FEATURE LIST
be producing Tony Roper‘s Paddy‘s Market which is his first play since The Steamie and it‘s hysterically funny. At Mayfest we‘ll be presenting a one-woman show by Marcel Evaristi and hopefully Theatre de Complicite will be premiering their piece. The next thing will be The Guid Sisters being remounted in June. Then there is a very exciting co-production with a performance art outfit called Performance founded by Craig Armstrong ofThe Big Dish. Also. The Blue Nile are writing a cello piece for Willie Conway who is a soloist for the SCO. Then there is a Festival of New Scottish Work in the autumn which will almost certainly include Peter Arnott‘s new piece called Salvation. There‘s obviously an injection ofglucosc into the outfit as a result of 1990. In all sorts of indirect ways it has helped. It‘s best viewed opportunistically and I think Glasgow is quite a good city at being opportunistic. It‘ll leave some effect after 1990. but no tremendously deep ones. It‘s a party and the Tron is in a good position to be able to enjoy it.
Productions take place at The Tron throughout the year.
I Stewart Gruickshanlt, New Muslc World.
New Music World is staging the first of what is hoped will be an annual event which will present a showcase for the best in new international rock music, whether it be African dance music, thrashy bands from New Zealand or indeed the Sub Pop label in Seattle. We hope that it will become the UK forum for independent rock music. the nearest equivalent to the New Music Seminar in New York. The five or six of us on the committee very much hope to do something in 1990 which is not a Mickey Mouse event. It seems to us a good time to try to stage a credible event on whatever scale. It‘s the start of a new decade. Europe‘s 1992. the Eastern Bloc is opening up and indeed the state of flux in which the UK independent industry has been in the last year particularly; it seems like a good time to hold a forum for all those reasons. I hope that Glasgow 1990 will be more than just a token event. I would hope that first of all it becomes an annual event and not just a flash in the pan. It seems to me that we‘re going through a time of change. from passive leisure into active leisure and more and more people are doing things. and I hope that Glasgow could well become a major cultural centre in that respect. New Music World takes place at the Tramway and across the city 5—9 Sept.
I Ian Ritchie, General Manager SCO. Oh golly. What a difficult thing. Well. to the SCO Glasgow 1990 is not an end in itselfbut. as I‘ve just said in our yearbook. ‘the beginning of a new cultural growth which will imprint Scotland ever more firmly upon the map of Europe.‘ More specifically. it will give the SCO a chance to consolidate its work with people of all ages within Glasgow
and Strathclyde Region. which is responsible for the education of virtually halfthe children of Scotland and also as a Region gives support to some ofour most imaginative projects. 1990 is giving us the opportunity to develop in areas like music theatre and to enhance public awareness of the role we‘re playing in Scotland.
Scottish Chamber Orchestra perform
throughout 1990.
I Lynn Bain, playwright.
I have very mixed feelings about 1990. I think 7:84 has the right attitude about it. Glasgow‘s a wonderful city - it should always be celebrating itself. I find the hype somewhat stunning and I do worry about the housing that‘s not there and about money being given in odd ways. I don‘t wish to be a Scrooge and if it is a genuine response by the people ofGlasgow. then that‘s brilliant. I don‘t think 7:84 were looking at Nae Problem as being for 1990 per se. It‘s the kind ofplay they would choose to do anyway. It‘s a play about racism which is not a particularly Glaswegian problem. on the contrary it‘s a very Scottish problem - the isolation of individual families and people experiencing prejudice. I've been thinking about those people who don’t have communities— my impulse was to write about that family on that council estate who are fighting the battle on a daily basis. It’s not dramatic or exciting until somebody’s actually killed. What I‘m interested in are those peOple who are not killed or even beaten up, but whose children . especially. face that daily harassment. I don’t think you can tie that into the Year of Culture particularly, but I think those stories have to be told whatever the year.
7:84 's Nae Problem opens at the RSA MD on 28 Feb and tours until 30 March.
