The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is delighted to announce the launch of the inaugural Edinburgh Festival Fringe emerging critic’s programme. Reviews are a critical tool for Fringe artists, for both raising their profile and encouraging audiences to seek out their work. Over the last few years, the level of arts coverage delivered by media titles across the UK has reduced dramatically compared to pre-pandemic. The Fringe Society’s new pilot project aims to promote arts journalism as an attractive and viable career choice for emerging talent.

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An estimated 65-70,000 people flocked to London’s Trafalgar Square this weekend (Sat 17 & Sun 18 June) for West End LIVE, Europe’s biggest free theatre festival. Theatre fans travelled from all over the UK and even further afield for this hotly anticipated highlight of the theatrical calendar.

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Kensington and Chelsea Festival is delighted to announce that it is set to return for a third consecutive year. Spanning the summer – from Saturday 1 July to Thursday 31 August 2023 – the festival will take place across the borough in a reimagining of its spaces. From the best-known cultural venues to the less discovered areas and outdoor spaces, Kensington and Chelsea Festival will make use of every inch of the borough to host a multitude of live art performances, large and small, showcasing exceptional established artists alongside the very best emerging talent.

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The Mackintosh Foundation is delighted to announce the inaugural Regional Theatre Technical Apprenticeship Programme in association with thirteen venues across the United Kingdom, offering young people a stepping-stone into the theatre industry and supporting the next generation of technical theatre professionals.

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A career that began in his younger years, actor/writer/director Harlem born Glynn Turman has enjoyed over six decades within the entertainment industry. Along the way, starring alongside Hollywood greats Sir Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee in the original Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun in 1959, as well as episodes of hit sitcoms Hanging with Mr Cooper and The Wayans Bros, and directed episodes of A Different World. His acting work including hit dramas The Wire, House of Lies and Queen Sugar. Celebrated for his contributions to the the field of entertainment, his work has seen him win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in HBO Drama Series In Treatment, Best Supporting Actor by the Los Angeles Critics Associstion for your role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom as well as three NAACP Awards. Gearing up for his release of  his documentary The Legend of Glynn Turman to stream across various platforms from 20th June, Glynn tells us more about what to expect!

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The Society for Theatre Research has awarded An Actor’s Life in 12 Productions by Oliver Ford Davies (Book Guild) the Society for Theatre Research Theatre Book Prize for 2023. The Prize was given to Davies on Thursday 15th June as part of a prestigious ceremony at the Actors’ Church, London celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Theatre Book Prize and the 75th anniversary of the Society for Theatre Research.

President of the STR Timothy West awards Oliver Ford Davies the Theatre Book Prize at the Actors’ Church, 15th June 2023.

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The fear whipped up by witch hunts has the might to change the social fabric, there needing to be an ‘enemy’ to defeat, the root of this phenomena that we’ve repetitively seen play out throughout history. Influenced by the Salem witch trials of 1692/1693 and the McCarthyism of 40s and 50s America, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible instils what it is for hysteria to very gradually take over a community, a nation, a population.

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In 1926, the General Strike saw over a million workers in the transport and heavy industry strike over worsening pay conditions for a total of 9 days. Called on by the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the UK would find itself forced to a stand still, post WWI, with a stagnating economy burdened with the costs of war. With the nation’s press amongst other industries impacted as a result of the strikes, this in turn would determine who dominated the media landscape at the time, how it would be done and what news items would make the cut. The British Gazette – a government owned publication run by the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time – Winston Churchill, and the BBC, an independent structure run by John Reith battling it out to reign supreme and be crowned the nation’s go to media outlet. Jack Thorne’s When Winston Went to War with the Wireless placing a closer gaze on these 9 days that would go on to shape and shake up UK history.

Courtesy of Manuel Harlan.

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The launchpad for some of the UK’s brightest spoken word and poetry talent, the Last Word Festival, hosted by the Roundhouse is currently enjoying a take over of the arts venue. From the 1st to the 18th June, the event marks the return of the coveted Roundhouse Poetry Slam Final, renowned arts organisation – Apples and Snakes’ 40th year celebration, a conversation between award winning poet Sophia Thakur and #Merky Books editor Lemara Lindsay-Prince, a live podcast series by Lyrix Organix featuring Rizzle Kicks’ Jordan Stephens amongst many other events. Talking to us about this year’s 10th anniversary, marketing coordinator Petra Harrison tells us more about what it means to be able to host this vital event years on, and what the marketing aspect for an event such as this looks like.

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From the years 1955 to 1964, Cameroon entered a war of independence from the ruling French colonial power of the time. A struggle still felt today, this is a part of world history seldom discussed on an international level. Drawing attention to this, writer and producer Clarisse Makundul presents Under the Kundè Tree, a defiant debut giving voice to the show’s young female lead, Sara – a perspective important more so than ever.

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