THEATRE LIST
Ena Lamont Stewart‘s writings have always shown an interest in the ordinary man and woman in the street and in the themes ol social injustice, poverty and prejudice, a result perhaps 01 her own lite experience. She was born in Glasgow in the 19008, the daughter of a minister and, as a child, was struck by the sight at the shawlies who tlocked with their ragged children to her lather’s church bazaars and jumble sales in his parish in Anderston. Her girlhood likewise brought her into contact with poverty and suffering. tor she was lorced to leave school prematurely in the 19308, taking jobs as a receptionist in the public library in Aberdeen and inthe Sick Children‘s Hospital in Glasgow, where she came into contact with the victims olunemploymentand malnutrition.
During her youth, she developed a love otthe theatre, but soon became disillusioned with the escapistand trivolous romantic comedies so popular in the Thirties and Forties. She deploredthe way in whichthetheatre had become so out at touch with the
production of Moliere‘s IIypot‘hondriak. For further details
Tron Theatre. Both plays deal with some aspect of religious faith: [locus Poem by Anne Marie Di .‘vlambra. dealing with a young priest leaving the Catholic Church and In .Vomine I’atris by Paula .‘vlacgee. showing a young girl joining it asa nun. Both were well-receive d when first shown last year. Pack of Lies Wed lS-Sat 21 Mar. 7.30pm. £2.50 ( £2). The Makars in Hugh Whitemore‘s play about the lead-up to the convictingofPeter and Helen Kroger for spying in the 1960s and how their neighbours. the Jacksons. find themselves allowing their home to be used for surveillance. 0 TRAVERSE THEATRE 1 12 West Bow. 226 2633. Box office Tue—Sat 10am—8pm; Sun 6—- 10pm. Bar. Rest. Tickets also available from the Ticket Centre. 22 Market Street. Seats from £2. Sundays ALI- SEATS £2 (non-rnernbers £2.50).
Gamblers Until Sun 15 Mar. 7.30pm. Temp members £4.50; Econ members £4: Full members £3.50; StudentOAP UB40£2.50 (members £2 ). Insider dealing Russian style‘.’ The 'l‘raverser’l‘ron co-production ofGogol‘s black comedy. translated into Glaswegian vernacular by Christopher Rathbone and Chris I'lannan. Hamish Glen's production takes us into a dark enclosed society where fraud and facade are the norm and even the churchman possessed by the urge to gamble and deceive . with a Caligari-like black and white flickering set. A nightmarish vision. nonetheless very funny with sharp performances particularly from Andrew Dallmeyer. Jimmy Chisholm and Craig Ferguson as a sadly gullible villain.
Scottish Student Drama Festival Tue
17—Sun 22 Mar. 7.30pm. Prices as for
REAL LIFE REVIVED
economic and social realities of the age and, in what she described as ‘a mood of red-hot revolt’ went away to write dramas about ‘real lite' and ‘real people’. Hertirst lull-length play, Starched Aprons, describedthe comings and goings in a big modern hospital, highlighting the appalling working conditions at the nurses and the poverty-related diseases common in a depressed, industrial city like Glasgow. Hersecond play, Men Should Weep, showed a particular interest in
Gamblers. The Traverse‘s annual selection from the Scottish Student Drama Festival. held this year in Stirling (see panel). This year‘s choice(not fully confirmed at time of going to press so check with theatre) is as follows: Tue 17 and Wed 18 — double bill of 'Tis I’itv She's a Whore. John Ford‘s Jacobean tragedy. from John Street Theatre Co and Rites by Maureen Duffy from Arm in Arm (RSAMD); Thurs19 and Fri 20— double bill of live Sets the Balls of Corruption Rolling Marcella Evaristi‘s TV play. from St Andrews Mermaids and Groomsnieht. a newly discovered Scottish comedy from Edinburgh University Theatre Co: Sat 21 and Sun 22 — EUTC again in The Beautiful and the Damned. an adaptation ofF. Scott Fitzgerald's novel. with live jazz.
TOURING '
0 High Places 7:84 Scotland begin a Spring tour ofa previously unperformed play by Ena Lamont Stewart (who wrote the highly successful Men Should Heep) about inner city housing: the difference between the plans and the reality. Apt for International Year of Shelter. For further details please contact 7:84 on 031 557 2442. Henderson Theatre, Shorts Fri 13 and Sat 14 Mar. 7.30pm. £2.50(£1.50) 031557 2442; Mitchell Theatre. Glasgow Mon 16—Sat 21 Mar. 7.30pm.£3.50(£2).0412213198. Tour Continues. 0 Tales 01 the Arabian Nights Borderline Theatre Company‘s version of the famous Arabian Nights. written and directed by Gerry Mulgrew. who last co-directed the Edinburgh Lyceum‘s popular
the plight of working-class women, portraying the experiences of an heroic mother of seven in the hungry Thirties.
Starched Aprons and Men Should Weep were both successlully produced by Glasgow Unity Theatre in 1945 and 1947 respectively but, after Unity disbanded in 1951, Ena's work was criminally neglected. Between 1951 and 1982, she had one lull-length play presented at Pitlochry Festival Theatre and two short one-act pieces at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh.
