Paul Virides
@paulvirides.bsky.social
Theatrical, mostly via paulvirides.com, and also now on Substack: paulvirides.substack.com. Producer, general manager, all-around spreadsheet-wrangler. Also: politics (UK/US), literature, video games, baking, cat pictures, tennis. London-born Greek. he/him
Earlier this year my company turned 10. I’ve been thinking all year about how to mark it, and the result is a new look for the company, a new roadmap for the next 10 years, a new website, and I’ve only gone and started a bloody Substack. Please do check it all out on paulvirides.com!
November 6, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Earlier this year my company turned 10. I’ve been thinking all year about how to mark it, and the result is a new look for the company, a new roadmap for the next 10 years, a new website, and I’ve only gone and started a bloody Substack. Please do check it all out on paulvirides.com!
For the first 9 years of my career I earned between 25p and £5 an hour. That only changed when I became an ED (just before Covid), and finally earned slightly above NMW. And yet I was on the hook if the shows collapsed. Important stuff @freelancersmake.bsky.social (1/2)
variety.com/2025/theater...
variety.com/2025/theater...
Crisis Deepens for U.K. Entertainment Freelancers as 44% Earn Below Living Wage
U.K. entertainment freelancers face unprecedented crisis with 44% earning below living wage, 70% feeling insecure about careers, survey reveals.
variety.com
July 26, 2025 at 10:07 AM
For the first 9 years of my career I earned between 25p and £5 an hour. That only changed when I became an ED (just before Covid), and finally earned slightly above NMW. And yet I was on the hook if the shows collapsed. Important stuff @freelancersmake.bsky.social (1/2)
variety.com/2025/theater...
variety.com/2025/theater...
Sorry but this photo is high camp
May 30, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Sorry but this photo is high camp
My grandparents didn’t come to an island of strangers, nor did they leave one behind when they died, nor will we create one by welcoming people of all backgrounds to our shores. Our diversity is what makes us British in the first place.
May 12, 2025 at 10:19 PM
My grandparents didn’t come to an island of strangers, nor did they leave one behind when they died, nor will we create one by welcoming people of all backgrounds to our shores. Our diversity is what makes us British in the first place.
Once again I implore gatekeepers to include Greek creatives and actors and staff when you pick up Ancient Greek plays and decide to put them on. If you knew an ounce of Greek history between classical times and now, you'd know why it matters that Greeks get to finally tell their own stories.
May 1, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Once again I implore gatekeepers to include Greek creatives and actors and staff when you pick up Ancient Greek plays and decide to put them on. If you knew an ounce of Greek history between classical times and now, you'd know why it matters that Greeks get to finally tell their own stories.
Have been quiet on here but we started rehearsals for this this week and it’s already a joy. Come see us!
underbellyboulevard.com/tickets/pop-...
underbellyboulevard.com/tickets/pop-...
April 22, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Have been quiet on here but we started rehearsals for this this week and it’s already a joy. Come see us!
underbellyboulevard.com/tickets/pop-...
underbellyboulevard.com/tickets/pop-...
Watching this speech live it’s pretty obvious that Trump doesn’t actually understand how tarries work. Which is… something.
April 2, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Watching this speech live it’s pretty obvious that Trump doesn’t actually understand how tarries work. Which is… something.
Love this. www.thestage.co.uk/news/history...
Indhu Rubasingham welcomed as National Theatre's artistic director
Leaders from across the industry have hailed Indhu Rubasingham's commencement as both the first woman and person of colour to lead the National Theatre, with producer Sonia Friedman labelling it a ‘mo...
www.thestage.co.uk
April 2, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Love this. www.thestage.co.uk/news/history...
I’m locked in war with housekeeping at my hotel. Every day I return to find they’ve switched the air con to “heating” mode (because in Greece they hear their buildings to an ungodly 23 degrees so a cool 21 on the cool setting is like ice for them). And every day I switch it back to “cooling” mode.
March 22, 2025 at 8:57 PM
I’m locked in war with housekeeping at my hotel. Every day I return to find they’ve switched the air con to “heating” mode (because in Greece they hear their buildings to an ungodly 23 degrees so a cool 21 on the cool setting is like ice for them). And every day I switch it back to “cooling” mode.
