In January 2020, BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Elizabeth Newman, Artistic Director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre in Scotland, about her plans for the coming year. Less than two months later, the country shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. The season was cancelled and the future of this theatre, amongst many others around the country, looked bleak, but it continued to commission and produce new work, mostly online.

A year on, and Pitlochry has announced its 70th anniversary season including its first winter ensemble, this time geared to the conditions in which they will have to work for the forseeable future. Pitlochry has also collaborated with Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre and Naked Productions on a new digital audio theatre platform, Sound Stage. Elizabeth speaks, in this episode, about both of these, and also about how the events of last year unfolded.

The Sound Stage events so far announced will be available for just a few days at the end of each month from March to October 2021. The first, Angela by Mark Ravenhill directed by Polly Thomas, will run from 26 to 28 March and star Pam Ferris, Matti Houghton, Toby Jones, Jackson Laing and Joseph Millson.

For more information about any of the events mentioned in this episode, see the Pitlochry Festival Theatre web site.