THEATRE LIST
ticket price. EUTC in Peter Nichols' moving play about the life ofa schoolteacher and his disabled daughter.
0 BRUNTON THEATRE Musselburgh. 665 2240. Box office Mon—Sat “lam—8pm. Bar. [D]
Romeo and Juliet Until Sat 7 Feb. 7.45pm. £3.50(£2). Season Tickets for £9 on sale until 7 Feb. allowing you to see each show for £3. The Brunton Theatre start up their spring season with one of the most celebrated stories of ill-fated love of all time. See Review.
Something in it for Cordelia Thurs 5—Sat 7 Feb. 10.30pm. 50p. (Show approx 40 mins long — bar remains open). The Brunton start a brave new venture ofshort. late evening one-act shows. This first focuses on two Edinburgh Fringe performers. father and daughter. who. after a performance of King Lear find themselves waiting fora train . . .
A Fine Romance Wed ll——Sat 21 Feb. 7.45pm. £3.50(£2). A new play by Scots playwright Howard Purdie telling the tale of two repsectablc Victorian ladies. Romantic novelist Marie (‘orelli (alias Minnie McKay) and Bertha Van Der Vyver. and their curious friendship.
Cox and BOXThurs 19—Sat 21 Feb. 10.30pm. 50p. A late night show to complement A Fine Romance — an English Victorian farce from John Madison Morton.
0 CHURCHILL THEATRE Morningside Road. Tickets usually available from (‘ruikshanks the Newsagents. opp the Theatre. Festival of One-Act Plays Thurs 5—Sat 7 Feb. 7. 15pm. Thurs £1.50; Fri and Sat £2. A festival ofone-act plays organised by the Scottish Community Drama Association and adjudicated by John Irvine. (iroups appearing — Thurs 5: Edinburgh Graduate Theatre (iroup in Imaginary Friends by Audrey (‘oleman and Fairmilehead (‘hurch Drama (iroup in The ( 'loaded ('rysral by Norman Holland; Fri 6: Edinburgh Civil Service Drama Society ‘A' in The New Quixote by Michael Frayn; Liberton Kirk Drama (iroup in The Birds Stopped Singing by Lawrence Barker and Leithcatre in The Public Iiye by Peter Shaffer: Sat 7: the (‘rown Players in Danny Boy by Tony Breeze. Edinburgh (‘ivil Service Drama Society ‘B’ in Visiifrom Miss l’rorhero by Alan Bennett and the Mercators Drama Society in Lidtliesda/e by Alan Richardson.
0 KING'S THEATRE 2 Leven Street. 229 1201. Boxoffice Mon—Sat 10am—8pm. Bar. [D] [E]
Cinderella Until Sat 21 Feb. 7pm. Mats at 2. 15pm. £6. £5.50. £5. (‘oncs for()APs. Children. UBvllls. Disabled. FlS. halfprice on some days: parties of ten or more 20“? discount. (‘heck for details. Rikki Fulton and Walter (‘arr hold the stage as (‘inderella's uncomer siblings in this variety-show style
' popular panto with the inside story on how princes choose their spouses. 0 MANDELA THEATRE (iateway Exchange. 2—4 Abbeymount . 661 0982. (‘afe and Bar facilities during performances.
Point of Departure Wed 18 Feb.
Lyceum, Edinburgh
The Lyceum Theatre has followed up last year’s successful Liz Lochhead translation of ‘Tartuffe', and an earlier translation of ‘The Mlser’, under Ian Wooldrldge‘s regime, with a confident production of Moliere‘s satire of the medical profession.
Directed by Gerry Mulgrew ol Communicado and John Matthews of sundry Scottish theatre companies and with a translation by Hector Machllan, who has translated Mollere into Scots for radio, The Hypochondriac has pace, funny lines, elements (including commedia dell’arte) of the different styles intrinsic to Mollere’s original and, for good measure, a few outrageous shocks. All in all there is a recipe for great success and for some of the glowing notices the production has received in the national press.