Her reputation and standing as a playwright underwent a dramatic reversal in the 1980s. when the 7:84 Theatre Company revived Men Should Weep in a splendid production directed by Giles Havergal and she has now written a new play lor 7:84 called High Places, which picks up many other earlierthemes, portrayingthe corruption at those in prominent social, economic and political positions alongside the predicament oi the inhabitants ot the high-rise tlats, the modern slums built out of the rubble ol the old tenements.
(Linda Mackenney)
please tel. Borderline on 0292 281010.
Third Eye Centre. Glasgow Fri 6 Mar. 7.30pm. 041 332 7521; Magnum Theatre. Irvine Sat 7 Mar. 2.30pm. 0294 78381.
0 Jotters Wildcat Stage Productions continue their latest tour: a musical show about education. See Review. For further details please contact Wildcat on 041 954 0000.
( 'ardinal .N'ewman Theatre. Bells/till Fri 6 and Sat 7 Mar. For tickets contact Secretary. Lanarkshire Branch EIS. 25 Gordon Street. Glasgow; Alloa Town Hall. Alloa Mon 9 Mar. Contact Public Baths for tickets): Victoria Hall, IIelensburgh Tue 10 Mar. Contact A. T. Mays. East Princess Street. llelensburgh for tickets: A berdeen Arts ( 'erttre. Aberdeen Thus 12~Sat 14 Mar. 0224 635208; Magnum Leisure Centre. Irvine Tue 17 Mar. 0294 78381 ; Denny Civic Theatre, Dumbarton Wed 18 and'l'hurs 19 Mar. Contact Langlands Stationers. High Street. Dumbarton. 37 62015 for tickets). Tour continues. returning to Glasgow and Edinburgh areas in late March.
0 Mugshot Cumbernauld Theatre start a tour of a Chandleresque thriller. written and directed by Robert Robson. in which wisecracking MacMarlowe stalks the streets ofGlasgow. The production features live jazz and original music by Joe McGinley. For further details please contact Cumbernauld Theatre on 0236 732887.
( ‘umbernauld Theatre Thurs 12—Sat 14 Mar. 7.45pm. 0236 732887; Tron Theatre. Glasgow Tue l7—Sat 21 Mar. 8pm. 041 552 4267/8. Tour continues.
0 Whalers Return of Michael Elder's
much acclaimed one-man play about the Dundee whaling industry. See PaneL
Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Fri 6 and Sat 7 Mar. 031 225 3614; Haymarket Theatre. Leicester Fri 13 and Sat 14 Mar; Perth Theatre Studio, Perth Thurs 19 Mar. 0738 21031: MacRobert Centre, Stirling Fri 20 and Sat 21 Mar. 0786 61081. Tour continues.
OABARET
Forvenue details, unless otherwise specilied, please see Theatre section.
GLASGOW -
0 BRASSERIE DOMINIOUE Briguait Centre. Glasgtm'.5528133. ”
A recently opened cafe-theatre where you cart eat. drink and be entertained in a fin-de-siecle setting. There is a jazz pianist playing most evenings in the bar downstairs. while cabaret is offered to those eating in the restaurant upstairs (meals from about £5 a head). Not all acts confirmed at time ofgoing to press. but those until Sat 14 March include: Fri 6: ’l‘enement Twins. two singers. Sat 7: Swing the Cat. band. Mon 92 Peter Dew. pianist. Tue 10: Alan Dixon. guitar. Wed 11: Alex Dalgleish. trumpet jazz. Thurs 12: violin. Fri 13: 'l'enement Twins. two singers. Sat14: .lanet Burns. singer. o PAVILION
Boy ‘Chubby' Brown Fri 13 and Sat 14 Mar. 7.30pm. £4. Blue comedian.
O THEATRE ROYAL
Mike Harding Fri 6 Mar. 8pm. £4.50. £5.50. £6.50. The popular comedian in concert. See also Playhouse. Edinburgh.
EDINBURGH
O NETHERBOW THEATRE
N.Y.T.T.V. Channel 33 Thurs l2—Sat 14 Mar. 7.30pm. £2 (£1). The Netherbow Youth Theatre in a comedy revue.
O PLAYHOUSE
Mike Harding Sat 7 Mar. 7.30pm. £6.50. £5.50. £4.50. The popular comedian in concert. See also Theatre Royal. Glasgow.
DANCE
: GLASGOW
0 LONDON CONTEMPORARY DANCE THEATRE Theatre Royal. Ilope Street. 331 1234. Two Programmes 24. 25 March and 26—28 March. The second programme brings back Troy Game. and Interrogations. seen last autumn in Edinburgh. Two ofthe works in the first programme will be performed in Scotland for the first time.
Hesidency— London Contemporary will be holding a programme of classes. workshops. open rehearsals and lecture demonstrations at Jordanhill College of Education from 16—20 March. For further information contact the college of the education department of London
Contemporary on ()1 387 0161/3041.
22 The List 6— 19 March