Persistent And Nasty

It’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025 series Elaine chats with performer and co-creator Maria Teresa Creasey and Rebecca Reeves director and co-creator of Degenerate. Degenerate – Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker One) 30 July - 23 August (not 5, 12, 19) Time: 23:10 (60 mins) She is style, she is grace, she has blood dripping from her face: she’s Degenerate. Degenerate Maria just wants to perform for you - but the voice in the room is keeping her captive. Made to reenact an onslaught of famous horror scenes, will she make it out alive? Why does the voice seem hell-bent on keeping her here? And in a world where social worth is placed upon beauty and youth, who wouldn’t want to live forever? A high-octane, biting satire, Degenerate holds a mirror up to ageing and society, with Maria Teresa Creasey being the manic-pixie-scream-girl we’ve waited a lifetime for. Crammed with horror references, tap dancing and the queen of all vampires (Shania Twain, obviously. Seriously, how does she look like that? Still?), this

It’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025 series Elaine chats with performer Michelle Monteith about Red Like Fruit Red Like Fruit – Traverse Theatre – various times Award-winning Canadian theatre company 2b returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the UK premiere of critically acclaimed playwright Hannah Moscovich’s (Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes with Hugh Jackman) honest, raw, and gut-punching play about power, reclaiming narratives, and gender. Red Like Fruit While Lauren’s been reporting on a high-profile case of domestic violence, she’s been thinking back with eerie ambivalence on a set of sexual events from her adolescence, and something in her has started to crack. Soon, Lauren can no longer comprehend her own decisions and desires (like why she asked Luke to narrate for her in the first place). Red Like Fruit interrogates the many contradictions and complexities of complicity, consent, patriarchy and traumatic memory in the post #MeToo era. TICKET LINK HERE OUR WEBSITE - www.persis

It’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025 series Elaine chats with writer, performer and musician Jay Eddy about her new show Driving in Circles – McIntosh at Gilded Balloon @ Appleton Tower 4 - 24 Aug13:30 A musical comedy that encourages audiences to take a different approach to trauma and to see the light and beauty in life. Driving in Circles Driving in Circles - Get in the car, we’re taking a road trip. An acclaimed new theatre hybrid solo show traversing the highway between confessional monologue, rock band, original music, concert, and stand-up comedy. Set to Jay Eddy’s self-penned electric art-pop score, Driving in Circles traces the aftermath of intimate violence - mapping our hero’s darky funny, deeply felt, and defiantly hopeful journey through the bodymind-altering landscapes of trauma towards something like happiness. TICKET LINK HERE OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk Persistent and Nasty join the CEC community to create a safe space & build a community for those who are marginal

It’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025 series Today Elaine chats with writer creators Milly Blue (Basement Jaxx, BBC Radio 4) & Jessie Maryon Davies (Kate Nash, Lips Choir) about their new show Elysium - Ruby Gilded Balloon @Appleton Tower 4 - 24 Aug 12:20 An comedy horror with music by Ghouls Aloud. It’s another must see. Elysium Meet Elysium Court’s newest arrivals - an aspirational couple in their late thirties who’ve recently escaped central London to start family life in earnest. The woman plans to spend her maternity leave happily cultivating vegetables…and hopefully her online presence. But from the moment she pulls up her narrow new garden’s standard-issue astroturf, their haven turns to hell. From multidisciplinary artists Milly Blue (Basement Jaxx, BBC Radio 4) and Jessie Maryon Davies (Kate Nash, Lips Choir), Elysium is a moving, modern horror, full of humour and spine-tingling truths, with a haunting live score and original songs. A satirical, suspenseful nightmare inspired by modern gothic

It’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025 series Today Elaine chats with writer Amanda Verlaque about her play This Sh*t Happens All The Time. An exciting new one woman show. A must see. This Sh*t Happens All The Time - Studio 4 Assembly Studios @George Sq 4th - 25th August 13.20 This Sh*t Happens All The Time - Acclaimed Northern Irish writer Amanda Verlaque presents her powerful, timely one-woman drama, This Sh*t Happens All The Time, in its Edinburgh Fringe festival debut following acclaimed runs at the Lyric Theatre and Grand Opera House Studio, Belfast. A deeply personal show about queer love, tummy flips, hearts skipping beats… and defending yourself against a homophobic bully. TICKET LINK HERE OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk Persistent and Nasty join the CEC community to create a safe space & build a community for those who are marginalised in any way in the arts. Link for our Zoom meeting with Creative Entrepreneurs Club https://creativeentrepreneursclub.co.uk/ MAIL BAG – you can

