Author, critic, journalist. The Start of Something and What Time is Love? published by Orion. Editor of Exeunt @exeuntmagazine.bsky.social. https://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3ljxdmzvit22dI hope you're all outside in the sun... but if you ARE looking at your phone, now's the last chance to take advantage of Exeunt and The Crush Bar's HISTORIC offer 20 per cent off, babes! That's four quid a month! I mean!!! exeuntmagazine.substack.com/subscribe thecrushbar.substack.com/subscribe [contains quote post or other embedded content]09 Mar 2025 15:20 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljxdmzvit22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3ljndstgey22sAnd Love's Labour Lost (More or Less) - which was definitely less Shakespeare, more Venga Boys... Three stars: not totally my bag, this, but a brilliant cast really sell it and it's a fun and funny night out https://www.thetimes.com/culture/theatre-dance/article/loves-labours-lost-review-shakespeare-north-lmpbsd7k005 Mar 2025 15:57 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljndstgey22shttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3ljndbifs4c2sPlus a couple of recent reviews: four stars for The House Party from me - Headlong and Frantic Assembly's update of Miss Julie https://www.thetimes.com/culture/theatre-dance/article/the-house-party-review-ddzhhxq8p05 Mar 2025 15:47 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljndbifs4c2shttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3ljnd4vs5cc2sI, too, have written something about Meghan Markle. And trad wives. Oh yes! Although wrote this before the show aired, so it's less fine-grain, detail-heavy Meghan mockery, and more general "oh, the lies capitalism sells us about how about to a woman!!" https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20250228-the-unstoppable-rise-of-the-domestic-goddess05 Mar 2025 15:45 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljnd4vs5cc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3ljcsoa44a22jSo pleased to publish this ace piece - feels like the sort of thing Exeunt can host that wouldn’t get space anywhere else Lora has written a thoughtful essay on being an migrant and being an artist - but it’s also a creative response, featuring its own instructions for an imaginary performance… 🔥🔥 [contains quote post or other embedded content]01 Mar 2025 11:23 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljcsoa44a22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3ljcqd22kbs2fPut on my most orange clothes and took my very orange paperback - half set in Sheffield- on a tour of other orange things around Sheffield! 🍊01 Mar 2025 10:41 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljcqd22kbs2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3lj63hiqblc2wIt’s… PAPERBACK PUBLICATION daaaay! Excited that my slimmer, cheaper, but still very orange, book is now out in the world…27 Feb 2025 14:17 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3lj63hiqblc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3liw6vulxfs24Great to see @waterstones.bsky.social doing a sweet deal on pre-orders - 25% off upcoming books! And that just about includes The Start of Something which is out in paperback THIS THURSDAY... meaning with the discount it's a mere £7.50 (giant elbows not included) https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-start-of-something/holly-williams/978139870636124 Feb 2025 10:58 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3liw6vulxfs24https://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3liiaw5xpp22zWell I think this is the first time I’ve been in a bomb scare at a theatre… tonight’s production of Mary and the Hyenas at Hull Truck evacuated, seemingly because of a ‘suspicious package’ in a neighbouring shopping centre https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgq92310d04o18 Feb 2025 21:56 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3liiaw5xpp22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3lieudm2lms2cIt was a real pleasure to get to chat properly with @chrisbushwrites.bsky.social about her new play Otherland - eight years in the making, and both an unusually personal play for her, and also a typically expansive, theatrical one… https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/i-wasnt-interested-in-writing-just17 Feb 2025 13:33 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3lieudm2lms2chttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3lietiucqgc2cDelighted to actually get commissioned to write about one of my minor grumbles about Sheffield… why does no one dress up here?? