Pitlochry Festival Theatre in Scotland, is about to open its 75th anniversary season, its first since star of stage and screen Alan Cumming took over as Artistic Director.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Sam Hardie, Associate Director at the theatre, who is directing a revival of Iain Heggie's Wiping My Mother's Arse, and to playwright Douglas Maxwell, whose new play Inexperience will open in June, about the new season and the ways in which the new artistic director and his predecessor, Elizabeth Newman, changed the theatre's focus.

Douglas also shares the best piece of advice he was ever given about playwriting that he thinks about every day, which came from Iain Heggie.

Pitlochry Festival Theatre's 75th anniversary season opens on 23 May 2026 with a revival of the musical Once directed by John Tiffany, followed by Finn Den Hertog's production of Shakespeare's Lear starring Maureen Beattie, a revival of 2024 Edinburgh Fringe hit A History of Paper, Beckett's Happy Days starring Siobhán Redmond directed by Roxana Silbert, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie directed by Vicky Featherstone and My Fair Lady directed by Maria Friedman with Alan Cumming as Professor Higgins.

In the Studio, Douglas Maxwell's Inexperience opens on 13 June, followed by I Can Die Too by Frances Ruffelle, Sally George and Alan Cumming, Wiping My Mother's Arse by Iain Heggie (directed by Sam Hardie) and I'll Be Seeing You by Martin Sherman.

Liverpool's Unity Theatre is the last surviving member of the Unity Theatre movement formed from left-wing workers' drama groups in the 1930s.

The theatre is to present a series of events under the name A Radical Reimagining to celebrate a century of radical theatre in Liverpool, a project conceived by Artistic Director Eli Randle.

BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Eli about the project, the theatre's history and the changing face of political theatre. Eli also paid tribute to Graeme Phillips, Artistic Director of the Unity for more than thirty years, who died last year.

The various events in A Radical Reimagining will take place through May and June 2026 at the Unity Theatre, including Young Radical Theatre Makers from a new generation of artists and Stage Left, a production that looks back on the company's history, both running from 4 to 6 June.

Birmingham Rep is to present its first Shakespeare play for ten years. Joe Murphy who became artistic director 12 months ago is directing A Midsummer Night's Dream along with deputy artistic director Madeleine Kludje.

BTG Midlands editor Steve Orme spoke to Joe and Madeleine about their take on the play before chatting to three of the cast, Evie Ward-Drummond, Isabel Adomakoh Young and Charlotte Wallis.

A Midsummer Night's Dream will run at Birmingham Rep from Saturday 25 April until Sunday 24 May 2026.

(Pictured from left: Charlotte Wallis (Helena), Isabel Adomakoh Young (Hermia), Evie Ward-Drummond (Lysandra), deputy artistic director Madeleine Kuldje and artistic director Joe Murphy.)