Learning lots of things on my travels around Athens but one that we Brits could really learn from: how to have national pride without automatically pivoting rightward. (Mini thread 🧵)
March 19, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Learning lots of things on my travels around Athens but one that we Brits could really learn from: how to have national pride without automatically pivoting rightward. (Mini thread 🧵)
Very much run the risk of becoming an @sturdyalex.bsky.social stan account at this point but I listened to this today on the Actual Acropolis while sightseeing/reconnecting with my roots and DAMN IT’S GOOD. And that’s from a guy who burst into tears when he saw the Parthenon so it must be true.
S1E1: Narcissus & Echo - The Influencer & The Follower
Most of what you think you know about the story of Narcissus, is wrong. This isn’t a tale of pride or vanity.
Let @sturdyalex.bsky.social take you on a journey.
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/13qu...
🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
Most of what you think you know about the story of Narcissus, is wrong. This isn’t a tale of pride or vanity.
Let @sturdyalex.bsky.social take you on a journey.
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/13qu...
🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
Narcissus & Echo - The Influencer & The Follower
Podcast Episode · Alex Andreou's Podyssey · 15/03/2025 · 59m
podcasts.apple.com
March 18, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Very much run the risk of becoming an @sturdyalex.bsky.social stan account at this point but I listened to this today on the Actual Acropolis while sightseeing/reconnecting with my roots and DAMN IT’S GOOD. And that’s from a guy who burst into tears when he saw the Parthenon so it must be true.
In two days I'll be in Athens for a week reconnecting with those roots I spent most of my youth resisting. Isn't that what every single 2nd gen immigrant does in their 30s?
Anyway: tips for places to go/unmissable stops v much appreciated. And any theatre people in Greece/Αθήνα: hmu, let's say hi 👋
Anyway: tips for places to go/unmissable stops v much appreciated. And any theatre people in Greece/Αθήνα: hmu, let's say hi 👋
a blue and white flag is waving in the wind against a blue sky
ALT: a blue and white flag is waving in the wind against a blue sky
media.tenor.com
March 15, 2025 at 3:09 PM
In two days I'll be in Athens for a week reconnecting with those roots I spent most of my youth resisting. Isn't that what every single 2nd gen immigrant does in their 30s?
Anyway: tips for places to go/unmissable stops v much appreciated. And any theatre people in Greece/Αθήνα: hmu, let's say hi 👋
Anyway: tips for places to go/unmissable stops v much appreciated. And any theatre people in Greece/Αθήνα: hmu, let's say hi 👋
But why would you announce the long-leaked Eurovision entry on the same day as the biggest gay-world album drop of the year?? Wild.
March 7, 2025 at 5:54 PM
But why would you announce the long-leaked Eurovision entry on the same day as the biggest gay-world album drop of the year?? Wild.
Oh good so it turns out the closest Oscars in a generation is also going to be the fucking weirdest Oscars in a generation.
March 3, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Oh good so it turns out the closest Oscars in a generation is also going to be the fucking weirdest Oscars in a generation.
Been working on a thing…
#NEWS
DYLAN MARCAURELE’S POP OFF, MICHELANGELO! STAGES A HIGHLY ANTICIPATED STRICTLY LIMITED RUN AT UNDERBELLY BOULEVARD SOHO
fairypoweredproductions.com/dylan-marcau...
#popoffmichalangelo #dylanmarcaurele #limitedrun #underbelly #boulevard #soho #fairypoweredproductions
DYLAN MARCAURELE’S POP OFF, MICHELANGELO! STAGES A HIGHLY ANTICIPATED STRICTLY LIMITED RUN AT UNDERBELLY BOULEVARD SOHO
fairypoweredproductions.com/dylan-marcau...
