Trolls, madmen and dancing girls – an everyday tale of ordinary PR folk

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Peer Gynt at National Theatre of ScotlandOI! PR TYPES! Hopefully I’ve got your attention.

Having seen the turnout at last week’s Gorkana breakfast briefing, featuring Atholl Duncan from the BBC, it is obvious there are plenty of eager, bright and shiny people in the sector keen to expand their horizons – and their careers.

So here is a shameless plug for a right tasty CIPR event – the kind you’ll want to attend to help you up that slippery pole.

It’s happening  on Tuesday (jun 23), so you’ll need to act sharpish by knocking on the boss’ door, and letting them know you’ve found a, *cough*,  cost-effective way to enhance your value to the business and to your clients, all part of your ongoing commitment to career development and personal improvement.

The good news is that what you are really signing up to is the chance to slosh down some wine and nibbles while picking the brains of Roberta Doyle, Director of External Affairs and Emma Schad, Press Manager, from the National Theatre of Scotland (NTS).

They’ll be giving the inside grift on the hugely successful PR and media campaign for  the recent Black Watch production – so there’s your guilty conscience salved already. Turns out you won’t actually be fibbing to the gaffer with your claims of “personal and professional development”.

Better yet, part of the deal is that the NTS are also throwing in tickets for the opening night of Peer Gynt. Peer who? Aye, that’s exactly what I said. Still, it’s by Ibsen, and even a philistine like me has heard of him.

The blurb says: “Peer Gynt is a dreamer, a liar and a serial womaniser. Cast out from his home town, Peer embarks on a thrilling and astonishing adventure in search of fame and fortune…”

So there you have it – an easily recognisable, thoroughly modern tale of lying, sh*gging and the quest for celebrity. So, just like opening a copy of your favourite tabloid or sitting down to watch the latest instalment of Big Brother.

Except guilt free, because it’s theatre, dahling, so must be terribly, terribly high brow.

Emma Diamond of Smarts in Glasgow summed it up much better than I could when she pointed out: “The NTS flyer says that it’s ‘An exhilarating tale of a life lived on the edge… a mix of trolls, madmen, dancing girls and live music’ Just a typical day at the office for most PR people, then.”

Since it only costs £35 per skull, this is one not to be missed and you can book by contacting the very helpful Kate Trussler at Platform PR – kate.trussler@live.co.uk.