LISTINGS THEATRE
GASLIGHT
Royal lyceunt Theatre, Edinburgh,
until 5 February.
A thunderous crash, a ilash oi light and the lagged shadow oi a woman In a melodramatic pose is thrown onto a stark white background. it suitably tense scene ushers In Patrick Hamilton’s Victorian ‘blood-chilling thriller’ as it is billed at the lycetnn. In the shadowy and claustrophobic gasiight world oi an Edinburgh sitting room, Mrs Manningham, a woman with the constitution oi a butterily, is rapidly losing her trail grip on reality - or so her bullish husband (llr Finlay's Iiavld Iiintoul) would have her believe. It is not until the odd arrival oi strangeneum-guardian angel, ex- Inspector liough, that the mystery iumpstarts into action. Suddenly and awkwardly the ominous noises emanating irom the attic and a long- iorgotten murder are thrust into our minds as being connected. Or perhaps it’s all the hallucinations oi an insane woman. Therein lies the suspense, or
rather doesn’t.
The problem with this schizophrenic production is that it has a ioot in two disparate camps: thriller and comedy. With the latter continually undercutting any mounting tension that may have built up slyly, there is nothing left to do but ditch any pretensions oi a meaty Sherlock Ilolmes murder mystery and iall in with the audiences’ hearty guiiaws.
SEAN HUDSON
Their mirth is propelled along by John Fraser’s searniess portrayal oi robust cheeky chappy, Iiough. However misplaced the character is, his role, it appears, is to spell out the plot in an A-B-c manner. This lack oi subtlety in the script is compounded by the dum dum-dum-dum school oi sombre piano music oit iavoured by late-night horror movies. Any residual suspense is swept away with Iiintoul’s iuming and snorting husband and not even Vivien lieilbron’s gripping iinal twist as the oppressed wiie can validate this as a
thriller. (Ann Donald)
Kilmardinny Avenue, Bearsden, 943 03l2. (Access: L. Facilities: WS. H. G. C
The Glasgow Girls Until Sat 29 Jan. 8pm. A new play by Brian Hayward, marking the centenary of the ‘Glasgow style’ and
lookin I KI
at the women who created it.
’5 THEATRE Bath Street. Box
Office Mon-Sat noon—6pm. 4 bars. Phone bookings, Ticket Centre. Candleriggs, see
I Ticket Link details above. [Access: PPA. I
L. Facilities: WC. W3. H. G. C. Help: A. AA]
Dick Whittington Until Sat 29 Jan. £3—£10. 7pm. Sat 29 Jan mat. 2.15pm. Last year’s show from the King‘s Edinburgh moves through with a few changes — perhaps the most welcome being the arrival ofJimmy Chisholm as
the Dame. Allan Stewart makes the lead role a good deal less mawkish than it can be and there are enough dodgy gags to keep anyone happy. .
I MERCAT THEATRE Mercat House. Drumchapel. 944 9022. [Access: PPA. L. ST, R. Facilities: WC, W8. G. C]
Meet the line and Only Unique Man Sun 30 Jan. 7.30pm. £4 (£3). Comedy from the man they call The Man.
I PAISLEY ARTS CENTRE New Street. Paisley. 887 1010. Box Office open Tue—Sun noon—8.30pm. [Accessz PPA. L. R. Facilities: WC. W8. H. G. C. Help: A,
AA]
Weekend oi Fllll Sat 5—Sun 6 Feb. Sat
lOam—late. Sun 10am—5pm. The excellent
Paisley Youth Theatre spends two days
raising funds for the year’s activities. Arts
Fayre on Saturday. improvisation on
Sunday.
I PAVILION THEATRE l2! Renfteld Street.
332 1846. Box Office Mon—Sat l0am-8pm. Bar. [Accessz ST. Facilities:
WS, G. Help: AA]
Mr McScrooge Until Sat 29 Jan. 7.30pm. Sat 29 Jan mat. 2pm. Traditionally the noisiest and brashest of the big traditional pantos. the Pavilion‘s seasonal caper —
‘the meanest panto ever to hit Glasgow‘ —
stars Andy Cameron. Dave Anderson and
Eileen McCallum.
