Persistent and Nasty

In this RE-LISTEN episode

Elaine chats with actor, writer, director Virginia Gay.

We talk about Virginia’s Fringe First award winning show Cyrano. We talk talking old stories and bringing them to new audiences without repeating the same story but bringing a fresh perspective to it and how vital that is for us all. We talk about the wonderful tool that is comedy that let’s us reach our audience in an authentic and truly moving way. We chat the joy of theatre, words, life, queer love and so, so much more.

Cyrano is on now at the Park Theatre London

11th December 2024 -11th January 2025 -

Tickets: parktheatre.co.uk/event/cyrano/

CYRANO

Virginia Gay’s joyous, gender-flipped retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac, packed with music, wit and aching romance, is a love letter to hope; to language and desire; to the irrepressible magic of theatre. A big-hearted, irreverent rom-com, perfect for a feel good Christmas treat.

Cyrano is the most interesting person in any room – a wordsmith, a charmer. She works twice as hard and runs twice as fast as the pretty boys, because she’s deeply ashamed of something about herself. Enter Roxanne: brilliant and beautiful, with a penchant for poetry and a way with words, just like Cyrano. But Roxanne only has eyes for Yan: hot, manly Yan; all brawn-and-no-brains Yan; who is dumbstruck around Roxanne. Probably shy, right? Until suddenly he starts saying the most amazing things. But it’s not Yan writing these perfect love scenes, it’s Cyrano …

Virginia Gay

“Virginia Gay graduated WAAPA, then spent four years pretending to be a nurse on All Saints, six months pretending to be cop on Savage River (ABC), and then five years on Winners & Losers, where she pretended to know a lot about high finance. That last one, particularly, was a stretch. She won a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Actress for Calamity Jane, starred in the film Judy & Punch which premiered at Sundance, and wrote and directed her first short film Paper Cut, which made Tropfest finals. In 2020 she wrote two new plays: an adaptation of Cyrano for MTC and The Boomkak Panto for

Belvoir, which premiered December 2021. She starred in both and also co-directed The Boomkak Panto.”

OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk

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Final episode of our spooky season.

A perfect episode for the crossover between Halloween and Christmas, when the nights are darker and colder and you’re not quite sure if you heard something or caught a glimpse of something out the corner of your eye.

Ungetatable by Ellie Zeegan and Janet Coulson.

Voice Actors:

Eileen O’Shaughnessy – Rebecca Dunn

George Orwell – Fergus John McCann

Woman – Elaine Stirrat

Ellie Zeegan

Actress, Producer, Writer Ellie Zeegen founded Firebrand Theatre Company in 2010 which has been an Associate Company at Pitlochry Festival Theatre since Feb 2023. Ellie co-wrote (with Richard Baron) Nan Shepherd: Naked & Unashamed in association with Dr Kerri Andrews which returns to Pitlochry Festival Theatre Studio for their Summer Season 30th May-14th June 2025.

Recent TV/Radio credits include: appearances in BBC Alba Sar Sgeoil: Dracula (broadcast Halloween 2024) and BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour.

Theatre credits include: White Rabbit, Red Rabbit by Nassim Soleimanpour, Anthony in Anthony & Cleopatra with Shake-Scene Shakespeare’s at Shakespeare North Playhouse and an Autumn tour of one woman show A Room of One’s Own by Virgina Woolf this November 2024.

Writing credits: Founder of Page to Stage (Scottish Borders) and the Create project which focused on supporting and launching new female voices into the industry. Ellie was a Burn Bright Timebank mentor and The School of Life’s Expert on Acting.

Plays: Nan Shepherd: Naked & Unashamed with Richard Baron and Ungetatable with Janet Coulson.

Ellie also co-founded The Actors’ Temple, London - the ‘alternative to drama school’ which trained hundreds of actors 2006-2019.

Ungetatable

When the world has lost all online communication, all data is gone how do we more on. When the tape recordings are found maybe it will hold answers and the voices of the present and the past will merge.

OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk

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Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets

LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE

Resources

Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK

ArtsMinds - BAPAM

Freelancers Make Theatre Work

Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK

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Spooky Season.

Next up is a spooky season is

It comes with rain by Siobhan Murphy .

Voice Actor:

Amira Al Shanti

Siobhan Murphy

Siobhan is a Glasgow-based freelance writer and editor with a background in ELT and educational publishing. I am a passionate writer, and, previously successfully applied to pitch a fantasy novel to publishers and agents at Xpo North festival in Inverness. I also had a piece of short fiction published by The Selkie as part of their New Voices workshop. Recently, my short piece on top writing advice was selected as a runner up in a competition by The New Zealand writer's college, and subsequently published on their website. In my free time, I primarily write fantasy and dystopian fiction and English language and educational content. I've written two radio plays available on Soundcloud. I also write professionally for a number of educational companies. I have an MA undergraduate degree in English Literature and Spanish, during which time I was selected for the creative writing dissertation course, for which I received an A grade. You can read more of my creative work on my blog or find out about my professional work on my website. I'm currently seeking representation for my novel.