I Tony McKay, Sports Co-ordinator at the Festivals Office. Our programme spans the entire
i year and features 29 World and
European events as well as 39 Great Britain and Scottish National level ; events. and to date has 132 events
specially designed to encourage local participation in sport. Events range from athletics from the Maryhill Nigel Barge Road Race to the European Indoor Athletic
MOIRA NICOL
Championships and there will be centenaries of the Scottish Football League spectacular at Hampden on 18 August. Scottish Cross Country Union. World Cross Country Trials on 11 March and the Scottish Gymnastics Centenary Cup on 16-17 June featuring all four of the Eastern Block countries who have never been seen together in the UK before. The governing bodies of sports involved and indeed the existing leisure and recreation departments within Glasgow, have all contributed to making next year‘s plans exciting. and they welcome visitors to see for themselves that there‘s a lot of sport Glasgowing on in 1990.
Sporting events take place across the city throughout1990.
I Amoghavaira, Glasgow Buddhist Centre.
We’re planning three main activities for 1990: teaching courses on meditation at various Community Education Centres in Glasgow; a series of talks at Hillhead Library as an introduction to Buddhism; and in May there will be a public day of celebration of Wesak. or Buddha Day. at the City Hall. which is the traditional commemoration of the enlightenment of Buddha himself. As far as Buddhists are concerned. the year ofculture is an important event: culture embodies the search for higher values. as does Buddhism. There are about 150 people in touch with this Centre. so 1990 gives us a welcome chance to make more people aware of our presence; culture is supportive ofdeveloping awareness of yourself and your surroundings. which is essentially what meditation is designed to do. Everybody has a creative potential: you can‘t escape from real life but you can try to live creatively. Buddha Day is at City hall. Albion Street on 12 May. 1990.
I Jonathan Squires, Glasgow 1990 Steel Band.
This is the first band like this in Glasgow: it‘s a 12-piece steel band made up of people who live here in
Glasgow. both black and white. The
Mangrove Band. who won the Notting Hill Carnival in 1988. are coming up to help us get started. and we‘ll be playing at Community Centres and festivals throughout the year. I think it‘s important to
highlight, alongside the indigenous culture, the various other cultures that have come together. For us, we have become part of Scottish culture. and as artists in Scotland we have been badly under-represented — worse than in England where there are strong black groups. 1990 should act as a forum for culture in a broad way. The band will keep going after the Year: people in Scotland want to hear steel-band music but without the expense of importing it — we are aiming ultimately to be a Scottish representative at the Notting Hill Carnival itself in the near future.
I Liz Lochhead, playwright and poet. I feel passionately ambivalent about 1990! I was out filming for the BBC in Easterhouse recently. I was doing a piece about dampness. The actual conditions of seeing black holes all over your child’s bedroom walls must make you feel like putting a bomb through the City Chambers. But it isn‘t as simple as that. It’s true on a big scale, but it‘s so obviously true that it‘s just a cliche. To say that you should have better houses rather than 1990 takes the argument away from where it should be. There‘s the money for both these things. It‘s about political will and Central Government. In a celebration in a city there will be some things that can be shared by everybody. 1990 is something that has been very exciting for Communicado. Whether or not I‘m the kind of person that‘s happier with small casts remains to be seen. but I wouldn’t have had the chance to find out had I not been working on it. Bruce Morton at the Comedy Club on Saturday night said, ‘I‘ve just heard that 1993 has been declared International Year of Nostalgia — I’m starting to celebrate it now.’ I think you should ask me what I think on the 12 December 1990.
Liz Lochhead is working with Communicado on Jock Tamson ’s Bairns which runs at the Tram way 25 Jan—24 Feb.
I Betty Brown, Garnethill c.c. activist. We‘re very proud of Garnethill. and ofthe variety of cultures that live and work together here. The people here are united — in 1990we‘ll be boasting about ourselves. One ofthe main events we‘ll be organising is the opening ofour futuristic park: there was a tenement building that had fallen down five years ago and no-one would do anything about it for ages. until the Goethe Institute commissioned an architect to design a playpark, with an outdoor theatre. tree-houses. fountains that the kids can change the flow of. When it‘s finished. in August. we‘ll hold a big street party with performances from all sorts of local ethnic groups. We also want to hold a fashion show with the Art School. and have a children‘s concert because they are so talented. We haven‘t had much council help for 1990. but you‘ve got to cut the cloth the way you find it. We‘re all looking forward to next year — we‘re delighted to do the work we do. to see all the kids working together. Local events are taA in g place all over the city throughout 1990.
The List'22 December 1989 l 1 January 19909