Elaine and Louise chat with the Stacey Simmons author and psychotherapist about her book The Queens Path and the 2-day workshop event which is taking place in Glasgow on the 23rd and 24th of August 2025 at the Grand central Hotel. We discuss the event, the creation of the book, the studio system and much, much more. As part of our ongoing mission to remove barriers and support creative connection, Persistent & Nasty is sponsoring a Sisterhood Ticket. This will fund two women or non-binary pals / colleagues to attend together – because transformative experiences should never be limited by finances. Apply Here The Queens Path Scotland Website The Queens Path Scotland The Queen's Path is the new archetypal journey for women's narrative, from psychotherapy to screenwriting. Whether you're a screenwriter, a novelist, or a psychotherapist, come to Glasgow and learn the revolutionary way of thinking about women's narratives. Whether you're working on a new screenplay, novel, stage play, or work with women who

Elaine and Louise chat with the brilliant Zara Gladman about her Edinburgh Festival Show Zara Gladman is… Aileen: Cameron’s Gap Year Fundraiser and her new BBC Scotland show Good For Her. We talk about the full circle moment for all of is that this podcast is. As Zara and her writing partner Laura’s script was the very first thing we selected for the very first Persistent and Nasty event. We also chat about the struggle for freelancers and creatives to balance the work we do to pay the bills and keeping the creativity alive. You can watch Good For Her here: watch on iplayer And you can get tickets for Zara Gladman is… Aileen: Cameron’s Gap Year Fundraiser here: https: Ticket Link Here ZARA GLADMAN Dr Zara Gladman is a comedy writer, performer and recovering scientist. She has been making sketch comedy and musical parodies since 2012, including viral hits “Last Friday Night in Glasgow“, Scottish indyref star “Lady Alba” (as featured in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Al Jazeera, BBC, Irish

Elaine chats with co-founder of F-Bomb Theatre co Rachel O’Regan about their latest project Monumental which is a walking tour of the imagined statues of five women from history and their connection to Edinburgh. We also chat with two of the writers Hannah Low, Emery Schaffer and the director Emily Ingram. F-Bomb are working with Edinburgh 900 celebrations to brig Monumental to the audiences. In a city that has more statues to animals than to women join these incredible writers as they celebrate these inspirational women. On from the 10th – 17th May 2025 TICKET LINK HERE MONUMENTAL Edinburgh has nearly 200 monuments and statues dotted around the city, showcasing key historical figures in the city’s history - but where are all the women? Part of the Edinburgh 900 celebrations, Monumental is a new extraordinary theatrical walking tour that showcases the real ‘herstory’ of Edinburgh. Produced by multi-award-winning Edinburgh-based feminist theatre company F-Bomb Theatre, the experience will take audiences

Elaine chats with Katch Holmes Creative Producer and Programmer and steerer of Knockengorroch Festival. We chat everything from the beginnings of the festival, finding your North Star, music and how it makes you feel and much more. KNOCKENGORROCH FESTIVAL 22ND -25TH MAY 2025 TICKET LINK Link to hear Kuchke Knockengorroch and The Green Gathering Two of the UK’s longest-running grassroots festivals – Knockengorroch and The Green Gathering – are joining forces to create a pioneering partnership celebrating Celtic music, land, and nature. Launching at a time when independent festivals are under increasing pressure, Meet Us by the Fireside is a symbol of resilience and unity, offering festival-goers a unique opportunity to experience both events at a discounted rate. Green Gathering Tickets Knockengorroch Festival Knockengorroch Festivals were born from a love of the land, excellent roots music and celebrating the good times. We present unparalleled music, arts and workshops in a beautiful mountain riversi

Wild Rose Elaine and Louise chat with writer of Wild Rose Nicole Taylor along with Wild Rose herself Dawn Sievewright and co-stars Louise McCarthy and Hannah Jarret-Scot. A beautiful chat during the press night celebrations talking about the joy of feeling represented on stage, seeing important and truthful working class Scottish stories and women finding themselves and following what drives them. An ode to home! Wild Rose is currently running at The Lyceum Edinburgh until the 19th April 2025 Tickets Here OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk Persistent and Nasty join the CEC community to create a safe space & build a community for those who are marginalised in any way in the arts. Link for our Zoom meeting with Creative Entrepreneurs Club https://creativeentrepreneursclub.co.uk/ MAIL BAG – you can write and ask us industry related questions or general questions or maybe you have a hot take you want to chare, some tea you want to spill or a topic you want discussed on the podcast. To be included