IN COMES WITH RAIN

A curse, a spell, generational trauma you decide. Just remember never be out in the rain.

OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk

HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES

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Email – [email protected]

Instagram - @persistentandnasty

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Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets

LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE

Resources

Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK

ArtsMinds - BAPAM

Freelancers Make Theatre Work

Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK

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Spooky Season.

Next up is a spooky season is

Bite Pattern by Charlotte Smith.

Voice Actors:

Kath – ChloeAnn Taylor

Imy - Rebekah Lumsden

Charlotte Smith

Charlotte Smith is an Edinburgh-based playwright. She studied Drama Writing at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and her work has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe, Òran Mór, the Scottish Youth Theatre, the CCA, the Golden Goose Theatre and the Camden Irish Centre. She was longlisted for the David MacLennan Award at Òran Mór in 2022 and 2024, and shortlisted for WonderFools' Positive Stories for Negative Times 2024 programme. Charlotte's play The Sculptor is currently being performed by Not So Nice! Theatre at the Edinburgh Horror Festival. Her work is sometimes surreal, often supernatural, and always queer.

BITE PATTEREN

Meeting the in-laws is never easy but when true crime is involved the conversations involved lead you to answers you were never expecting.

OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk

HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES

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Email – [email protected]

Instagram - @persistentandnasty

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Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets

LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE

Resources

Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK

ArtsMinds - BAPAM

Freelancers Make Theatre Work

Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK

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Next up on our spooky season series is

Living History by Torya Winters.

Voice Actor Megan Lovat

TORYA WINTERS

Torya is an Edinburgh based actor and writer, and graduate of RCS. She was shortlisted for the Scottish Arts Club Flash Fiction Award in 2021, and her short plays have been performed at the Blazing Hyena scratch night and workshopped at Stage to Page in Glasgow. She is currently working on a one woman play about maternal mental health.

LIVING HISTORY

Looking for somewhere to go on doors open day? Then this is the destination for you. History, great tour guides and much more.

When a woman goes to doors open day in she has no idea what she is about to experience

OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk

HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES

Equity Toolkit: Link

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Email – [email protected]

Instagram - @persistentandnasty

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Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets

LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE

Resources

Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK

ArtsMinds - BAPAM

Freelancers Make Theatre Work

Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK

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Spooky Season is back.

Spoky season is a mixture of audio plays/scripts and true stories

Today is a real life spooky tale from writer artist, wellbeing facilitator, and EDI consultant Harry Mould.

Voice Actor:

Louise Oliver

Harry Mould

Harry (they/she) is a queer, mixed-heritage writer, artist, wellbeing facilitator, and EDI consultant.

Their critically acclaimed first play, The Brenda Line, was commissioned by Pitlochry Festival Theatre for their 2024/25 season, and their first script for television, The Houdini Detectives, was a finalist in the Studio 21 Drama Series Prize, and has since been optioned for television. Their debut novel, Saturn Devours His Daughter, was a finalist in both the Merky New Writers Book Prize and Peters Fraser Dunlop Queer Literary Prize in 2023/24.

Harry is Associate Artist with Sanctuary Queer Arts in Glasgow and is on the board of directors for Summerhall Arts and Wonder Fools theatre company. They like good horror books, bad horror films, and think your dad should be in therapy, already.

OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk

HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES

Equity Toolkit: Link

Stellar Quines: Link

Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership

Email – [email protected]

Instagram - @persistentandnasty

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Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets

LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE

Resources

Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK

ArtsMinds - BAPAM

Freelancers Make Theatre Work

Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK

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Spooky Season is back.

We have a week of brilliant audio drama coming your way.

Today is The Revival by Corinne Sailsbury

Voice Actors:

Alex – Fergus John McCann

Iona – Elaine Stirrat

Corinne Sailsbury

Corinne Salisbury is an Edinburgh-based playwright. She's had plays produced at the Traverse Theatre and the Scottish Storytelling Centre (both commissioned by Strange Town for their youth theatre groups); and digital commissions from Paines Plough and from the National Theatre of Scotland/BBC for the SCENES FOR SURVIVAL series. She's a past Playwrights Studio Scotland New Playwrights Award winner, and was longlisted for the Channel4 New Writers Scheme 2024 and nominated for the Adopt a Playwright Award 2024. She's had development processes supported by Playwrights' Studio Scotland, National Theatre of Scotland, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Creative Scotland and the Peggy Ramsay Foundation. Her work has been performed at venues including Hampstead Theatre, Theatre503, the Spiegeltent, Southwark Playhouse, Live Theatre Newcastle, Camden People's Theatre, the Yard Theatre, the Old Vic Theatre, New York's Public Theater, the Tron, the Traverse, the CCA, Leith Depot, the Village pub and the Hidden Door Festival. Her play GIRLBOSS is published in Routledge’s anthology ‘Short Plays with Great Roles for Women’

The Revival

A ghost hunter and property developer meet in an abandoned theatre to communicate with the voices of the past. What could possibly go wrong.

OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk

HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES

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Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets

LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE

Resources

Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK

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Spooky Season is back.

We have a week of brilliant audio drama coming your way.

Today is Inedia by Lucy Wilson.

Content warnings to be aware of themes of blood, surgery and body dysmorphia.

Voice Actor:

Shawny McAloon

Lucy Wilson

Lucy is a writer from Lanarkshire. Normally more of a comedy writer, this is her first foray into anything resembling horror, a genre she is not naturally inclined towards due to being scared of everything.

Inedia

When a young women’s obsession with their body and weight takes her on a path to a Doctor who may have the answer to all her dreams. Will her obsession be the thing that gives her all she wants or will it devour her.

OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk

HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES

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Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership

Email – [email protected]

Instagram - @persistentandnasty

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Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets

LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE

Resources

Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK

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Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK

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Spooky Season is back.

We have a week of brilliant audio drama coming your way.

First up we have Cull by Cara Watson.

This is two extracts from Cara’s script, and we hope it gives you a sense of the story.

Content warnings to be aware of themes of blood, violence and animal hunting, although not fully explored in the extracts.

Our voice actors in this episode are:

Fern – Chloe Kaney

Cal – Jamie Cunningham

Billy – Joshua Gardner

CARA WATSON

An actor and playwright from Fife, currently living in Edinburgh. I

have a strong interest in new writing, as well as re-approaching the

classics. My writing pulls history and Scottish DNA into today with a

mystical connection to nature. I am also co-founder of Untie My Tongue

Theatre, which focuses on new writing from women and marginalised

genders within Scottish theatre.

CULL

Cull, a thriller set in the remote and bleak landscape of Scotland that explores themes of animal cruelty and misogyny. The play follows Fern in her quest to become a deer stalker in a male dominated business within rural Scotland. Upon arriving, Fern meets Billy, a middle-aged man and experienced deer stalker, and Cal, a local lad who has been working for Billy since he was a teenager. Although Billy welcomes Fern into their unique and brutal way of life, Cal is not as pleased about her arrival and makes various attempts to put her off. However, Fern is determined to stay. Meanwhile, strange things start to happen. Eerie noises are heard at night. There are knocks on the door, but nobody is there. Fern feels like she’s being watched…hunted even. She soon realises that Billy and Cal are not what they seem.

And she wonders if the deer are starting to fight back…

OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk

HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES

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Resources

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In this episode Elaine chats to Canadian theatre maker Claire Love Wilson. We talk about their show Morag You’re a Long Time Died. Which is touring Scotland/Ireland/England this month after a successful month at the Edinburgh Festival. We chat about the show, generational relationships and much more.

Tickets here: http://clairelovewilson.com/morag-youre-a-long-time-deid

Morag You’re a Long Time Died

Morag’s death left a silence in her place. When her grand-daughter Sam inherits her piano, she also inherits the mystery of Morag’s story. An intimate letter composed of fragmented Scottish ballads leads Sam to uncover Morag’s possible queerness. In piecing together Morag’s history through their shared Scottish musical heritage, Sam discovers a voice of her own.

This new experimental musical warps, disrupts, and reconfigures traditional Scottish storytelling, ballad singing and participatory community dance. Reimagining ceilidh theatre from a queer perspective, original compositions are playfully interwoven with electronic loops and interactive dancing to tell old stories anew.

Claire Love Wilson

Claire Love Wilson (she/they) is queer white/Scottish settler multidisciplinary artist living on the ancestral and unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh) First Nations. She works as a theatre-maker, actor, playwright, musician, and singer-songwriter.

Claire has been featured as a creator and performer at the Vancouver Fringe Festival, the rEvolver festival, The Shift Festival, and Theatre Under the Gun in collaboration with companies like The Only Animal, Urban Ink, the frank theatre, Aphotic Theatre and ITSAZOO Theatre. Claire has also facilitated workshops on her personal loop- based performance practice “Song-Walking” locally as part of Interplay Festival and the Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival, as well as internationally at the University of The West of Scotland, the Scottish Storytelling Centre, and BAM in Paris.

Claire is the co- creator, lead performer and co-producer of the experimental musical “Morag, You’re a Long Time Deid” (MORAG), which works to queer traditional Scottish ballads through loop-based soundscaping and storytelling. As a work in development MORAG has been showcased at the National Theatre of Scotland, The Scottish Storytelling Centre and at PushOff! in Vancouver. The production premiered as part of Touchstone Theatre’s 45th anniversary season in June 2022. MORAG had its UK premiere at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and is now on tour in Scotland, Ireland and England.

OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk

HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES

Equity Toolkit: Link

Stellar Quines: Link

Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership

Email – [email protected]

Instagram - @persistentandnasty

Twitter - @PersistentNasty

Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets

LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE

Resources

Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK

ArtsMinds - BAPAM

Freelancers Make Theatre Work

Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK

Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE

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