Soaring costs force Dog and Cat Home to consider longterm future at seaside base
Charity undertaking strategic review as one-year loss hits more than £750,000
Welcome to your midweek edition of The Inquirer.
For today’s long read, David Forsyth has paid a return visit to one of the city’s best-loved institution, the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home.
The last time he was down at Seafield, the charity was facing an existential crisis, so he was delighted to find them still fighting the good fight.
The future though might look very different in order to secure the future of its vital work. After around 70 years by the seaside, it is being forced to contemplate fairly radical change.
You can read more about the big challenges facing the cat and dog home below, but first your regular midweek news roundup and your cultural highlights for the week ahead.
Your Edinburgh Briefing
MACHETE ATTACK: Two men have been arrested following an alleged gangland machete attack in Musselburgh. The 31-year-old victim was taken to the Royal Infirmary following the attack in the town’s Drummohr Avenue at around 11.15pm on Monday. The incident is being investigated by detectives working on the ongoing Operation Portaledge which targets serious organised crime.
PRISON ABOLITIONIST: Greens election candidate Kate Nevens has doubled down on her opposition to prisons after the party issued a statement in her name suggesting she supports incarceration as a last resort. Nevens has a high chance of getting elected to the Scottish Parliament as the party’s second top candidate on the Edinburgh and Lothians East regional list. She has faced fierce criticism for calling for the abolition of the prison system, citing its poor record of rehabilitating offenders. Using her social media channels, she later described herself as an “abolotionist”, adding her qualified support only applied “while we work towards the goal of ending the current prison system”.
DEAF ‘LIVES AT RISK’: The charity Deaf Action has warned it believes lives are being put at risk as a result of the city’s latest social care cuts. The cuts ordered by the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership spell the end of the specialist social workers and equipment it supplied to support British Sign Language users. The partnership says it is still providing services to deaf people, but in a different way.
SPITFIRE RETURN: Spitfires will fly over the Forth bridges at 2.10pm today, weather allowing, after low fuel forced the cancellation of a planned flypast to mark the aircraft’s 90th anniversary yesterday.
Your Pick of the (Cultural) Pops
Greetings, Pop Pickers!
Welcome back to the chart. As we march merrily into the heart of April, the Edinburgh weather is doing its usual chaotic dance of four seasons in a single afternoon (did you see the snow?!). Fortunately, our city’s brilliant venues offer the perfect shelter, and the lineup they are serving up this week is an absolute belter, writes Will Quinn.
We have a brilliantly bizarre assortment box for you. There is 90s Scottish sitcom royalty reuniting for a musical camp-fest, a masterclass in classic rock, an avalanche of sequins in the outback, and a frank, fiercely funny dive into the existential dread of impending motherhood.
Let’s count them down...
Honourable Mentions: One Day, Shooglenifty & Dystopia
Still clinging to the edges of the chart for its final curtain calls is One Day (Royal Lyceum Theatre). You have until April 19th to catch this Scottish cultural moment, and to let me know if the sound design has improved. I’d also like to give a massive nod to two one-night events that only missed the Top 5 by a whisker this week. First, Soundhouse: Shooglenifty (Traverse Theatre, April 11th). As the undisputed originators of ‘acid-croft’, these Scottish legends are guaranteed to blow the roof off Traverse 1 this Saturday night by fusing traditional Highland melodies with contemporary beats. Meanwhile, over at the Assembly Roxy, the gloriously unhinged Dystopia The Rock Opera (April 11th) offers a fever-dream fusion of political cabaret, biting satire, and masked tyrants. I have it on very good advice that this is a cracking wee show!
Dropping to Number 5 is... RSA New Contemporaries 2026 (Royal Scottish Academy, until April 22nd).
Slipping down to the Number 5 spot this week - mostly because you have all had ample time to get yourselves down there by now! - is the RSA’s annual showcase of Scotland’s top graduating artistic talent. Strolling through the neo-classical galleries on Princes Street, I guarantee you’ll find something that stops you in your tracks. Whether it’s that impossibly grand indoor sandcastle, a mesmerising collection of figures painted from behind, or a reimagined Glaswegian palace of the arts, the sheer variety really is spectacular. Naturally, some pieces weren’t my cup of tea, and others defied description entirely, but that is the joy of it. Crucially, these are working artists with rent to pay, and everything on the walls is up for grabs. Go and buy some art!