I ROYAL SCOTTISH ACADEMY OF MUSIC AND DRAMA 100 Renfrew Street. 332 5057. [Access: PPA. ST. L. Facilities: WC, WS, H. G. C. Help: A. AA]
The Fat iiobby Stories Fri 28 Jan. 7.15pm.
£5 (£3). Well-liked adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s hilarious and touching tales of Hollywood. performed by Eddie Muir Live regular Paul Birchard.
Sweet
harity Tue 8—ll Feb. 7.15pm.
£3.50 (£2). The musical that brought you ’Big Spender‘ is performed by final-year
students.
I TROH THEATRE 63 Trongate. 552 4267. Box Office Mon 10am—5pm; Tue-Sat lOam until performance commences; Sun 6pm until performance commences. No performances on Monday. [Accessz PPA. ST. R. L. Facilities: WC. WS. H. G. C.
Help: AA]
liew Moves Fri 28 Jan—l9 Mar. See
Dance.
The Maids Tue 8. Thurs IO and Sat 12
Feb. 7.30pm. £7.50/£6 (£3/£2.50). The Actors Touring Company on a fifteenth anniversary tor with Jean Genet’s grim classic of murderous servants.
HIT LIST
CatchthebestTheatrethls iortn :1 .
h—l l l
I Bad Reputation Penny Arcade gets up to no good as part of the CCA’s Bad Girls Season. CCA.
. Glasgow.
I River liun/A lone Laurie Booth kicks off this year’s enterprising New Moves dance festival. Tron Theatre. Glasgow.
l The Admiral Jones Well~liked solo show performed by the tireless Jimmy Chisholm about Scottish adventurer John Paul Jones. Citizens’ Theatre. Glasgow.
l Glengarry Glen Ross Mamet’s macho men in hard-dealing competition. Arches Theatre. Glasgow.
I Under Milk Wood A familiar script, but it‘ll be interesting to see how Guy Masterson tackles it single- handedly. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh.
H0 Way Out Wed 9. Fri ll and Sun l3 Feb. 7.30pm. £7.50/£6 (£3/£2.50). Jean- Paul Sanre‘s existential nightmare performed by The Actors Touring Company.
I BRUHTOH THEATRE Musselburgh. 665 2240. [Access: L. ST, R. Facilities: WC. W8. H. G. C. Help: AA]
And a Nightingale Sang Until Sat 5 Feb.
£7/£6 (£5/£4). 7.30pm. Sat 29 Jan ntat.
This grid Includes theatre and dance perionnances at Glasgow and Edinburgh’s main theatres, more iniormation can be iound in the listings above. For events at Community Centres and other venues, see detailed listings elsewhere In this section. For details oi cabaret and music events see appropriate listings. Performances shown in brackets are previews.
Thursday 3 Friday 4 Saturday 5 Sunday 6 Monday 7 Tuesday 8 Wednesday 9 i Thursday 10 Glengarry Glén Ross Glengarry Glen Ross Glengarry Glen Ross - Glengarry Glen Ross Glengarry Glen Ross Gler‘tgany Glen Ros; Glengarry Glen Ross 20d 'quucray 2nd Mrs Tanqueray 2nd Mrs Tanqueray — 2nd Mrs Tanqueray 2nd Mrs Tanqueray 2nd Mrs Tanqueray l 2nd Mrs Tanqueray
- — - — - Admiral Jones Admiral Jones Admiral Jones
- Frankenstein Frankenstein — ,- — - Times Like These WbcnIWasAGiri... WhenlWasAGirl... WhenlWasAGirl... — — — _ I —
.. _ - _ _ _ _ l _
- see Classical see Classical see Classical — Sweet Charity Sweet Charity Sweet Charity
- — - - The Cut The Cut ' — Ll - .- . l see Dance see Dance see Dance - The Maids No Way Out The Maids A_Nightin§e_le . . . And A Nightingale . . . And A Nightingale. . . - - Not About Heroes Not About Heroes Not About Heroes 5-. a .V - ' - - - — — — — i-‘fff'IesMis'erables Les Miserables Les Miserables — Les Miserables Les Miserables tes Miserables Les Miserables Gaslight Gaslight — - _ - (To Kill a Mockingbird) Heartstrings Heartstrings Heartstrings — — Under Milk wood Under Milk Wood
The List 28 January—10 February I994 57