in cinemas around the country when it is broadcast again by NTLive.

This is promotional content.

Man’s Best Friend - various, until July 12

Over a 25-year career, Scottish playwright Douglas Maxwell has written several hit plays, from 2000’s Decky Does A Bronco to 2024’s So Young, recently nominated for Best New Play at the CATS. Next up: Man’s Best Friend, a one-man play about a dog walker, initially seen at A Play, A Pie and A Pint three years ago, and now developed into a full-length play, directed by Jemima Levick and starring Jordan Young.

After The Act - Royal Court Theatre, until June 14

First seen at the New Diorama Theatre 2023, then at the Traverse Theatre during that year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Breach Theatre’s After The Act takes real words – parliamentary speeches, news reports, personal testimonies – to entertainingly and movingly explore the controversial introduction and devastating impact of Section 28. Now, the verbatim musical runs at the Royal Court Downstairs for a month.

Billy Barrett - co-artistic director, Breach Theatre

April 9, 2021

Till The Stars Come Down - Theatre Royal Haymarket, until September 27

Beth Steel’s Till The Stars Come Down was one of the best new plays of 2024, if not the best. It follows myriad stories over the course of a long wedding day in the East Midlands, asking profound questions about Britain, prejudice, ambition, love and more, while also being extremely funny. In July, Bijan Sheibani’s beautiful production deservedly transfers from the National Theatre’s Dorfman stage to the West End.

Romeo and Juliet - Wilton’s Music Hall, until June 21

In 2023, The Crush Bar featured an interview with Henry Maynard, artistic director of acclaimed physical theatre company Flabbergast Theatre, ahead of its visceral version of Macbeth. Now, the ensemble returns with a reimagination of Romeo and Juliet, promising live music, clowning, mask work and more. Directed and designed by Maynard and starring Kyll Thomas-Cole and Lennie Longworth as Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, the show runs for two weeks at Wilton’s Music Hall.

Flabbergast Theatre is reimagining Macbeth.

March 3, 2023

This is promotional content.

4.48 Psychosis - Royal Court Theatre/RSC, until July 27

A few famous shows are returning this summer: Girl From The North Country at the Old Vic, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Bridge Theatre, London Road at the National Theatre. This, though, is the most remarkable: Sarah Kane’s seminal 4.48 Psychosis, remounted by the same cast and creative team that first presented it a quarter of a century ago. Co-produced by the Royal Court and the RSC, it has runs in London and Stratford-upon-Avon, but there are very few tickets left.

Failure Project - Soho Theatre, until June 14

Theatremaker Yolanda Mercy had a hit at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017 with her solo show Quarter Life Crisis, then another last year with Failure Project. Now, the latter, which is partly inspired by Mercy’s own experiences and explores the frustrating reality of life as a Black, female creative, is off on a short tour. It opened in Harrogate earlier this week, is at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre tonight, then arrives at Soho Theatre for a three-week run, with a Black Out night on May 31.

Stereophonic - Duke Of York’s Theatre, until October 11

The most Tony Award-nominated play of all time arrives in the West End next week, ahead of an official opening in early June. Written by David Adjmi, with music from Arcade Fire’s Will Butler and direction from Daniel Aukin, it is set in a recording studio in the late 1970s and focuses on the tumultuous lives of a famous, five-strong British-American rock band that is extremely similar to Fleetwood Mac. Look out for my interview with star Zachary Hart - so great as a quadbike-driving, Billy Bragg-singing Medvedenko in The Seagull at the Barbican recently - in The Stage soon.

The Beautiful Future Is Coming - Bristol Old Vic, until June 7

The second play from Flora Wilson Brown, who impressed with her debut I Know I Know I Know at Southwark Playhouse three years ago, this time-hopping, six-handed drama explores the climate crisis through the experiences of three couples, jumping from New York in 1856, to London in 2027, to Svalbard in 2100. Directed by Nancy Medina and designed by Aldo Vazquez, it runs at Bristol Old Vic until early June.