- V Glasgow Hard Tickets isml'iuddy’s first
full-length play which is ‘very, very GI H '0059'1. hanging by a thread, based on T' k9“
a true story.’ It concerns three women
conditioned to accept their lot in life.
There’s domesticated Margrit whose
life revolves round ‘ma hoose, ma
_ husband and ma gadgets’; there’s tarty ' Cheree (played by Buddy) with her nose permanently stuck in a copy of More magazine, and completing the trio is Kelly, who devises a scam courtesy of the Perfect Homes Exhibition which results in a windfall
and a potential ticket to ride for the women.
Ruddy quite readily identifies a kinship with the Shirley Valentine escape from drudgery. ‘You might be destined to be a housewife and live in a single-end in Govan for the rest of your life, but then again . . .’
As well as being Buddy’s first play, it marks the first production for Rubber Ear Productions, 3 company of ‘sassy,
. chunky wenches' which derives its name from the Iess-than-forthcoming
: attitude of potential sponsors. However, sponsorship did come readily from one appropriate source.
‘We’ve been sponsored by More
j magazine!’ says Buddy. ‘I wrote to them and said one of our characters is
. constantly reading More and is always quoting from it and they said “Oh
thank you very much; here’s £500”! (Fiona Shepherd) Glasgow Hard Tickets (Fringe), Rubber Ear Productions, The Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2151, 1.15pm, £5. 50(£4.50).
Rubber Ear Productions: ‘sassy, chunky
wenches‘ Being female, Glaswegian and a sometime comedian, actress Kathleen Ruddy has had the bright idea of setting up a theatre company specifically to produce comedies doused in Glaswegian humour with a bias towards female characters. So that solves her employment situation then.
‘There’s so little work about for Scottish comedy actresses,’ she bemoans. ‘If there’s anything written, it goes to Elaine C Smith or Dorothy Paul and there’s so many talented people out there, so I wrote for myself.’
sipping gin and tonics in the safety of : the Foreign Correspondents Club in f Hong Kong. ‘I wrote it about four , months after the event. You don’t i necessarily analyse it at the time but : when something horrific happens it can take months for the effects to 2 surface in the people that were there.’ Although the play is seen through the eyes of outsiders, Vonnie hopes to parallel the immense sense of deflation felt by the journalists with v the powerlessness of the Hong Kong people. The play is entirely character-driven ' with projected images to jolt the audience’s memory. Boston’s disgust g with the half-hearted response from J g the rest of the world, the hypocrisy of i the super powers and the double talk j by the Chinese government still - ° ‘ .«s t rankles. ‘A million people marched in Asia Pacific Productions: ‘rocked the boat’ Hong Kong in support of the students, Set against the backdrop of the t after the massacre the same people Tiananmen Square massacre, this 7 couldn’t be found. it was a V9" work from New Zealand playwright Vonnie Boston draws upon her sixteen years as a journalist in Hong Kong to re-create the atmosphere and after effects of the massacre seen from the i govemmeflt W35 Spieadiflg point of view of a group of ex-pat disinformation in China, saying no one journalists. ‘In Hong Kong the younger ' had been killed, and we were sending generation were optimistic about
faxes all over the country saying the China taking over. After the massacre opposite.’ (Gill Both) their hopes were crushed.’ Bloody Sunday 0r That Wine Is lied It’s the corrosive effects of (Fringe) AsiaPacific Productions, disillusionment that the play attempts Randolph Studio (Venue 55) 225 5366, to pin-point through the meandering
15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 26 Aug, 1pm, £4.50 conversation of three journalists, (£3.50).
i sanctions that never materialised and empty mouthings of anger but nobody really rocked the boat. The Chinese
frustrating time. There were threats of
FESTIVAL 1PM/3PM
always. nothing is what it seems arid Chris Scott's
Thompson. ‘The similarities are such that
for an audience they could version ofthe ancient folk [Clld It) blur. so hit” the (“IQ nu cxccpfimy futi was trying to make ‘.\CCOI‘dil)u (0 Nigel
them different.‘
The Bloody Ht'ttrl outlines the struggle between Stewart and Douglas. something Thompson sees as weakening the Scots monarchy. ‘Although politically l'm not a Scottish Nationalist. this play has a strong nationalist strain. 1 mean. we‘re the only country in liurope where our history isn't taught in schools.’ (Neil Cooper)
l The Bloody Heart (Fringe) ()ur Theatre Co, The Cafe Royal (Venue 47) 556 2549. I4 Aug—2 Sept. 2.45pm. £5 (£4).
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
‘What big eyes and ears you have. Grandma.‘
‘All the better for tapping into the current :t'ilgeirl. observing society's trends. listening to the minutiae of people's hopes and fears before transforming the results into a kicking and contemporary update of a classical fairy tale but with a twist. my dear.‘ As
Cliff. producer of the show, Scott's original idea was that ‘if you take the original tale it's actually got a very dark side to it. If you use that as a symbol of the way people act differently on the surface yet have all these hidden desires and thoughts then it works quite well.‘ Taking this to be the case. then the play‘s heroine harbours some very dark thoughts indeed — look out for sexual repression. castration and mass murder. Not at bedtime story. (Jonathan Trew)
Bloody-hearted: Jack Shedden The Scots language and plays in that idiom are put under the critical microscope more than most. Last year. at least one hack’s Anglocentric feathers were ruffled when playwright John Cargill Thompson had Robert Louis Stevenson speak in his native tongue as opposed to standard English.
This year. among a record-breaking eleven plays. Thompson presents two which deal in turn with James' ll and Ill. kings alike in attitude and background. Matters are complicated further by veteran actor Jack Sheddon playing both men only an hour apart. ‘For an actor it's a mountain.‘ says
I Little lied Riding Hood (Fringe) Hatbos Theatre Company. Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2l5l. 11—23 Aug. lptn. £6 (£5).
St. Mark’s Unitarian Church Venue 125
August 14m-19m at 10.30pm
August 17th-19m at 1.30pm
‘V Esr. 18-10
Experience a Feast of Festival Treats at Bewley’s!
Breakfast served all day 0 Full Lunch Menu Breads 8: Confectionery from our on—site Bakery Finest Teas & Coffees.
Normal Opening Hours Monday — Wednesday 8am- 7pm 0 Thursday — Saturday 8am-8pm Sunday 8.30am - 6.30pm Located just off Princes Street, 4 South Charlotte Street, Edinburgh | l __ -_-___.__J
The list 11-17 Aug l095 31