Brian Ferguson: Trident play more relevant than ever

AS Alan Cumming is turned away from a social event, Jenna Watt thanks the new Prime Minister for keeping her show relevant.
The renewal of Trident has kept Jenna's play relevantThe renewal of Trident has kept Jenna's play relevant
The renewal of Trident has kept Jenna's play relevant

His cabaret performances and late-night soirees have lit up the The Hub and almost single-handedly transformed the image of Edinburgh International Festival over the last couple of weeks.

But Alan Cumming cut an unexpectedly forlorn-looking figure in the Dunard Library bar before he took to the stage on Friday night with his dog by his side.

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The quarter of a million social media followers of the Broadway star would have already known by then that Cumming and “Lala” had been turned away from the National Museum of Scotland’s “After Hours” event.

Pity the poor staff left to explain that only guide dogs are allowed in its galleries and exhibition spaces – no matter how famous the owner.

I hear the museum may try to find a willing Lala-sitting volunteer in the hope of persuading Cumming to return for the final “After Hours” event this week.

She has only been at No 10 for a few weeks but Theresa May was still the recipient of an admittedly unlikely tribute at the latest Scotsman Fringe First Awards ceremony.

Jenna Watt, creator of Faslane, an exploration of the UK’s Trident nuclear missile programme, is among the many Fringe performers who have to rewrite their show in the wake of the fast-moving events of the summer.

After collecting her award at the Famous Spiegeltent on Friday, Watt took time to thank the new Prime 
Minister for ensure the issues in her show would be even more relevant and that by impressing on the minds of watching audiences by insisting on a House of Commons note to renew the Trident programme just a few weeks before her show opened.