Gareth Nicholls

WILF
★★★☆☆ Encouragingly filthy
There is a pleasingly unruly feel to James Ley’s new play WILF, this year’s seasonably unseasonal offering from the Traverse. Full of heart, not to mention dialogue that would have given the Lord Chamberlain palpitations, it overcomes structural difficulties to produce a successful whole.

Ley’s Wilf for Trav Xmas
New play by James Ley makes Traverse Xmas debut
Wilf, a new script from Edinburgh playwright James Ley will be the Christmas offering in Traverse One this year, running for 19 performances in December 2021.

Still
★★★☆☆ Tender
Still at the Traverse is in many ways a tough watch, with themes of death and loss offset by excellent performances and perceptive writing.

Traverse Breakfast Plays: New Tracks (1)
Traverse 3:
The Traverse are replicating their Fringe Breakfast Plays with streams from their new online-only Traverse 3, and the first two offerings – Contemporary Political Ethics (Or, How to Cheat) by Jamie Cowan and Rabbit Catcher by Rebecca Martin – both have much to recommend them.

Trav Young Writers go online
Online Scratch showcase for new plays
The Traverse Young Writers Group has been meeting online since March and is now set to release scratch performances of plays written during lockdown, starting from tonight, Saturday May 16 2020 at 8pm.

New Top Team at Trav
Director appointments and new structure announced:
Gareth Nicholls and Debbie Hannan have been appointed as co-artistic directors of the Traverse Theatre Company as the theatre announces a new structure and new faces in its artistic leadership team.

Ulster American
★★★★☆ Hard Hitting:
Trailing clouds of glory from 2018, David Ireland’s Ulster American has returned to the Traverse with a bang. If it is not quite as good as some have said, it is still impressive – and certainly is impressively nasty.

Nicholls interim AD at Trav
Gareth Nichols made Traverse’s interim artistic director:
The Traverse board is to hold a consultation about the theatre’s future and has appointed Gareth Nichols as interim artistic director while the process is carried out.

Arctic Oil
★★☆☆☆ Feeble:
Great forces of vital importance are brought into a claustrophobic setting in Clare Duffy’s new two-hander, Arctic Oil, which is the main Autumn production at the Traverse, running to Saturday 20 October.

Traverse Open Auditions
Traverse to hold first open auditions:
Edinburgh’s Traverse theatre is put out an open call for actors who it has never worked with before, and is hoping to get applications from as wide a range of backgrounds as possible.