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By 2005, arts journalists were taking the work presented at the Festival really seriously, evidenced by critical, in-depth reviews. For Marketing Officer Abigail, this had been a long work-in-progress: “I remember a classic interview with Tony in the foyer of the Traverse, and the journalist said, ‘Have you got a puppet you could stick your hand up, while we’re talking to you?’ My heart sank and I said, no, he’s the Festival Director. I remember thinking, we’ve got a big job to do here!”
Gill Robertson, Catherine Wheels’ Artistic Director, says, “The fact that now you’d always expect a reviewer to come and see the shows… that just wouldn’t have happened. So I think, alongside the Festival, there’s been a whole education about what children’s theatre can be and could be”.
The abrupt closure of the Gateway Theatre due to essential maintenance meant that almost half of the 2005 programme had to be relocated, just weeks before the Festival!
The first Russian company to attend the festival was the Ekaterinburg theatre, with Kashtanka.
