THEATRE
reaches hilarity, but keeps you chuckling all the same.
From Glasgow To Saturn Tue 5—Sun 10 Feb. 7.30pm. £5 (£2.50). See Touring and preview.
EDINBURGH
I REDLAM THEATRE Forrest Road. 225 9893. [Access: St. Facilities: WS. G. B. Help: AA]
The Public Eye Tue 29 Jan-Fri 1 Feb. 7.30pm. £3 (£2.50/£2). Edinburgh University Theatre Company kicks offthe new term with Peter Schaffer‘s comedy about mid-life crises.
Mushrooms Wed 30 Jan. 1.30pm. £1 .50 (£1). Lunch-time drama from EUTC in a play by Geoff Bent.
Mountain Language and Catastrophe Wed 6 Feb. 130an £1.50(£1). Challenging double bill of lunch-time drama as EUTC tackle plays by Pinter and Beckett.
I BRUNTON THEATRE Musselbttrgh. 665 2240. [Access: PPA. R. St. Facilities: WC. W5. E. G. B. Ilelp: AA]
Hamlet Until Sat 2 Feb. Sat Mat 2.30pm. £4.50 (£3.50). The Brunton's ambitious season reaches its height with Shakespeare's great tragedy. See review. Playwrights Workshop Sat 9 Feb. 2—5pm. £1. Victor Greene leads another scribbling session.
The Massacre oi Tranent Thurs 7—Sat 23 Feb. 7.30pm. Sat 16 Mai. 2.30pm. £4.50 (£3.50). First night £3.50 (£2.50). Evening
News reviewer Raymond Ross re-creates events in Tranent 200 years ago when colliers and salt-pan workers rioted. See preview.
I CHURCH HILL THEATRE Morningside Road. 228 1155. Tickets available from Queen's Hall and Usher Hall Box Offices. They're Playing Our Song Until Sat 26Jan. 7.30pm. Sat Mat 26 at 2.30pm. £4.50 (£3.50). Tempo Musical Productions brings West End sound and lighting technology to this romantic musical based on the book by Neil Simon. author of The Odd Couple. with songs by Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager. It's about a romance that blooms between a lyricist and a musician.
Patience Mon 28 Jan—Sat 2 Feb. 7.30pm. Sat Mat 2.30pm. £5 (£3). Gala night in aid of Scottish AIDS Monitor on Tue 29. all
tickets£15. Edinburgh Savoy Operatakes i
to the stage with Gilbert and Sullivan's Operetta about love. poetry and the 35th Dragoon Guards.
I KING'S THEATRE 2 Leven Street. 229 1201. Box Office Mon—Sat 10am—8pm. Bar. [Accessz PPA. L. Facilities: WC. W8. AS. E. G. B. Help: AA]
beginner interested in building a strong foundation for acting skills. Acting Level II Sat 26 Jan and every Sat for ten weeks. 1.30—3.30pm. £50 (£45). Aimed at those with some actingtraining. this Arts Connexion course explores techniques in developing a role. Body Awareness Sat 26 Jan and every Sat for ten weeks. Noon—1pm. £35 (£30). Stress relief. relaxation and posture are the concerns of this Arts Connexion class. Singing Technique Level I Sat 26 Jan and every Sat for ten weeks. Noon—1pm. £35 (£30). Arts Connexion give beginners a solid foundation in singing technique. Singing Technique Level II Day and time to be arranged. Ten-week course. £35 (£30). A class for people who want to developthe work done in Singing Technique Level I. The Creating Process Day and time to be arranged. Five-week course. £20(£15). Find your own creative voice in this Arts Connexion class consisting ofthree-hour sessions. I TRAVERSE THEATRE 112 West Bow. Grassmarket. 226 2633. Box Office Tue—Sat 10am—8pm. Sun 6—10pm. Bar. Rest. Tickets also available from the Ticket Centre. Market Street. [Access: St. Facilities: E. Help: AA]. The Chairs Tue 29 Jan—Sat 2 Feb. 7.30pm. £5 (£3/£2). Tottering Bipeds performed their highly physical version of lonesco‘s surrealist classic two years ago in the Edinburgh Fringe to much acclaim. Here they return with their rare combination of acrobatics. clowning and absurdism as two elderly people welcome in an invisible congregation. Curtain Raisers: MotherWelI Fri l—Sun 2 Feb. 7pm. Free. The first in a season of 15-minute experimental pieces which will run before the main show most weekends
from now on. Kenny Glenannan’s monologue is about a son‘s attempt to come to terms with his alcoholic mother. See preview.
Creative Comedy Sun 3 Feb. 8pm. £4 (£3/£2). See Cabaret.
Margaret III Parts Two and Three Wed 6—Sat 9 Feb. 7.30pm. £5 (£3/£2). Another popular Fringe hit, Lip Service manage to combine a send-up ofShakespearian comedy with a satire ofour dear departed Mrs Thatcher in a performance subtitled The Plantagenet Career Woman ’5 Guide To Success.
TOURING
I From Glasgow To Saturn A space voyage of discovery as TAG take us through a dramatic adaptation of Edwin Morgan's poetry. Director Tony Graham mixes drama. dance. video and music in this science fiction vision ofcontemporary Glasgow. More details on 041 429 2877. Tron Theatre. Trongate. Glasgow Tue 5-Sun 10 Feb. 7.30pm.
Tour continues.
I The Noise and Smoky Breath Show Based on the popular anthology ofGlasgow poems. The Noise and Smoky Breath Show is an excellent cabaret-style performance directed by Andy Arnold of The Arches Theatre. In the words of Edwin Morgan. it goes ‘from the hilarious to the horrific with all the stages in between’. Funny and perceptive. Details on 041 332 7521.
