Theatre
Events are listed by city, then alphabetically by venue. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication to theatre@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Suzanne Black. ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
Glasgow ■ THE ARCHES 253 Argyle Street, 565 1000. Lynda Radley: BIRDS and Other Things I am Afraid of Until Sun 21 Feb. 7pm & 9pm (Sun mat 2pm). £9 (£6). Directed by Sandy Thomson and with original music from Michael John McCarthy (Zoey Van Goey), Lynda Radley hunkers down in a garden shed for an intimate performance about shedding family mythology. Meet at Kelvinbridge tube top entrance 15 mins beforehand. A La Carte Thu 25–Sat 27 Feb. 7.30pm; 5pm & 8pm. £10 (£8). A dinner party ‘with a difference’ at a secret location somewhere in the Pollokshields
area. Part of the Arches off-site programme.
■ CCA 350 Sauchiehall Street, 352 4900.
✽✽ Fleur Elise Noble: 2- Dimensional Life of Her Tue 2 & Wed 3 Mar. 7pm & 8.30pm. £9 (£6). Fleur Elise Noble creates a visual-based theatre experience using drawing, animation, puppetry, projection, paper and the audience to make a real time artwork. Part of New Territories 2010.
■ CITIZENS THEATRE 119 Gorbals Street, 429 0022.
✽✽ Backbeat Until Sat 6 Mar (not Sun). 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm). £9.50–£17 (Mondays £7). Iain Softley re-imagines for the stage his 1994 film about John Lennon, German photographer Astrid Kirchherr and ‘fifth Beatle’ Stuart Sutcliffe. A world premiere by the Citizens Company. See review, page 84. Neil Labute Triple Bill Until Sat 20 Feb. 7.30pm. £12 (Tuesdays £7). A triple-header of works from the adroit pen of Neil Labute, comprising The
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REVIEW ADAPTATION BACKBEAT Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 6 Mar ●●●●●
Iain Softley’s 1994 film Backbeat charted the pre-stardom career of The Beatles, focusing on the relationship between John Lennon, his best friend and fellow art student Stuart Sutcliffe, who succumbed to a brain tumour aged 22, and Sutcliffe’s lover, the Hamburg photographer Astrid Kirchherr. The classic fusion of sex, tragedy and rock’n’roll is sufficiently appealing to warrant a stage adaptation, but in Softley’s own production for the Citz, the central love triangle spectacularly fails to excite.
Part of the problem stems from the uneven adaptation. We are told repeatedly, through needless expositional monologues delivered by peripheral characters, of Sutcliffe’s magnetic appeal, artistry, studied cool and exceptional talent as a painter, but none of this particularly comes across, either in the writing, or in Alex Robertson’s rather listless performance. Isabella Calthorpe as Astrid suffers from an underwritten role that too often leaves her spouting corny platitudes in a robotic German accent.
It’s left to a compelling performance from Andrew Knott (who also benefits from the sharpest lines in the script) as the pugnacious, driven Lennon, while the extended musical sequences set in Liverpool’s Cavern and in the Hamburg clubs, go some way towards communicating the band’s raw energy and the excitement of the times. (Allan Radcliffe)
84 THE LIST 18 Feb–4 Mar 2010
Furies, Helter Skelter and Land of the Dead. The Lieutenant of Inishmore Tue 23–Sat 27 Feb. 7.30pm (Wed & Sat mat 2.30pm). £7–£10. Martin McDonagh’s provocative black comedy set in the West of Ireland. Mary, Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off Tue 2 & Wed 3 Mar. 7.30pm (Wed mat 2.30pm). £8 (£6). Reid Kerr College HND Acting & Performance Students present Liz Lochhead’s depiction of a contemporary, gutsy and poetic voice of Mary, Queen of Scots. My Name is Rachel Corrie Tue 2–Sat 20 Mar. 7.30pm. £12 (Tuesdays £7; previews £4). Hard-hitting dramatisation of the American teenager who died under an Israeli bulldozer. The one-woman play is brought to the stage by the Citizens Company.
■ DEAF CONNECTIONS 100 Norfolk Street. Deacon Fri 19 Feb. 7pm. Free to cochlear implant/hearing aid users. A musical about 18th century Scottish cabinet-maker William Brodie by Zack A Moir designed to work with cochlear implants. Tickets from harles@medel.co.uk ■ EASTWOOD PARK THEATRE Eastwood Park, Rouken Glen Road, Giffnock, 577 4970. Rhinoceros Thu 18 Feb. 7.30pm. £3. Eugene Ionesco’s absurdist comedy about a town overrun by rhinos. Presented by East Renfrewshire Youth Theatre. Hamlet Sat 20 Feb. 7.30pm. £10 (£8; student £5). A new production of perhaps the most famous tragedy in the world, given a new setting in the contemporary Glasgow underworld, bringing the big questions about truths and lies, life and death and family and future into a modern context. Guys and Dolls Mon 22–Sat 27 Feb. 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm). £10–£15. Eros presents the popular musical about the unlikely relationship between a Salvation Army girl and crapshooter, Nathan Detroit.
