Winner of The Hector MacMillan Best New Scottish Play 2025
Photograph by Mihaela Bodlovic
The Play
When a hole appears in the roof of a crumbling and understaffed A&E department, patients, porters and nurses do what they must to make it through the night.
Senior Charge Nurse Crea strives to deliver safe and effective care while porter Hamish angles after a date. Staff nurse Ani juggles her bursting caseload, knowing that no one has come to Mr. Hopper’s bedside for his final moments. Octogenarian Tersia is trapped in a disco-fuelled fever dream while a disgruntled Fred Turnbull prepares his strongly worded complaint. And student nurse Lina has No. Idea. What. Is. Going. On.
Personal principles clash with professional obligations as three generations of nurses and one ‘long in the tooth’ porter are pushed towards breaking point.
Black Hole Sign was originally commissioned by Traverse Theatre. A Tron Theatre and Traverse Theatre co-production in association with the National Theatre of Scotland.
The Playwright
Uma is a graduate of École Philippe Gaulier and a previous participant of the Royal Court’s Young Writers’ Programme and the Traverse Theatre’s Young Writers’ Programme. In 2014 Uma won the New Playwrights Award from Playwrights’ Studio Scotland. Her play Black Hole Sign had its premiere at the Traverse Theatre in October 2025, followed by a run at the Tron Theatre. Previously, her play Exodus premiered at the Traverse Theatre in August 2022.
Awards include: Kavya Prize 2022, Shakespeare is Dead International Selection 2024.
Uma works as a staff nurse in critical care with NHS Scotland.
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