Tom Piper

My career is based in having a Renault 4 van as a student taking the slow roads to Edinburgh, later graduated to a leyland transit !

‘Restoring humanity’: Paris exhibition showcases 5,000 years of history in Gaza Saved Treasures of Gaza aims to preserve territory’s historical identity against backdrop of war and famine

‘Restoring humanity’: Paris exhibition showcases 5,000 years of history in Gaza

I’m not giving up anytime yet , most freelance artists can’t afford to !

Theatre feature: The Big Freelancer Survey Report 2025—who’s taking the hit? A survey shows just how hard life is for theatre freelancers.

www.britishtheatreguide.info/features/the...

We’re launching our sustainable materials guide this Wed on Zoom. Created by designers and makers, it shares knowledge about materials from a practical perspective and is the result of some fantastic work from project lead Hamish Muir and the rest of the team. Do join if you can.

National two-minute silence to mark VJ Day 80 National two-minute silence will be held at 12 noon on 15 August 2025 to honour the 80th anniversary of VJ Day

The UK Government announcement of the #VJDay80 commemorations outlines the activity IWM is planning
www.gov.uk/government/n...

Sad day! final ever trip to @4dmodelshop.bsky.social I have been using their shop and services for nearly 40 yrs from student days to now. They blame a combination of #Brexit costs , national insurance, rent etc . Depressing that such a unique ,vital supplier to the design world is no longer viable

Dear heads of state: Donald Trump won’t love you back. He may be the worst boyfriend the world has ever seen | Marina Hyde The frantic attempts to decode his behaviour reminds me of self-help relationship babble in the 1990s. Then, as now – it’s not you, it’s him, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde

Dear heads of state: Donald Trump won’t love you back. He may be the worst boyfriend the world has ever seen | Marina Hyde

Can we persuade @PauleConstable to come out of retirement that she hasn’t quite gone into yet ! ?

Have you read his ‘secret knowledge’?it’s a fascinating insight into the technology employed through the ages by artists from an artist who has always embraced technology himself

Freelancers Make Theatre Work was established to listen to the freelance community and ensure their voices are heard.⁠
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Everyone involved in Freelancers Make Theatre Work is an active member of the industry.
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#FreelancersMakeTheatreWork

Budget cuts threaten UK soft power, warns government adviser Neil Mendoza says Britain must protect its leading position in higher education, science and the arts

“It’s a false economy [to make cuts] because they are so cheap and so effective internationally, and hopefully driving the economic growth this government wants.”

Lord Mendoza sits on the UK Soft Power Council and was the last government's commissioner for culture.

www.ft.com/content/2981...

NEW REPORT 👉 Arts, Culture and Heritage: Recent Trends in UK Workforce and Engagement in England. Creative PEC’s ‘State of the Nations’ series analyses the latest data across four thematic areas to inform the development of creative industries policies.

pec.ac.uk/state_of_the...

Male bias in medical trials risks women’s lives. But at least the data gap is finally being addressed | Caroline Criado Perez We know some medications work differently in men and women. Why is it taking so long for studies to reflect this, asks author Caroline Criado Perez

Male bias in medical trials risks women’s lives. But at least the data gap is finally being addressed | Caroline Criado Perez

VE Day Tower of London memorial to all those who lost lives civilian and military. The fragility and importance of peace , lest we forget.

Trump’s attack on the film industry is a sign of xenophobic contempt | Jesse Hassenger By insisting tariffs on films at least partly produced outside the US, the president is trying to limit the important worldview of cinema

Trump’s attack on the film industry is a sign of xenophobic contempt | Jesse Hassenger

Poppy planting underway for WW2 VE80th commemoration at The Tower . A privilege to be back creating a new installation.

🎭 The final curtain is falling…

Today’s your last chance to take part in The Big Freelancer Survey.

🕛 Closes midnight tonight – 21st April
👉 linktr.ee/BigFreelance...

Take 10 mins. Be heard.
#BigFreelancerSurvey #FinalCurtain #Freelancers

Big drop in plays staged by theatres over past decade The number of plays and musicals staged by the UK's main subsidised theatres is down by almost a third.

The number of plays and musicals staged by the UK's main subsidised theatres last year was down by almost a third compared with 10 years earlier, BBC research suggests.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

#FreelancersMakeTheatreWork #Theatre

Also worth noting that the sector is very poorly paid , so retention in mid career is a real issue as skilled workers tend to move into film etc

Important to raise this ongoing issue of backstage skills shortages. the Theatre Artists Fund is also running 20 pilot schemes aiming at retaining talent in our sector in mid career through 2 year placements. Nice pic of my Red Velvet design , which is of ira Aldridge playing Othello in 1825

Lesley Manville calls for better funding for UK regional theatre Actor, who won an Olivier for Oedipus, says her ‘bugbear’ is that venues outside London do not get enough money

Great too to see The Guardian highlight the Campaign for the Arts' analysis in their coverage: local government culture spending per person in England has been cut by more than HALF since 2010 📉

As a geneticist, I will not mourn 23andMe and its jumble of useless health information | Adam Rutherford Millions paid to give away their most personal data. At least in return they found out more about their earwax, says academic and author Adam Rutherford

In which a do not lament the decline of 23andMe.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It wasn’t me !!!

A man sits at a grand piano, gesturing as he speaks to a woman in a red coat who leans on the piano, listening.

🤍 Tickets for the Citizens Theatre’s reopening show #SmallActsOfLove are now on sale!

Written by @francespoet.bsky.social, with music by Ricky Ross and directed by Dominic Hill, Small Acts of Love is a story about love and friendship in the face of the most extraordinary adversity

BOOK NOW 👇

Ümit Bektaş is one of Turkey’s most talented photographers.

His photos here are going viral. You’re not looking at AI: these are real photos from Turkey’s current pro-democracy protests. Despite mounting police repression, the demonstrations are expanding. Erdogan hopes protesters will tire out.

I have had a planned production #ZinnieHarris #MacbethanUndoing at municipal theatre Istanbul directed by #MuratDultaban postponed . We collaborated on #Rhinoceros @lyceumTheatreEdinburgh @EdinburghInternalFestival which aptly parodies the rise of fascism .

Well worth a listen Bob was an inspiration to me when I first started out

NEW: Elon Musk’s X has suspended accounts of Turkish opposition groups, suppressing footage of anti-government protests.

So, best we share all the footage we can here!

This was last night’s massive demo against Erdogan’s government, which follows the arrest of his rival Ekrem İmamoğlu.

🇹🇷 #Turkey

linktr.ee/BigFreelance...