4 STARS ACROSS THE BOARD This is our very first MAIL BAG episode. We asked the question via our Instagram stories if anyone had a topic/thought they would like us to discuss and we felt this question was one we had to answer. The Question: PERSISTENT AND NASTY WHAT ARE YOU TRUE THOUGHTS ABOUT SCOTTISH THEATRE CRITICS? Elaine and Louise give you an honest and a little spicy answer. If you want to contribute to the MAIL BAG email us with MAIL BAG in subject line persistentandnansty@gmail.com or DM us via Instagram. Send your hot takes, thoughts, questions or a topic you want P&N’s point on. All questions will automatically be treated as anonymous unless you specifically as for your name to be shared. Not all questions will be selected for Mail Bag episodes. Use #nastymailbag when sharing on socials, OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk Persistent and Nasty join the CEC community to create a safe space & build a community for those who are marginalised in any way in the arts. Link for our Zoom m

THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH Persistent and Nasty is & years old. We can’t believe it. In this episode Elaine and Louise celebrate the achievements of the last seven years. We cover everything from how we started, the ups and downs, the hard truth that by advocating for everyone in our industry we might not work again, that even if we do work we can fall into the trap of wanting to been seen as “nice and easy” – we’re all human and none of this work is binary. We discuss our name it’s origins and how the meaning of it has shifted for us over the years. We also mention the new edition to the podcast: MAIL BAG – you can write and ask us industry related questions or general questions or maybe you have a hot take you want to share, some tea you want to spill or a topic you want discussed on the podcast. To be included in the Mail Bag podcast email persistentandnansty@gmail.com with subject line MAIL BAG or slide into the DM’s. Finally, we talk about what we hope for P&N for the next seven years. Happy Birthday to u

Elaine chats with actor, writer, Molly Geddes We talk about Molly’s short film Where We Stop which was created to be part of an initiative for Glasgow Girls Club. The initiative aims to raise awareness of Violence Against Women and Girls among young women aged 16-21 in Glasgow as well as highlight information about the available support services. We also chat about being a survivor and how it feels moving forward. TW for this episode discussion of coercive control You can watch Where we Stop here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoxPV6u--uA&t=6s Glasgow Girls Club: https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/11121/Glaswegian-Girl-Made-Multi-Media-Campaign-to-Combat-Violence-Against-Women-and-Girls-launches-today Where We Stop Is this your stop pal?’ Sophie gets the bus every day. Same seats, same route. With pals, on her own, from work, to college- She never misses her stop. After getting into her first relationship with Jack, who joins her on the bus, she could stay on with him all day. Sophie’s journeys are f

In this RE-LISTEN episode Elaine chats with actor, writer, director Virginia Gay. We talk about Virginia’s Fringe First award winning show Cyrano. We talk talking old stories and bringing them to new audiences without repeating the same story but bringing a fresh perspective to it and how vital that is for us all. We talk about the wonderful tool that is comedy that let’s us reach our audience in an authentic and truly moving way. We chat the joy of theatre, words, life, queer love and so, so much more. Cyrano is on now at the Park Theatre London 11th December 2024 -11th January 2025 - Tickets: parktheatre.co.uk/event/cyrano/ CYRANO Virginia Gay’s joyous, gender-flipped retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac, packed with music, wit and aching romance, is a love letter to hope; to language and desire; to the irrepressible magic of theatre. A big-hearted, irreverent rom-com, perfect for a feel good Christmas treat. Cyrano is the most interesting person in any room – a wordsmith, a charmer. She works twice as hard

Final episode of our spooky season. A perfect episode for the crossover between Halloween and Christmas, when the nights are darker and colder and you’re not quite sure if you heard something or caught a glimpse of something out the corner of your eye. Ungetatable by Ellie Zeegan and Janet Coulson. Voice Actors: Eileen O’Shaughnessy – Rebecca Dunn George Orwell – Fergus John McCann Woman – Elaine Stirrat Ellie Zeegan Actress, Producer, Writer Ellie Zeegen founded Firebrand Theatre Company in 2010 which has been an Associate Company at Pitlochry Festival Theatre since Feb 2023. Ellie co-wrote (with Richard Baron) Nan Shepherd: Naked & Unashamed in association with Dr Kerri Andrews which returns to Pitlochry Festival Theatre Studio for their Summer Season 30th May-14th June 2025. Recent TV/Radio credits include: appearances in BBC Alba Sar Sgeoil: Dracula (broadcast Halloween 2024) and BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour. Theatre credits include: White Rabbit, Red Rabbit by Nassim Soleimanpour, Anthony in Ant