#popoffmichalangelo #dylanmarcaurele #limitedrun #underbelly #boulevard #soho #fairypoweredproductions
DYLAN MARCAURELE’S POP OFF, MICHELANGELO! STAGES A HIGHLY ANTICIPATED STRICTLY LIMITED RUN AT UNDERBELLY BOULEVARD SOHO * Fairy Powered Productions
DYLAN MARCAURELE’S POP OFF, MICHELANGELO! STAGES A HIGHLY ANTICIPATED STRICTLY LIMITED RUN AT UNDERBELLY BOULEVARD SOHO Dylan MarcAurele’s Pop Off, Michelangelo! today announces its transfer to Underb...
fairypoweredproductions.com
February 27, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Been working on a thing…
I've said it before and I'll say it again: it wasn't until I was nearly a decade into my career and a literal chief executive of an organisation that I earned above the minimum wage on a paid role in theatre. We have to fix this.
www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...
www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...
Arts sector’s use of unpaid interns for some roles could be illegal, experts say
Concerns also raised that practice prevents young working-class people from finding paid work in creative industries
www.theguardian.com
February 26, 2025 at 11:52 AM
I've said it before and I'll say it again: it wasn't until I was nearly a decade into my career and a literal chief executive of an organisation that I earned above the minimum wage on a paid role in theatre. We have to fix this.
www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...
www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...
Reposted by Paul Virides
I think what I loathe most about KB is her dressing every inane statement she makes as a “truth bomb” or a “mic drop”. She’s like a teenage YouTuber with 350 followers who *somehow* has ended up in charge of the Conservative Party.
The most confused speech from an opposition leader in years.
"The world is changing and the UK is not ready", says party that was in charge from 2010 until a few months ago.
In a "world of the strong and the weak we must not be weak", so let's abandon "internationalism". Isolationism IS weak. ~AA
"The world is changing and the UK is not ready", says party that was in charge from 2010 until a few months ago.
In a "world of the strong and the weak we must not be weak", so let's abandon "internationalism". Isolationism IS weak. ~AA
February 25, 2025 at 2:06 PM
I think what I loathe most about KB is her dressing every inane statement she makes as a “truth bomb” or a “mic drop”. She’s like a teenage YouTuber with 350 followers who *somehow* has ended up in charge of the Conservative Party.
For many, many years now the Telegraph has simply been a pseudo-intellectual tabloid, using longer words and nicer formatting than their red-top rivals, but ultimately nothing more than a sensationalist, clickbait-driven bucket of slop. It's surprising that anyone even takes any notice anymore.
The Telegraph has become nothing more than a national embarrassment
February 20, 2025 at 4:49 PM
For many, many years now the Telegraph has simply been a pseudo-intellectual tabloid, using longer words and nicer formatting than their red-top rivals, but ultimately nothing more than a sensationalist, clickbait-driven bucket of slop. It's surprising that anyone even takes any notice anymore.
Jannik Sinner really determined to be the bad boy of tennis huh. Djokovic and Rune breathing a sigh of relief. Maddening.
February 15, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Jannik Sinner really determined to be the bad boy of tennis huh. Djokovic and Rune breathing a sigh of relief. Maddening.
Tariffs 👏 aren’t 👏 a 👏 charge 👏 on 👏 exporters 👏 they’re 👏 a 👏 charge 👏 on 👏 your 👏 own 👏 citizens 👏 you 👏 absolute 👏 buffoon 👏
February 13, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Tariffs 👏 aren’t 👏 a 👏 charge 👏 on 👏 exporters 👏 they’re 👏 a 👏 charge 👏 on 👏 your 👏 own 👏 citizens 👏 you 👏 absolute 👏 buffoon 👏
Quite surprised at the muted response to this. Controlling (or attempting to control) arts and media is fascism 101.
President Donald Trump did not attend events at the arts institution during his first administration. The move is the latest of several directives to force changes at Washington’s cultural institutions.
Trump says he will fire Kennedy Center board members, appoint himself chairman
Trump did not attend prominent events during his administration. The move comes as his directives have begun to force changes at Washington’s cultural institutions.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Quite surprised at the muted response to this. Controlling (or attempting to control) arts and media is fascism 101.
Yeah the little space man doing a Nazi salute is the end of it for me, deleting X for good. Enough.
January 21, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Yeah the little space man doing a Nazi salute is the end of it for me, deleting X for good. Enough.
Good to see the US establishment entirely disregarding any idea of principles for the sake of showing up on TV one more time.
January 20, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Good to see the US establishment entirely disregarding any idea of principles for the sake of showing up on TV one more time.