THEATRE LIST
0 CASTLEBRAE HIGH SCHOOL Craigmillar.99l 1282.
Blackfriar's Wynd Fri 12 June. 7.30pm. 50p. Old Town Theatre in a play by Donald Campbell about life in Victorian Edinburgh. See Review.
0 CLOVENSTONE COMMUNITY CENTRE
Muirhouse Revisited Sat 13 June. 7.30pm. 50p. Muirhouse Drama Group in a fantasy-cum-satire.
O CALTON CENTRE Montgomery Street.
MACLASH 2pm. Free. The Merry Macs. See Cabaret.
O KING'S THEATRE 2 Levcn Street. 229 1201. Box office Mon—Sat 10am—8pm. Bar. [D]
Up ’n’ Under Until Sat 13June. Mon—Fri 7.30pm: Sat 5 and 8pm. £6. £5.50. £5. £4.50. £3.50. Tue—Thurs OAP. Student. Disabled. UB40—£2 off Stalls and Grand Circle seats. Mon eve and Sat mat all seats £3.50. Hull Truck Company in John Godber's (.S'liakers, Bouncers, Blood. Sweat and Tears) early Hull
Truck popular hit play about rugby. '
Voted Comedy of the Year in the 1984 Laurence Olivier Awards. See Review.
Forever Elvis Mon 15—Sat201une. 7.30pm. Sat mat 2.30pm. £3.50—£5.50. Mon eve and Sat mat all seats £3.50. Tue—Thurs OAPs. UB40s. students. disabled and children £1 .50 off Stalls and Grand Circle seats. Parties of ten or more 20“? discount Tue—Sat. A musical biography ofThe King for this. the tenth anniversary year ofhis death. 0 MANDELA THEATRE Gateway Exchange. 2—4 Abbeymount. 661 0982. Cafe and Bar facilities during performances.
Hooligans Thurs 18—Sat201une. 7.30pm. £2.50 ( £1 ). TicToc Theatre Company from Coventry in their electric Fringe-first winning production ofJon Gaunt's play about hooliganism. Fast and sharp and acted with tremendous pace and energy by the cast ofthree. it takes us into the lives of three young lads existing in Thatcher‘s Britain and showing us why ‘hooliganism‘ becomes the outlet for their frustration. Don‘t miss it.
0 LEITH COMMUNITY CENTRE
Out of Boundaries Sat 13June. 8pm. -£1 .50 (50p). Witch Theatre Company. appearing as part of Women Live. in a play devised by Janet Fenton and the company that revolves around the idea of fences— both actual and symbolic— that affect women's lives. See Review.
0 NETHERBOW 43 High Street. 556 9579. Box office mam—4.30pm: 7—9pm perfevgs.
Cafe. [D] [E]
Make Up One Morning . . . Fri 12 and Sat 13 June. 7.30pm. Sat mat 2.30pm. £2 (£1 ). A new mime company. Mimage. in their first show — a look at rituals. both public and private. and how they shape our lives.
The Scottish Play and Doctor Who? Thurs 25 and Fri 26June. 7.30pm. £2 (£1). Donaldson School for the‘ Deaf‘s highly acclaimed mime company in two plays that were selected to appear in the London finals ofthe National Deaf
Hull Truck Company, Kings Theatre, Edinburgh
John Godber has developed a fancy for plays either about nightclubs or sport overthe past few years. ‘ Up'n’Under‘, like his ‘Blood, Sweat and Tears‘, falls into the latter category, stressing the
enabling potential of sport in general in
our lives. ‘Up’n’Under’ is about rugby. The Wheatsheal team from Hull — rotund, small-minded and weak-willed - are training to face the mighty Cobblers, arch-aggressors and champions of the North of England.
The Wheatsheafs are born losers who rise reluctantly to the challenge—until,
that is, Hazel Scott, offers to act as their trainer. They lose the match anyway, but somewhere along the line they have begun to value their achievement.
Up’n’Under is primarily about light entertainment. There is some neat
word-play in the script on the sexism so
famed of rugby players, to which Hazel quickly puts a stop. There are also several good moments of staging - as, for example, when Phil Hoyle enacts his dream the night before the day of the match.
But in general this revival (with a new
cast) of a show which was first staged
in 1984 and has gone on to win a Fringe
First Award and a Laurence Olivier Award for Comedy of the Year was disappointing. The sparse set of a few training machines and a green mat an eighth the size of a lull pitch looked awkward amongst the glitter of the
Children's Society Festival of Performing Arts. The ‘Scottish play’ is the one by a certain W. Shakespeare. shown here in a shortened mime version. Doctor— Who? is a spoof Frankenstein.
