The Traverse Theatre’s festival programme for August - TravFest25 - was announced at a launch event at the theatre in Edinburgh, and promises to be a treasure chest of delights.  

A phenomenally talented and creative new voice in music

Kev Campbell Was He ★★★★★ Stepping in, at short notice, to replace Hell from the indisposed Jonny & The Baptists, creator & performer Alexander Tait resurrected his debut play Kev Campbell Was He and filled the gap in style. Endearingly humorous, the play opens on 18-year-old Glaswegian Kev in a nightclub toilet cubicle - remarkable for its utter lack of graffiti.

We sat down for a quick chat with the rapper and singer Bee Asha, who was shortlisted for BBC Introducing Scottish Act of the Year.

★★★ A Play, A Pie and A Pint serves up a sharp lunchtime mystery Zoe Bullock’s missing-person drama, Night, Idiot, makes for a compact, interesting, and fairly amusing experience. The title, a reference to the nightly quip with which Dani (Bullock), and long-term boyfriend Paul (Andrew Barrett), say goodnight, comprises the last two words she will ever say to him.

track by Lacunas Music Society

★★★★ Playwright Harry Mould isn't quite sure whether the Brenda Line was a good or bad initiative. Perhaps seeking resolution through creativity, she creates volunteers Anne (Fiona Bruce) and Karen (Charlotte Grayson), arms each with the opposing perspective and leaves them alone in a locked Samaritans' office to work it out over the night shift. Operated by Samaritan volunteers side-by-side with the better-known helpline between 1958 and 1987, 'Brendas' catered to those with more obscene chats in mind.

★★★ Wasps, by Cameron Forbes, follows 16-year-old Rianne (played by Yolanda Mitchell) as she negotiates high school romance, friends, and a desperately sick mother. It’s a coming-of-age tale woven around the natural history of the wasp, much maligned wielder of the ‘arse-knife’ and our teenage heroine’s unlikely totem creature. Unlikely because, at least to begin with, she hates the wee stingers.

I had a fabulous evening in Edinburgh at the New Writers Awards. Thank you to the Scottish Book Trust for the invitation. Below is a link to the YouTube recording of the event so you can watch at home. Also an array of photos that I took. Join host Shane Strachan as he introduces some of Scotland's most exciting emerging writers during our New Writers Showcase 2025, streamed live from the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh.

James Rowland is back on the road. Following another sold-out Edinburgh Festival Fringe run, his Songs of the Heart trilogy is touring the UK, bringing his signature blend of storytelling, music, and theatre to venues nationwide. Audiences familiar with Rowland’s work will know that his shows are deeply personal, memorably funny, and often deeply moving. For those yet to experience his particular brand of storytelling, his upcoming performance of…

★★★★★ Introducing the gig, co-founder of Soundhouse and Edinburgh Tradfest, Douglas Robertson, described Kathleen MacInnes' gig as ‘the hottest ticket in town tonight’. Well, the packed Traverse auditorium’s rapturous response to her - and her chosen bandmates’ - 2 delightful, tuneful hours suggests he was probably right. A little of that appreciation will likely be immortalised in McInnes’ upcoming album, tracks for which she was recording live on the night.

I had a fabulous evening in Edinburgh at the New Writers Awards. Thank you to the Scottish Book Trust for the invitation. Below is a link to the YouTube recording of the event so you can watch at h…

“An excellent idea - but not much more”

A charismatic powerhouse backed by a skilful band