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy walking boots in the pub as much as the next Peak District fan, but I also miss a sense of sartorial flourish… [contains quote post or other embedded content]17 Feb 2025 13:18 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3lietiucqgc2chttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3lh53xgkj6225Belated sharing of my interview with Billy Nomates and Maureen Lennon about a new show on Mary Wollstonecraft - this was a fun one! [contains quote post or other embedded content]01 Feb 2025 18:03 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3lh53xgkj6225https://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3lgqw3ykqb22sBelated repost for Friday's Exeunt piece, I'm chatting once more about my love for Sheffield but also how different reviewing work here can feel... [contains quote post or other embedded content]27 Jan 2025 21:46 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3lgqw3ykqb22shttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3lgdbkmtmx22sHad a frankly headspinning 48 hours of viewing over the weekend: the Strictly Live Show to Revenge: After the Levoyah to Calamity Jane to The Employees... variety is the spice etc Strictly was predictably slick, glittery entertainment: https://www.thetimes.com/culture/theatre-dance/article/strictly-come-dancing-live-review-5nfz6r20z22 Jan 2025 11:34 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3lgdbkmtmx22shttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3lfxcp3aexc2wSo happy to have Rosemary Waugh doing this occasional series for us, going in deep in a kind of career retrospective exploring a designer’s work, their aesthetic, their collaborators, their development… [contains quote post or other embedded content]17 Jan 2025 17:23 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfxcp3aexc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3lftvxobijc2zMariupol Drama review — actors from a bombed theatre tell their story. This felt an odd thing to ‘review’ really… terribly moving, and important to hear https://www.thetimes.com/article/47871bd7-fd51-4300-b92a-5fdafb83e7a0?shareToken=57f3d65b0dc3fb5f0840bcbfb0950c4616 Jan 2025 08:57 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3lftvxobijc2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3lfror2sd7c2tLove reading, don’t love expensive heavy hardbacks…? My novel THE START OF SOMETHING is now on kindle for a mere 99p! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Start-Something-Holly-Williams-ebook/dp/B0BNKZ7SS315 Jan 2025 11:43 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfror2sd7c2thttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3lfadc7keak2bThey can certainly be tricky but I do think in-the-round theatres are some of my favourites - the New Vic, Royal Exchange, and Orange tree are all gorgeous… [contains quote post or other embedded content]08 Jan 2025 14:02 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfadc7keak2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3leuduxtmws23Belatedly sharing this because I was too busy watching Hadestown, drinking fizz, and celebrating being another year older on the day we published it… Fun and helpful and more-varied-than-your-average theatre in 2025 recs, I reckon 🙂 [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Jan 2025 19:41 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3leuduxtmws23https://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3ldqvrg5les27Always nice to get to suggest a bunch of stuff for these - this year, some of my faves that I got to write about included Till the Stars Come Down, Kenrex, The Buddha of Suburbia, A Doll’s House… [contains quote post or other embedded content]20 Dec 2024 17:25 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldqvrg5les27https://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3ldqv6k4ut227Loved the book, the tape, and now the play - a Christmas treat to get to think and talk and write about Ballet Shoes! [contains quote post or other embedded content]20 Dec 2024 17:14 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldqv6k4ut227https://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3ld4mbicyqs2iAlthough while I do have some bravery, I am also sometimes a small worm who is scared of being shouted at on the internet so let’s see12 Dec 2024 15:42 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3ld4mbicyqs2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3ld4lpifte22i“Independent journalism feeds the conversation like flour feeds a sourdough starter” Great to see Exeunt getting a shout out in this piece! [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 Dec 2024 15:32 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3ld4lpifte22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3lcxfgrmcuc2pBeen working on this for a wee while, and I hope it feels balanced. We all know theatres are broke and trying to do a lot with v v little, and reading can also be career-boosting and deeply rewarding - but can all that justify the dismally low fees? I'm not sure... [contains quote post or other embedded content]10 Dec 2024 13:56 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3lcxfgrmcuc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/hollywilliams.bsky.social/post/3lcpogkamfs2y"Once, I was convinced so last minute for a Snobs Wednesday (the student night), that I rolled out of bed and got straight in a taxi in my pyjamas." Love this piece by @anyaryan.bsky.social on the institution that is SNOBS!! https://www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/p/when-was-snobs-golden-age?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true07 Dec 2024 12:16 +0000at://did:plc:prdsos5tackbqpnow7ansynq/app.bsky.feed.post/3lcpogkamfs2y