Newspaper crisis play in running for awards

A HARD-hitting new play tackling the crisis facing the newspaper industry in Britain is in the running for two major theatre awards – just weeks after its world premiere in Glasgow.

Enquirer, which is based on interviews with dozens of current and former journalists, including staff at The Scotsman, has been shortlisted for best new play and best ensemble in the annual “Oscars” of Scottish theatre.

The National Theatre of Scotland play – which explores issues including phone-hacking and the impact of the Leveson inquiry - is currently being staged to rave reviews in an empty office floor overlooking the BBC and STV headquarters on the banks of the Clyde.

Maureen Beattie, one of the stars of Enquirer, has also been shortlisted for best female performance, but for a different play, 27 at the Royal Lyceum Theatre.

Other contenders for best new play were all staged in Glasgow - A Slow Air, at the Tron Theatre, Beats, at The Arches and Angels, which was part of the “Play, Pie and Pint” series at Oran Mor.

Enquirer’s rivals for best ensemble are another National Theatre of Scotland production, A Christmas Carol, King Lear, by the Citizens Theatre Company and Somone Who’ll Watch Over Me, at Perth Theatre.

The National Theatre of Scotland has been shortlisted 12 times in the 10 different categories in the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS), which are being held for the tenth time this year.

Joyce McMillan, theatre critic at The Scotsman, and co-convenor of the awards panel, said: “This year’s CATS nominations celebrate a dazzling range of work, created by more than 20 companies across Scottish theatre.

“The list emphasises the growing creative impact of the National Theatre of Scotland, both through its own distinctive work and in co-productions with other companies; it also celebrates the continuing high achievement of Dundee Rep, and a fine start to Dominic Hill’s directorship at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow.

“And through nominations for events like the National Theatre of Scotland’s Five Minute Theatre, Untitled’s Salon Project and Magnetic North’s Pass the Spoon, it also reflects the exciting ways in which theatre is changing, with artists exploring the myriad possibilities of online technology, and boldly venturing into the borderlands between theatre and installation, theatre and music, theatre and visual art.”

Tickets for the awards ceremony, which is being held at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow on 10 June, are available to the public and on sale now.