Elizabeth Newman is in love. This is the impression the dynamic new artistic director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre gives on the eve of her inaugural season opening with her production of Summer Holiday. As opening statements go, the musical stage version of the classic teen travelogue Brit-flick will undoubtedly be a feel-good extravaganza. Coming at a time when international travel looks set to be restricted, the show’s depiction of carefree youth in transit has other underlying resonances. “Summer Holiday is a story about young people falling in love and being able to go wherever they want,” says Newman. “It’s a story about how wonderful it is to be connected. With everything that’s going on in the world just now, all of that is becoming harder, and this show is celebrating how joyful it is to be able to be that carefree.” Newman and her team currently have four of PFT’s summer season of six shows in rehearsal, utilising an ensemble of seventeen actors. The plays include No
An archive of arts writing by Neil Cooper. Effete No Obstacle.