Traverse Theatre

A programme of premieres, most of them first plays, several of them careers

Founded in 1963 in a former brothel in the Lawnmarket and now in a purpose-built basement off Lothian Road, the Traverse exists to stage plays that have never been staged. Its August programme is the one that agents, producers and critics work through methodically, and a run here is how a good deal of British playwriting starts.

Two rooms, both small, both with the audience close enough to the actors to be uncomfortable, which is usually the intention.