THEATRE LISTINGS
THEATRE
Theatre is listed by city. then alphabetically by venue. Touring shows are listed alphabetically by title at the end olthe section. Shows will be listed, provided that details reach our oltices at least ten days before publication. Theatre Listings compiled by Mark Fisher.
DISABLED ACCESS KEY
Access: P : Parking Facilities. PPA = Parkingto be Pre-Arranged. L = Level Access. R "— Ramped Access. ST = Steps to negotiate.
Facilities: WC :— .-\tiaptt-d Toilet(s). WS =
E = Induction Loop System. G = Guide Dogs Allowed. R 2 Restaurant Accessible. B : Bar Accessible. T = Adapted Telephone.
Help: A = Assistance Available. AA = Advise Venue in Advance.
TICKET LINK
Tickets for major venues in Glasgow are
Wheelchair Spaces. AS = AdjacentScats.
I available from the Ticket Centre.
I Candleriggs. Mon—Sat 10.30am until
‘ 6.30pm in person or until 9pm by phone on
041227 5511. Sunday openingis noon—5pm. Any Ticket Link box office
can sell tickets for other venues.
ma- 3 GLASGOW
I ARCHES THEATRE Midland Street. 221 9736. [Access: P. L. Facilities: WC. WS. B. G. Help: A.AA]
From the Calton to Catalonia Mon 1 l—Tue
12 Nov. 7.30pm. £5 (£3). Gable End
Productions opens a week oflively
entertainment at the Arches as part of
Glasgow Trade Union Week. The show is
a celebration of Glasgow‘s contribution to
the struggle against Fascism in the Spanish Civil War and is written by the two sonsof James Maley. a survivor of action with the
International Brigade. See Agenda piece at front of magazine.
' Everyone's Gone to Dunoon ch l3—Thurs 1 14 Nov. 7.30pm. £5 (£3). See Cabaret
‘ listings and Agenda piece at front of
Agenda piece at front ofmagazine. ; Club Sandino Fri 15 Nov. 10pm. £4(£2). I!
magazine. Ceilidh with Clachnacudden Thurs 14 Nov. 10pm. £5 (£3). See Folk listings and
See Clubs lisitings and Agenda piece at front of magazine-J ,7 /
Staging the Revolution Fri lS—Sat 16Nov. 7.30pm. £5 (£3). A well-received topical comedy by Rejects Revenge Theatre Company about Vaclav llavel's whirlwind rise from imprisoned playwright to President of Czechoslovakia. Another contribution to Glasgow Trade Union Week. See Agenda piece at front of magazine.
Elaine C. Smith with Robert Pettigrew Sat to Nov. 10pm. See Cabaret and Jazz listings and Agenda piece at front ofmagazine. American Buttalo Tue l9—Sun 24 Nov. 7.3(lpm. £5 (£3). See Touring.
Blues In The Night ch 21—Fri 23 Nov. 9.45pm. £4 (£2). An ambitious show brought together by Take Two Productions which traces a personal and informal history ofthe blues from 1900. Mixing jazz and blues greats with contemporary literature. quotations and news items. the performance aims to put the music in its social and political context.
I BELSHILL CULTURAL CENTRE John Street. Motherwell.
The Glass Menagerie Fri 8 Nov. 7.30pm. The industrious Pocket Theatre Cumbria calls into Motherwell as part ofa three-month tour of the Tennessee Williams classic about guilt. loss. nostalgia and dreams.
I CITIZENS' THEATRE Gorbals Street. 429
0022. Box Office Mon—Sat 10am—6pm (10am—9pm on performance days). Bar. [Accessz P. L. Facilities: WC. WS. E.G. R. Help: AA] Design For Living Fri S—Sat 23 NOV. 7.30pm. £5 (£1 ). Free performance Mon 18 Nov. Audio-described performance on Thurs 21 Nov. Philip Prowse designs'and directs Noel Coward's wisecracking comedy about cocktail-drinking sophisticates. See preview. I CRAWFURD THEATRE Jordanhill College. 7o Southbrae Drive. 050 g 3437 3438. [Access: P. R. Facilities: WC. WS. E. G. R. B. Help: A.AA] IT'S Brilliant Fri 15 Nov. 7.30pm. Auchinharvie School produces its own play. I CUMBERNAULD THEATRE Cumbernauld. 0236 733887. Box Office Mon Fri 10am—6pm; Sat 10am~3pmz t» Spm perf. evgs Bar’Cafe. [Accessz PPA. ST. ' Facilities: WC. WS. (3. B. Help: A. AA] Teechers Frill—Sit“). Fri l5—Sat lon-. 8pm. £3 (£1 .50). Flipsicle Theatre Company turns up two weekc nds on the trot in John (iodber‘s classroom comedy. ? Merlin the Magniticent'l‘httrs 21 Nov—Sat 28 Dec. £4.75 (£2.25). Yup. it‘slliultime again. Oh no it isn‘t! ()h. yes it is! Cumbernauld is the first Central Scottish theatre to welcome in Christmas. as Liz Carruthers directs Stuart Paterson's
[EILEE— ASCOTTISH RESERVATION
Seen at Arches Theatre, Glasgow. On tour. Fablevision has uncovered a tremendously promising story torthe basis of A Scottish Reservation. A Highland community evicted early last century during the clearances was shipped over to Canada where it combined torces with the mixed race Metls tribe, itseli a victim at colonialist hlgh-handedness. This real-lite tale should be a made-to-measure demonstration at the ruthlessness ot capitalism and the brotherly love of ordinary people. These are certainly Fablevislon's themes, but the play tails to give them the bite they deserve.