But it left me feeling a little empty. The Scots language -very far from being a hinderance to understanding — certainly allows for grotesque bouts of humour, but in this production, where there is no attempt to use itto point up class divisions, it works less well for the more serious satire.
The laughs are all surface laughs culminating in an over-the-top finale that merely makes Moliere’s ultimate satire incongruous. Here Argan, the hypochondriac who is persuaded that his cure lies in becoming a doctor, is lost in a pantomime razzamatazz. Two all but naked overweight cherubs shake with laughter, turning unashamed corpsing into a performance and symbolising the distance the play has suddenly moved from Moliere’s comedy.
Nevertheless there are some
THE HvPocnomAc
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genuinely funny moments earlier and l more rewarding, more controlled performances. Bill Biddoch as the pompous, stupid doctor(eligible suitor to Argan's daughter) lifts the end of the first half to heights otherwise unobtalned.
0n the night I saw the production, Phll McCall as Argan gave a funny but unspontaneous perfromance — except
_ .2 if... for one point, when he tetchily threw his malingerer‘s stick to one side (it having inadvertently got in the way of the action). It was beautifully in character and a beautifully funny gesture. This was what Moliere would have wanted from his company: from deep within the actorthe individuality that makes commedia dell'arte work. (Nigel Billen).
7.30pm. £1 (50p). Edinburgh Playwright‘s Workshop start a new series ofworkshopped productions of new plays. each one followed by an audience discussion. This first is by Christopher Rathbone. interesting. as his translation of Gogol‘s Gamblers forms the basis of the current Tron/Traverse of that play — see Panel. 0 NETHERBOW 43 High Street, 556 9579. Box office Mon—Sat 10am—4pm. 7—9pm perfevgs. Cafe. Singalong with Mr Boom Sat 7. 14. 21 and 28 Feb. 10.30am. £1 adult; 60p child. Mr Boom (alias Andy Munro. formerly of Wildcat) arrives in his spaceship to sing and entertain. Suitable for 3—10year-olds. O QUEEN'S HALL Clerk Street. Her Majesty’s Pleasure Sun 15 and Mon 16 Feb. 7.30pm. £2.50(£1.50). All tickets £1 on Sunday. Advance tickets from Usher Hall Box Office. Lothian Road. 228 1155. Natural Theatre Co. who brought their wacky production St‘arlarti '5 Birthday Party to Edinburgh last year. in a crazy music hall celebration of the 150th anniversary of Queen Victoria‘s accession to the throne. FREE Knighthood to the person dressed in most suitable period attire!
O ROYAL LYCEUM (irindlay Street. 229 9697. Box office Mon—Sat 10am—6pm. 10am—8pm on perfevgs. Bar. Rest/Cafe. (TheatreSaver Concession Cards cost £1. last all year. give £1 offthe full price each time you come for you and a friend — available to OAPs. UB40s. Students. disabled. under 24 railcard holders. YTS scheme and young people under 18).
The Hypochondriak Until Sat 14 Feb. 7.45pm. Free preview Thurs 22 Jan.
Sat mat 7 Feb 3. 15pm; After show discussion Mon 261an. £2.50—£5.50 ’I‘heatreSaver Holders £1 off. After last year‘s highly successful Scots version by Liz Lochhead of Moliere‘s Tariuffe. the Lyceum opens its spring season with a translation from the French by Hector Macmillan of the same playwright's [.e Malade lmaginaire. See Review.
Three Sisters Fri 20 Feb—Sat 14 March. 7.45pm. FREE preview
WIN GED HORSE
Something A Little Bit Different
Touring Productions invites you to
.~\ '.\l\'S'l‘Elt\" PLAY at THE TRAVERSE THEATRE 1 12 West Bow. Grassmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2P0 Box Office 031 226 2633
10th — 22nd February, Tuesday to Sunday at 7.45pm
Subsidised by the Scottish Arts Council
The List 6— 19 February 19