Spooky Season. Next up is a spooky season is It comes with rain by Siobhan Murphy . Voice Actor: Amira Al Shanti Siobhan Murphy Siobhan is a Glasgow-based freelance writer and editor with a background in ELT and educational publishing. I am a passionate writer, and, previously successfully applied to pitch a fantasy novel to publishers and agents at Xpo North festival in Inverness. I also had a piece of short fiction published by The Selkie as part of their New Voices workshop. Recently, my short piece on top writing advice was selected as a runner up in a competition by The New Zealand writer's college, and subsequently published on their website. In my free time, I primarily write fantasy and dystopian fiction and English language and educational content. I've written two radio plays available on Soundcloud. I also write professionally for a number of educational companies. I have an MA undergraduate degree in English Literature and Spanish, during which time I was selected for the creative writing di

Spooky Season. Next up is a spooky season is Bite Pattern by Charlotte Smith. Voice Actors: Kath – ChloeAnn Taylor Imy - Rebekah Lumsden Charlotte Smith Charlotte Smith is an Edinburgh-based playwright. She studied Drama Writing at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and her work has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe, Òran Mór, the Scottish Youth Theatre, the CCA, the Golden Goose Theatre and the Camden Irish Centre. She was longlisted for the David MacLennan Award at Òran Mór in 2022 and 2024, and shortlisted for WonderFools' Positive Stories for Negative Times 2024 programme. Charlotte's play The Sculptor is currently being performed by Not So Nice! Theatre at the Edinburgh Horror Festival. Her work is sometimes surreal, often supernatural, and always queer. BITE PATTEREN Meeting the in-laws is never easy but when true crime is involved the conversations involved lead you to answers you were never expecting. OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit

Next up on our spooky season series is Living History by Torya Winters. Voice Actor Megan Lovat TORYA WINTERS Torya is an Edinburgh based actor and writer, and graduate of RCS. She was shortlisted for the Scottish Arts Club Flash Fiction Award in 2021, and her short plays have been performed at the Blazing Hyena scratch night and workshopped at Stage to Page in Glasgow. She is currently working on a one woman play about maternal mental health. LIVING HISTORY Looking for somewhere to go on doors open day? Then this is the destination for you. History, great tour guides and much more. When a woman goes to doors open day in she has no idea what she is about to experience OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – persistentandnasty@gmail.com Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE

Spooky Season is back. Spoky season is a mixture of audio plays/scripts and true stories Today is a real life spooky tale from writer artist, wellbeing facilitator, and EDI consultant Harry Mould. Voice Actor: Louise Oliver Harry Mould Harry (they/she) is a queer, mixed-heritage writer, artist, wellbeing facilitator, and EDI consultant. Their critically acclaimed first play, The Brenda Line, was commissioned by Pitlochry Festival Theatre for their 2024/25 season, and their first script for television, The Houdini Detectives, was a finalist in the Studio 21 Drama Series Prize, and has since been optioned for television. Their debut novel, Saturn Devours His Daughter, was a finalist in both the Merky New Writers Book Prize and Peters Fraser Dunlop Queer Literary Prize in 2023/24. Harry is Associate Artist with Sanctuary Queer Arts in Glasgow and is on the board of directors for Summerhall Arts and Wonder Fools theatre company. They like good horror books, bad horror films, and think your dad should be

Spooky Season is back. We have a week of brilliant audio drama coming your way. Today is The Revival by Corinne Sailsbury Voice Actors: Alex – Fergus John McCann Iona – Elaine Stirrat Corinne Sailsbury Corinne Salisbury is an Edinburgh-based playwright. She's had plays produced at the Traverse Theatre and the Scottish Storytelling Centre (both commissioned by Strange Town for their youth theatre groups); and digital commissions from Paines Plough and from the National Theatre of Scotland/BBC for the SCENES FOR SURVIVAL series. She's a past Playwrights Studio Scotland New Playwrights Award winner, and was longlisted for the Channel4 New Writers Scheme 2024 and nominated for the Adopt a Playwright Award 2024. She's had development processes supported by Playwrights' Studio Scotland, National Theatre of Scotland, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Creative Scotland and the Peggy Ramsay Foundation. Her work has been performed at venues including Hampstead Theatre, Theatre503, the Spiegeltent, Southwark Playho