BLACK HOLE SIGN Comes to the Tron Theatre Next Month

This autumn Tron Theatre will present the world premiere of Uma Nada-Rajah’s new play Black Hole Sign, in a co-production with the Traverse Theatre Company, in association with National Theatre of Scotland.

Directed by Traverse Theatre’s Artistic Director, Gareth Nicholls, Black Hole Sign takes a razor-sharp scalpel to the absurdities, tragedies and hilarity within one of our most beloved but besieged institutions, the NHS. Performances run 19 Sept – 4 Oct 2025.

Writer Uma Nada-Rajah says of her new play: “I’m a nurse in my day job and have been a nurse for a long time. There is something so funny and tragic about day-to-day life in hospital, the way that routine and paperwork brush up against the grand processes of human existence: When you're born you get a birth certificate. When you die you get a death certificate. I wanted to capture that sense of absurdity and put it into a play that will make people laugh or cry. And at a time when there are a lot of questions circulating about the future of the National Health Service, I hope Black Hole Sign will make audiences think about the significance of care in modern society"

A stellar six-strong cast will bring this dark comedy to the stage – with Helen Logan (To Save the Sea (Sleeping Warrior), Who Pays the Piper (A Play, A Pie & A Pint)) taking the role of Crea, the beleaguered Senior Charge Nurse in charge of a busy Acute Medical Receiving Unit. Dani Heron (Radiant Vermin (Tron Theatre), 90 Days (Traverse Theatre)) will play Ani – a competent and caring staff nurse desperate for enough time to actually ‘care’ for the patients, Amelia Isaac Jones (The Gold (BBC) and Macbeth (RSC)) is Lina, a gum-chewing, chaotic, inexperienced student nurse and Martin Docherty (Moorcroft (Tron Theatre), Decky Does A Bronco (Grid Iron)) will play Billy, the long-serving porter who’s seen and heard it all.  Under their care on this 21st December nightshift are octogenarian Tersia, trapped in a disco-fuelled fever dream, played by Ann Louise Ross (Peter Gynt (National Theatre/EIF), Grand Old Opera House Hotel (Traverse Theatre), Cyprus Avenue (Tron Theatre)) and palliative care patient Iain Hopper, played by Beruce Khan (Hansel and Gretel, The Winter’s Tale (The Globe)).

Designed by Anna Orton, with lighting by Lizzie Powell, sound design by MJ McCarthy and Movement Direction by Emily Jane Boyle, Black Hole Sign was originally commissioned by the Traverse Theatre and will transfer there for a two-week run (8-18 October) following its world premiere and run on the Tron’s main stage.

Gareth Nicholls says of the company he has assembled for Black Hole Sign, ‘I’m absolutely delighted to be working with this cracking ensemble of actors who will each bring a vast amount of talent, creativity, and care to Uma’s hugely ambitious and important play. Alongside the creative team I can’t wait to collaborate with such a brilliant group of actors on what is shaping up to be a truly moving, funny and powerful new play.’

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