Bishopsloch Resident's Hall, 15 Auchingall Road, Easterhouse Fri 25 Jan. 2pm and 7.30pm.
Toryglen Community Hall. Prospecthill Circus. Toryglen Sat 26 Jan. 7.30pm.
1313111311— HAMLET
At The Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh. Until 2 Feb. The posters and programmes ior Shakespearian plays are a source oi endless amusement. lnevitably, we are greeted with, ‘Hamlet by William Shakespeare'. Well, who else would it be by? In Brunton Theatre's latest production, however, making it absolutley clear whose Hamlet we are here to see is quite usetul.
You could be Iorgiven for thinking
1 that, for all these years, you had been
Cinderella Until Sat 16 Feb. 7pm everyday
except Suns. 2.15pm on Sat 26. Wed 30 Jan. Sat 2. Wed 6. Sat 9. Wed 13 and Sat 16 Feb. £5.25—£7.25.
Stanley Baxter returns to the stage as the Dame in a version of Cinderella which he has written and directed and which he says will be his last. The comedy material isa little weak. but there are a couple offunny set pieces and lots ofexccllent costumes. I PLAYHOUSE THEATRE Greenside Place. 557 2590.
> and Sat Mats at 2.30pm. £6.50—£16.50.
Glamorous back-stage musical set in 1933 when a small-town girl gets the chance to leave the chorus line and take centre stage. The acting is weak. but as an all-singing. all-dancing piece of entertainment it bowls you over.
I ST BRIDE'S CENTRE Orwell Terrace. 346 1405.
The Seagull Wed 6—Sat 9 Feb. 7.30pm. Queen Margaret College‘s final-year production is Anton Chekhov‘s naturalistic classic.
I THEATRE ARTS CENTRE Davie Street (off Nicolson Street). 661 0144.
Acting Level I Sat 26 Jan and every Sat for ten weeks. 1.30—3.30pm. £40 (£35). An Arts Connexion course aimed at the
misled. Surely this is meant to be Bill the Bard’s classic tragedy. A play in which the linal bloodbath comes as a welcome relief.
That Brunton‘s production linds humour galore in all this gore is not a criticism. This is not comedic in the style 01 an amateur dramatic company
V lorgetting their lines and tripping over
their robes. The comedy is lound within the text. This might seem an easy
42nd Street Until Sat 16 Feb. 7.30pm. Wed ;
enough task, but more illustrious companies than The Brunton have been wholly incapable at achieving such a Ieat.
In the lead role, Andrew Price thoroughly enjoys himsell. Hamlet‘s obsession with avenging his lather’s death is given increased validity by the tact that the Prince actually enjoys the process at plotting and executing his revenge. The character becomes mum-dimensional rather than the simple morose avenger oi so many previous productions. The object 01 his hatred, Claudius, is also shown as
. ‘3 Jellrey Daunlon as Claudius and Anne Lannen as Ophelia in ‘Ilamlet'.
more than the conniving evil-doer who
eventually gets his come-uppance. Jelirey Daunlon commands the stage whenever he appears and gives a polished periormance laced with sardonic humour and thanklully tree 01 the pantomime-style evil that can blight this play.
The supporting perlormances are generally excellent and the only aspect oi the show which gives cause lor concern is in the direction at the supernatural scenes. The ghost is given a disembodied voice and hooded
habit so that the likeness with Obi-Wan
Kenohi is quite startling. It’s often been said that Spielberg borrows Irom Shakespeare, but the other way
. around? Dispensing with this gimmick
would make this a classic production.
As it stands, the laughter is just a little too much in evidence. (Philip Parr)
riitAtItt comm
THE BRUNTON THEATRE SEASON 1990/91
HAMLET -
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
17 JAN - 2 FEB 1991 SATURDAY MATINEE 26 JANUARY 1991, 2.30pm EVENING PERFORMANCES 7.30pm
CHILDRENS ENTERTAINMENT FROM
MR BOOM 7 - 9 FEBRUARY 1991, 2.30pm ADULTS £2.00, CHILDREN £1.00
THE MASSACRE OF TRANENT - RAYMOND ROSS 7 - 23 FEBRUARY 1991, 2.30pm
EVENING PERFORMANCES 7.30pm
TICKETS FOR ALL PERFORMANCES, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED £4.50 (FULL), £3.50 (CONCS), 22.50 (MATS)
FURTHER INFORMATION FROM BOX OFFICE (031) 665 2240
ACCESS AND VIAS ACCEPTED 63 Trongate Glasgow “REM-V Gt 5H8 Box Office : 041 552 4267 THE TREASURE OF WOOKIMAGOO
A Pantomime by
Bruce Morton
Until Sun 27 Jan 1991 7.30pm Sat 25 Jan at 2.30pm
Tickets: 2550/2450 conc. BUY 4 TICKETS GET 1 FREE
FREE EVENTS IN THE VICTORIAN BAR
3 cs >s fl 5 t- .D 3) LT.
Fri 25 Jan: 10.30pm TRON CEILIDH with The
Clydebuilt Ceilidh Band Thur 31 Jan: 8.30pm Gerry Burns - Acoustic guitar 8: vocals
Fri 1 Feb: 9pm
GONG NIGHT AT THE TRON
Spring Season at Visiting Companies begins with
. TAG Theatre Company FROM GLASGOW TO SATURN Based on the poetry of Edwin Morgan Tues 5 - Sun 10 Feb at 7.30pm Tickets: £5/22.50 cones.
I I Tron Cale/Bars ] open 7 days a week
The List 25 January — 7 February 1991 49