Dark of the Moon Wed l7—Sat 20 June. 7.30pm. £2 (£1). Telford College in a play by Howard Richardson and William Verney. set in 1930s” America. in which a young witch boy falls in love with a human girl.
0 PRINCES STREET GARDENS
Natural Theatre Company Mon 22. Tue 23 and Wed 24 June. Natural Theatre will be invading Princes Street Gardens with their brand of street theatre: not ‘shows‘ as such. but personalities populating the area. Gnomes. Flowerpot Men and Victorian nannies will be at large in the gardens during the day — weather permitting!
Kings‘ Theatre; the distance between audience and performers seemed to handicap their efforts to enforce an informality on the proceedings in general. It was not until way into the second half that their cautiously blocked and rehearsed actions began to gel. Only Kika Mirylees as Hazel and David Woodcock as Phil seemed to catch the flavour of the play: the others
charged around sending themselves up
until it became predictable. (Ben Simms).
BLACKFRIAR’S WYND
Old Town Theatre, On Tour.
For their first production Edinburgh Old Town Theatre Company have delved into a little local history. Donald Campbell’s ‘Blacktriar's Wynd‘ set in a pub in- not surprisingly— Blacktriars Wynd, offers a picture of life in the close 100 years ago. It is a play to suit the times: an old-fashioned tale of rough justice and mismatched love between a young professional and a working class girl, its double story-line sketched out against a backdrop of pickpockets, policemen and prostitutes.
First presented by the Lyceum several years ago, it is a good choice for this new company— a large body of volunteers professionally directed - offering countless cameo characters: the affable policeman, the retired army general, the young advocat with literary ambitions, the church do-gooder, the pimp and his ladies, the mean-minded police officer— all well realised by the cast. It never goes very
O ROYAL LYCEUM Grindlay Street. 229 9697. Box office Mon—Sat 10am—6pm. 10am—8pm on perfevgs. Bar. Rest/Cafe. [DHE] (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 School for Scandal Fri 12
Blackfriar's Wynd
deep, some of the social history details feel a little forced and the direction is sound but unadventurous- but it provides an enjoyable sketch of life at the time and is laced with a very strong and varied selection of songs by Robin Pettigrew, all performed with uniform excellence by the cast. (Sarah Hemming)
OUTOF BOUNDARIES
Witch Theatre Group, On Tour
The new show of the all-female theatre company, Witch Theatre Group, examines the fences and boundaries that restrict our freedom. The mixture of sketches and songs, based on true incidents taken from the lives of women, were devised collectively by the amateur company and drawn together by Janet Fenton.
Fenton explains that the ‘situations are vague, so as to universalise the experiences', and the set— a grim wire fence across a muddy stage — is a superb universal symbol of oppression. This is enhanced by the eerie stillness created by the frey uniformity ofthe women, and the excellent use of a burning flare and ‘searchlights’ on the fence to provide a foggy gloom.
Sound breaks effectively into this silence, from the chilling scream of the invisible political prisoner to the harmonious use of chimes, guitar, fiddle and clear a cappella singing of traditional songs. One line sketch intercuts comedy with tragedy to emphasise the theme: while two women attempt to read a play about passion and tragedy in unmasterable lrish accents, the ‘actual’ tragedy of a brother's death is relayed in hushed German tones at the wire fence. Humour is generally used well, to include an infectious spoof of the silly song, ‘Dashing Away with the Smoothing lron', and the depiction of a group of women arriving at Greenham expecting it to be like a party.
Sometimes falling into lecturing, or occasionally into a ‘Hey-brother- look-what-you're-doing-to-yoursister’ type show, Out Of Boundaries on the whole creates a powerful, haunting image of women's oppression. (Ness liaison)
June—Thurs 6 Aug. 7.45pm. Sat mats on 11 and 26July. (all seats £2.70). After show discussion Mon 15 June. £2.70—£6. TheatreSaver holders £1 offSummer Super Saver offer— reductions for those booking both shows (School for Scandal and Turin/fl). FREE Preview on Thurs
1 1 June. Richard Brinsley Sheridan‘s much-loved comedy of manners Tartuffe Thurs 25 June (Free Preview)—Sat 8 Aug. 7.45pm. For
AYOUTH THEATRES' PERFORMANCE PROJECT
NAE TRUST TAE THE CUSTOCKS
ounxen MEETING HOUSE a. COURTYARD, THE PLEASANCE ' - 2. 3, 4 JULY 1987 at 7.30pm £2.00 (£1.00)
TICKETS AND FURTHER INFORMATION
THEATRE WORKSHOP, 34 HAMILTON PLACE, BOX OFFICE: (031) 226 5425
The List 12— 25June 19