■ GILMOREHILL G12 29 University Avenue, University of Glasgow, 330 5522. The Gilding Room Wed 24–Sat 27 Feb. 7.30pm. £6 (£4). Single-person performance responding to the music video by Play at Home.
■ THE GLASGOW ART CLUB 185 Bath Street, 248 5210. Glas(s) Performance: Life Long Thu 18–Sat 20 Feb. 7.30pm. £12 (£10). An exploration into monogamy and longevity inspired by Tillie and Ronnie Jeffrey who have been married for 52 years.
■ GOVAN CROSS SHOPPING CENTRE 795 Govan Road, 565 1000. Allotment Fri 19 Feb. 8–11.45pm. £5 (£2). Part of a series of one-off events by the National Theatre of Scotland, Allotment is a night where live performance, new art and music fuse unconventionally and take root in a deserted shop. Created by professional artists and local community groups. ■ KING’S THEATRE 297 Bath Street, 0844 871 7648. Dancing in the Streets Until Sat 20 Feb. 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm). £12–£25.50. Enjoy a night of Motown’s greatest hits at this spectacular celebration of songs from the most prolific hit-factory ever. Fiddler on the Roof Tue 23–Sat 27 Feb. 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm). The Orpheus Club presents the popular musical that contains such tunes as ‘If I Were a Rich Man’ and ‘Sunrise, Sunset’. Hormonal Housewives Mon 1–Sat 6 Mar. 7.30pm; Fri & Sat 5.30pm &
8.30pm. Carol Smillie stars in an evening all about women and the high drama that is attributed to their hormones. ■ ORAN MOR 731–735 Great Western Road, 357 6200. Ticket price includes a pie and drink. Doors 12.30pm on Monday, noon the rest of the week. A Play, a Pie & a Pint: Company Policy Until Sat 20 Feb. 1pm. £8–£12.50. Comedy set in a unisex toilet written by Daniel Jackson. A Play, a Pie & a Pint: Heaven Mon 22–Sat 27 Feb. 1pm. £8–£12.50. Lunchtime drama written by Simon Stephen. A Play, a Pie & a Pint: The Shattered Head Mon 1–Sat 6 Mar. 1pm. £8–£12.50. Eduardo Paolozzi’s life, artworks and death are covered in this play by Graham Eatough and Maggie Rose.
■ PAISLEY ARTS CENTRE New Street, 887 1010.
✽✽ Promises Promises ●●●●● Tue 23 Feb. 7.30pm. £10 (£6). Douglas Maxwell’s tense classroom drama about an alcoholic supply teacher and a six-year-old pupil believed to be possessed. See review, page 82. Flhip Flhop Thu 25 Feb. 7.30pm. £10 (£6). Two bored decorators while away the time with hip hop dance and music in this hilarious show which attracted five star reviews at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Highly recommended. Oscar and the Quest for the Underground Princess Sat 27 Feb. See Kids listings.
■ PAISLEY TOWN HALL Abbey Close, 887 1010. Only an Excuse? Thu 25 Feb. 7.30pm. £12 (£10). The Only an Excuse? boys take a free kick at the good, the bad and the ugly in Scottish football, bursting some egos with their sharply pointed humour. ■ PAVILION THEATRE 121 Renfield Street, 332 1846. Peter Powers Until Sat 27 Feb. Fri/Sat 7.30pm (also Sat midnight). £10–£13. Hypnotist act from Powers, who has been called ‘the Ali G of stage hypnosis’. Please note the Friday show is a ‘Family Fun Night’ and the midnight Saturday show is over 21s only. An Evening With Larry Lamb Thu 18 Feb. 7.30pm. £17.50. Stories and entertainment from the Eastenders actor.
■ PLATFORM The Bridge, 1000 Westerhouse Road, Easterhouse, 276 9696. Keep Smiling Through Thu 18 Feb. 7.30pm. £8 (£3.50–£4.50). A look at life on the Home Front during WWII. One Up, One Down Wed 24 Feb. 7.30pm. £8 (£3.50–£4.50). An original blend of dance theatre, poetry and song depicting the trials of women under pressure in our high-speed consumer culture. A collaboration by Quee Macarthur of Shooglenifty fame, Zimbabwean poet Tawona Sitholé and three dance artists. ■ RAMSHORN THEATRE 98 Ingram Street, 548 2558. The Ladybirds and Rites Until Sat 20 Feb. 7.30pm. £9 (£6). Two plays that foreground the female experience. New Writing Festival Tue 23–Fri 26 Feb. 7.30pm. £7; festival pass £19 (£5; festival pass £17). Student Theatre at Glasgow presents four works showcasing new talents, one of which will be selected to represent STaG at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Ladies Day Wed 3–Sat 6 Mar. 7.30pm. £9 (£6.50). Stowaways (Students of Performance at Stow College) presents Amanda Whittington’s play about four Yorkshire fish-factory lasses who find tickets to Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot, and get to mix it with the high and mighty.