New in at Number 4 is... Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Edinburgh Playhouse, April 14th – 18th)
I actually caught this glitter-drenched musical last year, courtesy of a dazzlingly good production by one of Edinburgh’s premier unpaid professional outfits, The Bohemians. However, this brand-new 30th-anniversary touring production rolling into the Playhouse comes armed with some serious industry firepower. Starring Kevin Clifton, Adèle Anderson, and Peter Duncan, with costumes by Strictly’s Vicky Gill, the pedigree on and off the stage is undeniable. Given how much I enjoyed The Bohemians’ effort, I fully expect this blockbuster version to be…at least as good. Shake your groove thing and get booking!
New in at Number 3 is... Deeper Purple (The Voodoo Rooms, April 18th)
If you are a classic rock fan, clear your calendar immediately. I saw this phenomenal tribute act last year, and they absolutely blew my (and my Deep Purple-loving wife’s) socks firmly off. Delivering a face-meltingly authentic homage to the rock legends -expect blistering, note-perfect renditions of Smoke on the Water, Highway Star, Child in Time, and Perfect Strangers - the band members are also absolute sweethearts to boot. It’s a joy to see them back in Edinburgh. Do not miss this one.
Holding firm at Number 2 is... GUSH (Traverse Theatre, April 10th – 25th)
With the curtain officially going up tomorrow, there is a palpable buzz around Jess Brodie’s professional playwriting debut. Rather than leaning into the usual glowing portrayals of expectant motherhood, this piece zeroes in on Ally—a woman staring down her impending due date with a profound sense of panic, despite having done everything strictly ‘by the book’. It promises a frank dive into female desire, sexuality, and the fear of losing your identity to parenthood. With fast-rising director Becky Hope-Palmer in the director’s seat, the production is a shining example of the Traverse doing what it does best: nurturing grassroots talent from a Playwrights’ Studio concept all the way to a fully realised main-stage premiere.
And storming straight in at Number 1 is... The High Life (Festival Theatre, April 7th – 11th)
If you are wondering why the hottest ticket in Scotland didn’t make the chart last week, it’s simple: Capital Theatres was already dominating the list with a very strong double bill, and it would have been frankly indecent to let them monopolise the entire column!
But there is no holding it back now. This musical spectacular reunites all four original cast members—Alan Cumming, Forbes Masson, Siobhan Redmond, and Patrick Ryecart—from the cult classic BBC Scotland comedy series. It’s a wickedly funny, camp, and unapologetically silly flight of nostalgia as the ageing Air Scotia cabin crew fight to save their airline from the scrap heap. It also arrives with serious pedigree, being co-produced by the National Theatre of Scotland and Dundee Rep Theatre, in association with (our very own) Capital Theatres and Aberdeen Performing Arts. It will certainly not need my recommendation to sell out, but it surely deserves the crown this week. I’m actually writing this from the Festival Theatre foyer, less than an hour before curtain up — expect my verdict on theQR.co.uk tomorrow!
And that’s your Top 5! Make your choices, grab your tickets, and be sure to let the box office know who pointed you their way. Drop a comment below to let me know if my picks lived up to the hype, or if you’d rather demand a refund for the evening! (Neither The Edinburgh Inquirer nor I accept any liability — caveat emptor!)
Facing into The Big Challenge at Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home
New CEO Amelia Morgan is charged with looking at the long-term future of city’s cherished institution at Seafield
by David Forsyth
It’s not easy, running a much-loved institution in a city that loves its traditions and establishments as much as Edinburgh does. And the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, as new Chief Executive Amelia Morgan knows, is one of those fixtures closest to the hearts of much of the Capital’s population.
It’s a charity that is hugely popular, enjoys significant local support from generous donors, but receives not a penny in support from the public purse for the many activities it undertakes on behalf of pets (and often their owners) who are distressed.
