Joyce McMillan is theatre critic of The Scotsman, and also writes a political and social commentary column for the paper. She has been a political and arts columnist, theatre critic and broadcaster for more than thirty years, living in Edinburgh and working for various Scottish and London-based newspapers. She also broadcasts regularly, mainly on BBC Radio Scotland and Radio 4, and has been involved in Scottish and European campaigns for democracy and human rights. Her history of the first twenty-five years of the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, was published in 1988, and in 2003, along with other critics, she helped launch the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland, now an annual event.

Conor McPherson is a playwright, screenwriter and director, born in Dublin in 1971.

Plays include Rum and Vodka (Fly by Night Theatre Co., Dublin); The Good Thief (Dublin Theatre Festival; Stewart Parker Award); This Lime Tree Bower (Fly by Night Theatre Co. and Bush Theatre, London; Meyer-Whitworth Award); St Nicholas (Bush Theatre and Primary Stages, New York); The Weir (Royal Court, London, Duke of York's, West End and Walter Kerr Theatre, New York; Laurence Olivier, Evening Standard, Critics' Circle, George Devine Awards); Dublin Carol (Royal Court and Atlantic Theater, New York); Port Authority (Ambassadors Theatre, West End, Gate Theatre, Dublin and Atlantic Theater, New York); Shining City (Royal Court, Gate Theatre, Dublin and Manhattan Theatre Club, New York; Tony Award nomination for Best Play); The Seafarer (National Theatre, London, Abbey Theatre, Dublin and Booth Theater, New York; Laurence Olivier, Evening Standard, Tony Award nominations for Best Play); The Veil (National Theatre); The Night Alive (Donmar Warehouse, London and Atlantic Theater, New York); and Girl from the North Country (Old Vic, London).

Theatre adaptations include Daphne du Maurier's The Birds (Gate Theatre, Dublin and Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis), August Strindberg's The Dance of Death (Donmar at Trafalgar Studios), Franz Xaver Kroetz's The Nest (Young Vic, London), Chekhov's Uncle Vanya (West End, 2020) and Paweł Pawlikowski's Cold War (Almeida Theatre, 2023).

Work for the cinema includes I Went Down, Saltwater, Samuel Beckett's Endgame, The Actors, The Eclipse and Strangers.

His work for television includes an adaptation of John Banville's Elegy for April for the BBC, and the original television drama Paula for BBC2.

Awards for his screenwriting include three Best Screenplay Awards from the Irish Film and Television Academy; Spanish Cinema Writers Circle Best Screenplay Award; the CICAE Award for Best Film Berlin Film festival; Jury Prize San Sebastian Film Festival; and the Méliès d’Argent Award for Best European Film.

Adam Meggido is an English writer, performer and director based in London. He is perhaps best known for his work in improvised theatre, being the co-creator and director of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, the first improvised show ever to win an Olivier Award (Best Entertainment and Family 2016). He directed Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Mischief Theatre) for London's West End (Apollo Theatre 2015-16 and 2016-2017) and national tour, which was nominated for Best New Comedy, Olivier Awards 2016 and filmed by the BBC for broadcast Christmas 2016. He is the artistic director of Extempore Theatre in London.

Igor Memic is originally from Mostar. He grew up in London after leaving Yugoslavia in 1992 and studied at the University of Liverpool and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. His debut play, Old Bridge, was premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in October 2021 and went on to win the Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre Award at the 2022 Olivier Awards.

Memic won the Most Promising Playwright award at the 2022 Offies (Off West End Awards), and was also named Most Promising Playwright (jointly with Zadie Smith) at the 2022 Critics' Circle Awards.

Maimuna Memon is a British actress, singer, composer, and playwright. Her plays include the one-woman show Manic Street Creature (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2022; Southwark Playhouse, 2023).

Bella Merlin has successfully combined a professional career in acting (notably in Max Stafford-Clark's Out of Joint Theatre Company) with teaching at university drama departments in the UK and in the US. She has written several books about Stanislavsky and the application of his ideas to work in the theatre.

Alexis Michalik is a Franco-British actor, scriptwriter and director. His plays include Le Porteur d'histoire, Le Cercle des illusionnistes, Edmond and Intra Muros.

Le Cercle des illusionnistes was staged in an English version by Waleed Akhtar, The Art of Illusion, at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 2022.