it Fablevision relies too heavily on dry ice and synthesisers, there's no denying that the company is adept at the smooth and simple creation ot striking stage pictures. it is company policy to keep language clear and economic in order not to exclude any members at the audience —thoughl see no reason tor so much repetition — but here the result is at best
.5; "- Michele Waering as The Vision Woman
simplitication and at worst contusion. The imagistic style leaves little scope ' to identity with the characters or to engage with what must have been a iascinating meeting ot cultures - a Native Indian doing a Highllnd Fling is a weak visual gag that gives no insight into how such a thing might have come about. And without the teachers' pack you are at a loss to know why the Metls should greet the newly-arrived Highlanders in French.
What we are left with is a series of attractive but slow-moving images, with earnestness taking the place oi contlict. Desipite the harsh scenes of
Tom agd Jane
The MusicarMilk
ASTCRY OVERFLOMNG WITH SONGS FOR Ct-il mmmmmmmmm
OLD ATHENAEUM THEATRE
16 NOVEMBER 1991 at 10.30am and 2.00pm This: “3.30 mm Mfr. ouwmwomw 3322333 or “mu-ton 22755"
Mystery
lDIWbHOHN BET?
abuse and destruction, there is little human resonance communicated. An agit-prop sequence of scenes running through the piece, supposedly to ridicule the distant money-men and landowners, is too crude ior either political comment or comedy. In short, the play is an opportunity lost, that raises as many questions as it answers. (Mark Fisher)
mamm- ROMEO AND JULIET
Seen at Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh. Until Sat 9 Nov, then on tour.
For Romeo and Juliet to be emotionally compelling, the audience needs to tail in love with the two central characters. Maybe it’s just my taste in star-cross’d lovers, but in the Royal Lyceum Company’s production, Indra Ove’s Juliet and Oliver Haden’s Romeo are likeable enough, but lack the dreamy romanticism that would captivate. Ove plays a petulant, adolescent Juliet to Haden‘s lovelorn trendy London executive (this is a modern dress production, even it Deirdre Edwards’s Lady Capulet doesn't know it), but neither lives up to Friar Lawrence’s belief that ‘A lover may bestride the gossamer/ That idles in the wanton summerair/And yet not tall.’ They tell
‘1 ‘ t. ,s\ t.)
lndra Ove as Juliet in the Royal Lyceum Theatre‘s production oi Romeo And Juliet
us they are in love, but their ieet are on the ground.
lhearthere was riotous laughter at the preview, butthe press night was a sombre affair; the multiple murders being bloody and the chance at success tor the lovers appearing hopeless trom the start. lan Wooldridge directs a stark, black and white, studio-style production— no designer is credited- making use of Pat Garrett’s Spanish-tinged choreography and a live percussive score that skiltully underlines the text. It these contributions have a second-hand air- the intluence oi Communicado looms large — it does at least show the Royal Lyceum trying something ditterent. A stronger sense of purpose would complete the act.
But even though the vigour oi the opening toe-tapping, skirt-swishing dance is lollowed by a constant tlow oi movement, it is rarely matched by a similar degree of clarity. Several of the minor-role performances are largely ' incomprehensible—the main parts are l invariably clear, it uninspired—and there is a lack of precision in the use of space on the large Open stage. But my real complaint is that by losing the romance, the production loses the tragedy, making the pile oi corpses at the end at the play seem messy instead ot moving. (Mark Fisher)
\D f_“~ 1:: h“
SEAN HUDSON
54 The List 8 — 21 November 1991