PREVIEW THEATRE *—
Last lg
I i . i v I arewell
Rudolph Nureer sysl
At the grand old age ofS-l. Rudolf Nureyev is to hang up his pumps and make a farewell leap to retirement. On Tuesday 30 April he dances in Scotland for the last time. Like Vaclav Nijinsky. 50 years his senior. Nureyev has attained superstar status. A relentlessly enthusiastic performer. Nureyev has charmed audiences worldwide since he made headlines by defecting from 2 Russia in 1961. More a case of escaping artistic stiflement than political statement. his leap to Paris * was prompted by the suspicious I attitude of Russian authorities towards his ‘unhealthy‘ interest in ' foreign dance companies and the English language. : Nureyev has danced in virtually all the major ballets. He is reputed to 5 know more than a hundred roles. two ofwhich he dances on the final tour. In a mixed programme. shared ; with Viv Flindt. Evelyn Desutter and ' Maria Brissonskaya. Nureyev will dance in The Lesson. choreographed by Flemming Flindt. and The Songs Of The Wayfarer. set to music by Gustav Mahler and choreographed by the provocative Maurice Bejart. Blessed with striking and handsome features. Nureyev is perhaps most acclaimed for his dramatic movement expression. Once the possessor of Dionysian energy. he controlled power with feline grace. The dramatic expression has not waned, but Nureyev is less than half the dancer he once was. See him on his last tour. for he still easily commands an audience. but don't hope for the young god he was once taken to be. (Jo Roe) Rudolf Nureyev, Playhouse, Edinburgh, Tue30April._
h; (S
Maria Brlssouskay. G
uest Artist with Nureer l
THEATRE 48 CABARET 52 DANCE 53
LISTINGS
THEATRE
Catfish
‘Loan sharks are evil bastards, there's no doubt about it. And they’re heavy, violent people, but I think it's a mistake to see the problem simply in terms oi evil individuals. It’s a social phenomenon. Loan sharks can only survive in a certain social circumstance and that circumstance has been created over the last twelve years.’
Wildcat’s Dave MacLennan has never been one to shirk social issues, but his latest venture with long-time collaborator, Dave Anderson, seems to be covering even more dangerous ground than usual. Sharks is a play about loan sharks and the people they lead oil. MacLennan linds this parasitical relationship both intriguing and incomprehensible.
‘The idea lorthe play came in 1987 when I read a series ol exposes in The Evening Times about the sharks. I became very interested in the fact that these people are very much members of the community. They're lrom the community, they're based in the community and the paradox is that they’re making an enormous prollt out at the poverty of their own community. And what’s more, the people who they’re exploiting, out at some misguided loyalty, will not turn them in.’
As is the casein most Wildcat
x'. A» 4 " “’ l * . ' . ‘ u‘. v 2
Shark catchers David MacLennan and Dave
Anderson outside the Clyde Theatre productions, the people eventually triumph over their oppressors; on this occasion by setting up their own, lair, loan system. I wondered il MacLennan was trying to preach to the communities which will see Sharks on its tour.
‘i’m very wary about giving messages,’ he says. ‘I thinkthat we try to express publicly the private thoughts at members oi the community. And l'm always circumspect about making claims ior what political theatre can achieve. One at the things it can do Is help to give people the strength to carry on. Although the subject is bleak, the treatment isn’t because I don't believe that you can engage people by bludgeonlng them overthe head. There‘s no point in having the politics right and boring everyone to death. So hopelully itwlll be lunny and musically strong and, hopelully, hopelul.’ (Philip Parr)
Sharks begins its Scottish tour in the Clyde Theatre, Clydebank, on Fri 19 April. See Touring.
V COMEDY Comic
Yorkshire Theatre Company in State at the Nation
‘lt's a bit oi an in-joke and the people who are in on the joke are the people at Britain,’ says Toby 8th about State at the Nation, the third highly rated instalment oi the State Trilogy, which he has co-wrltten and directed with Ian Hartley ior Yorkshire Theatre Company.
Drawing heavily on the common language of television and aiming at as broad an audience as possible, the plays deal with contemporary issues, irom male competitiveness to the advertising industry, in a particularly British kind at way that has been known
to leave ioreign audiences battled. ‘We took State oi Play to Germany,‘ says Swiit about the company's earlier cricket comedy, ‘and ior the Germans it was like some strange alien ritual; the weird things that the English do.‘
State at the Nation is an assessment of Britain in the 1980s, taking a comic swipe at the excesses that the decade’s ethos oi sell-interest produced: Perlorming in an energetic, cartoon-like manner, the three-strong cast creates an apocalyptic vision at the Falklands conllict, TV chat shoivs, car phones, power dressing and the rest oi the paraphernalia that characterised those ten years.
Swift argues that the company is more interested in raising questions than trying to preach, and it would rather lind and challenge new audiences fresh to the theatre than reiniorce the opinions of regular audiences. ‘We’re intending to be as popular as possible without cheapening it,’ says Swilt, ‘so that we can address and entertain as many people as possible, which does mean that people who are looking ior something politically hard-edged are sometimes disappointed, but those people tend to be sympathetic to what you're trying to say anyway.’ (Mark Fisher)
State oithe Nation is at Cumbernauld Theatre, Mon 29 Apr, and the Mews Theatre, Livingston, Tue 30 Apr. The company will also appear at the Assembly Rooms in the Edinburgh ange.
I OlivierAward Among the luminaries to receive a Laurence Olivier Award this year is Alan Cumming — he of Victor and Barry. and the current privatisation adverts (slight loss ofcredibility there. Alan) — for Comedy Performance of the Year in the National Theatre‘s Accidental Death ofan Anarchist. Cumming is currently filming in Prague with the people who made Venus Peter.
I Seat Appeal Glasgow's Tron Theatre is planning to increase its seating capacity from 220 to 300 by the start of 1992. The theatre has already managed to raise {120.000 and is seeking a further £40,000 from individuals and organisations. You can sponsor a set for £150 in return for a package of goodies and more details are available on 041552 3748.
I Fringe Hopes Freelance director Ben Twist. Jeanine Davies (lighting) and Ian Brown (director) of Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre are on the
shortlistforthe . CharringtonLondon
Fringe Awards to be
; presented at a ceremony
in London on Sun 28 April. One ofthe playsin the running is Hanging The Presidentwhich toured to London after Edinburgh Fringe success at the Traverse two years
ago .
l The Theatre Magazine £1.95. A new national monthly aiming at a more up-market. West End- orientated readership than existing journals like Plays and Players and Plays International. An over-ambitious listings section (it tries to cover the entire world) gives the impression that all theatre in Glasgow takes place in the Citizens‘, while everything in Edinburgh is in the Assembly Rooms. Much ofthe layout is uninviting and. apart from an article on Manchester theatres. the first issue relies heavily on big-name London stars. Still. nothing that couldn't be
ironed out before issue l two. . .
The List 19 April — 2 May 199147