THEATRE LIST

The Ass Tue 19—Sat 23 Nov. 8pm. Members £2.50, guests £3.50, concs £1 off. Scottish premiere of Kate and Mike Westbrook’s adaptation of the poem by D. H. Lawrence. first shown as celebration of Lawrence‘s centenary in Nottingham. Stephen Boxer plays Lawrence and the production is directed by Roland Rees.

The Marble Madonna Thurs 28 Nov-Sun 15 Dec. 8pm. Members £2.50, guests £3.50. cones £1 off. Premiere of a new play by Sean McCarthy. probably best known for his recent appearances on stage at the Lyceum in Edinburgh. In this production he appears with Ann Scott-Jones in the tale of an illicit love affair. set in Catholic Ireland. Directed by Michael Boyd. Playreadlng: Barrowland Sat 16 Nov. 2.30pm. Free. First public reading of a new play by Bill Jesse; a Glaswegian comedy set in a dance hall in Glasgow.

Playreading: Who’s Left Sat 23 Nov. 2.30pm. Free. Reading of a play by Barry McArthy about three old * girlfriends who leave their respective male partners to set up flat together -— and then something occurs. . .

e CUMBERHAULO THEATRE Cumbernauld, 023 67 32887. Box office Mon—Fri. 10am—6pm. Sat 10am—3pm. 6—8pm perf. evgs. Bar/cafe.

Bing Whlit! Bing Hitler! Fri 15 Nov. 8pm. £1.50(£1). Craig Ferguson in a one-man show ofcomedy and music which he describes as not being recommended for ‘the chronically unhip or the moral minority‘ . . . Every Bloody Sunday Fri 22 & Sat 23 Nov. 7.45pm. £2.50 (£1 .25). Glasgow Theatre of Fun bring us life with the Browns. the descendants of an unlikely union between Queen Victoria and John Brown ~ and put the question. have Victorian values survived unscathed?

A Christmas Cami Thurs 21 Nov—Sat 28 Dec. CANCELLED.

EDINBURGH

O BEOLAM THEATRE Forrest Road, 225 9893.

The Interrogation of Ambrose Fogarty Until Sat 16 Nov. 7.30pm. £2,£1.75 (£1.25 members). Last few days of the first production in Scotland of a play by one of Belfast‘s best known playwrights, Martin Lynch. Set inside an RUC station in West Belfast it questions methods of interrogation used while subtly keeping the question of Fogarty’s I innocence open-ended. Not suitable [ for children.

The Silver Sky Wed 20 Nov. 1pm and Sat 23 Nov. 7.30pm. £1.25 (Members 75p).

0 KINGS 2 Leven Street, 229 1201. Box office Mon-Sat lOam—8pm. Bar. Rest. [D] [E]

Doctor in the House Until Sat 16 Nov. Mon—Fri. 7.30pm. Sat 5 & 8pm. £2—£5.50 (Boxes £20, £16). Sat mat, Children, OAPS & Unemployed half price. Richard Gordon’s original Doctor in the House novel (on which this play is based) still remains by far the funniest vehicle for the comedy characters that

subsequently have become better

Lyceum, Edinburgh

There is an autumnal, Remembrance Day, timeliness to the Royal Lyceum’s Hamlet. Gregory Smith's monumentally impressive set creates an austere civlc palace at the end of the First World War. Two memorial statues, heads bowed and faceless, of unknown soldiers, and a looming statue, suggesting a memory already depersonalised, of the dead King. overlook the proceedings.

Carved on marble wall panels, the roll-call of the dead are the ‘words, words, words’ which are the constant background to this Prince's agonies. Effectively highlighting the theme of remembrance in Shakespeare’s play (what are our responsibilites to the dead?) Hugh Hodgart's production, on more than a few occasions, hovers on the brink oi a very interesting

HAMLET

.~

interpretation. Polonlus is played by

Tom Watson not as a bumbling old man

but merely as a civil servant in a bureaucracy capable of sending hundreds of thousands of young men to

1 their deaths in war. Patricia Ross in a

performance of Dallasesque style is an almost absurdly young Gertrude suggesting a decadent postwar society as unwilling to accept family responsibilities as it is unwilling to accept responsibility for the war.

But how far is the audience supposed to take these images? When Hamlet (Kevin McMonagle) dons his guise of madness he also puts on a flimsy tlapper’s dress; it is the same dress that Ophelia wears when she too is mad. Is this the production's criticism of the frivolous society that followed the war? Intriguing though the possibilities are Hamlet mourns not for a dead King but for a sterile society

in which sexual identity has been confused - the production fails to make its points unequivocally enough. Too

. much is thrown up by the Interpretation

which simply confuses - Freud is impossible to ignore but seems inappropriate here - but the greatest fault is that the actors are given little chance to make anything of the roles. To be or not to he did not work in drag. The last act degenerates completely, even the inventiveness of the ideas deserting a production that begins to look like farce.

ironically, the production reaches otherwise unapproached heights only in the Second Act when it departs from the post warthemes. The mummers play and the dumb show reaction of the watching King and Queen is delightful and spectacularly powerful. (Nigel Biiien)

known for film and television appearances. The one exception may have been the very first

television series which had episodes i written by John Cleese and included 3

a very early version of Fawlry

Farm fame stars in this stage production along with Robin Askwith and Deborah Watiing.

Show Mon 18—Sat 23 Nov. 7.15pm.

Be prepared, dib dib dib. . . Scottish Opera Tue 26—Sat 30 Nov. See Classical Music.

0 HETHERBOW 43 High Street, 556 9579. Box office Mon—Sat 10am—4pm. 7—9pm perf. evgs. Cafe [E]

Strikers Until Sat 30 Nov. 8pm. £3 (£2). A new play by Donald Campbell which takes on contemporary issues by tying in some of the dilemmas of premier

division football with the recent miners‘ strike. (See review). 0 ROYAL LYCEUM Grindlay Street.

229 9697. Box office Mon—Sat 10am—6pm. 10am—8pm on perfevgs.

I , Bar. Rest. T . . s ' Owe" FTdSC’H‘mmmemerdale ; HamletUnttl3iiNov.7.15pm.Sat

. mat 2. 15pm. Shakespeare‘s most

famous tragedy in a new production

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Kevin McMonagle as Hamlet. (See

: review). Sat mat 2. 15pm. Check ticketprices.

0 tan Wooldridge Lyceum‘s Artistic Director took the stage at the end of

the free preview evening on

; Thursday 7 November to set out the company‘s policy toward the free

3 preview. Firstly it is a no-risk try-out for people who have never been to

the theatre. secondly it allowed

: those who couldn‘t afford to buy

; tickets to see the show and thirdly it

enabled the company to play to a full house right at the start of the run. Wooldridge stressed the need for

strong reciprocal contacts between the company and audience; ‘theatre bringing people together at a time when more and more things divide us‘. it was a surprisingly effective speech designed to provoke discussion and encourage larger audiences; at last there is the beginnings of a buzz at the Lyceum with a company The Sunday Times suggests is hitting its stride.

l O THEATRE WORKSHOP 34 Hamilton Place. 226 5425. Box office Mon—Sat ! 9.30am—5.30pm. Bar. Cafe. [D] Young People’s Theatre Week Until i Sat 16 Nov. As well as the theatre listed below. the Theatre Workshop‘s special week of theatre by and for young people includes workshops and cabaret in the cafe. ; That’ll Teach You Fri 15 Nov. 5pm. ' 75p (50p). Theatre Workshop‘s own ' Junior Youth Theatre in a show for I 9—14 year olds devised by Eva Laeverenz which colourfully

"m 5-28 November 15