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 Laura Ennor. ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
GLASGOW
■ EASTWOOD PARK THEATRE Eastwood Park, Rouken Glen Road, Giffnock, 577 4970. Wonderland Thu 13 Jan–Sat 15 Jan, 10.30am & 1.30pm. £4. See Kids. Ages 3–6. West Side Story Tue 18 Jan–Fri 21 Jan, 7.30pm; Sat 22 Jan, 2.30pm & 7.30pm. £12.50 (£9.50). A new vibrant production of the Bernstein-Sondheim musical based on Romeo and Juliet.
■ KING’S THEATRE 297 Bath Street, 0844 871 7648. ✽✽ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ●●●●● Thu 6 Jan–Sat 8 Jan, 2pm & 7pm. Sun 9 Jan, 1pm & 5pm. £6–£27.50. Even after the death of panto hero Gerard Kelly earlier this year there’s no stopping the glittery, family- oriented festive fun at the King’s. Thomas and Friends Fri 14 Jan, 4.30pm & 6.30pm; Sat 15 Jan, 11am, 2pm & 5pm. £15.75–£17.50 (£13.25–£15.25). See preview in Kids section. ✽✽ We Will Rock You ●●●●● Until Sat 19 Feb (not Sun). 7.30pm (Wed & Sat mat 2.30pm). £21.75–£46.75. A run through all your Queen favourites in this musical penned by Ben Elton and members of Queen. ■ PAVILION THEATRE 121 Renfield Street, 332 1846. The Magical Adventures of Robin Hood Until Sat 22 Jan (not Mon). Tue–Sat 7.30pm (Wed mat 1.30pm; Sat mat 2pm); Sun 2pm. £15.50–£19.50.
Thigh-slapping fun with Jim Davidson as Robin Hood (which means you can’t boo him) and everyone’s favourite decorators, Colin and Justin.
■ SECC Finnieston Quay, 0844 395 4000. Aladdin ●●●●● Thu 6 & Fri 7 Jan, 7pm; Sat 8 & Sun 9 Jan, 2pm & 7pm. £14–£27.50. The all-singing, all- flouncing John Barrowman and his mysterious Scots-American accent take centre stage in this big budget panto.
■ TRON THEATRE 63 Trongate, 552 4267. Flo White ●●●●● Thu 6 & Fri 7 Jan, 7.30pm; Sat 8 Jan, 2.30pm & 7.30pm. £7.50–£16.50 (family ticket £36). An intergalactic new alternative panto by Gordon Dougall and Fletcher Mathers (Ya Beauty and the Beast and Mother Bruce) and the Tron Theatre Company.
✽✽ The Ushers Tue 18 Jan–Sat 22 Jan, 8pm. £9 (£7). See preview.
EDINBURGH
■ BRUNTON THEATRE Ladywell Way, Musselburgh, 665 2240. MAMA Revue 2011 Thu 13 & Fri 14 Jan, 7.30pm; Sat 15 Jan, 2pm & 7.30pm. £9 (£8). Musselburgh Amateur Musical Association present their 60th anniversary show, a look at songs from the shows down through the decades.
■ KING’S THEATRE 2 Leven Street, 529 6000.
✽✽ Jack and the Beanstalk ●●●●● Until Sun 23 Jan (not
Mon). Tue–Sat 7pm (Tue, Wed & Sat mat 2pm); Sun 1pm & 5pm. £11.50–£23.50 (£8.50–£20.50). The King’s annual festive theatre extravaganza returns, on form as ever, with the regular panto dream team firmly in place: Allan Stewart as Dame McTrot,
Andy Gray as the King and Grant Stott as the dastardly Fleshcreep.
■ EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE 13–29 Nicolson Street, 529 6000.
✽✽ The Secret Garden ●●●●● Thu 6 Jan–Sat 8 Jan, 2.30pm &
7.30pm. £8–£33 (£5–£30). Musical adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic novel.
✽✽ Scottish Ballet: Cinderella Wed 12 Jan & Fri 14 Jan, 7.30pm;
Thu 13 Jan & Sat 15 Jan, 2pm & 7.30pm. £11.50–£36.50. Scottish Ballet’s festive production directed by Ashley Page, set to the score of Prokofiev.
■ NATIONAL GALLERY OF SCOTLAND The Mound, 624 6200. FREE Behold the Light of Nature: Ruskin on Turner, Edinburgh, 1853 Wed 12 Jan, 12.45–1.30pm. Actor and art historian Paul O’Keeffe recreates John Ruskin’s moving account of the life and work of JMW Turner in this performed reading.
■ PLAYHOUSE 18–22 Greenside Place, 0844 847 1660. Hairspray Thu 6 & Fri 7 Jan, 7.30pm; Sat 8 Jan, 2.30pm & 7.30pm; Sun 9 Jan 2.30pm. £18.50–£43.50. Michael Ball
New Play
pulls off the turn of a lifetime in about a ton’s worth of prosthetics in this feel- good musical romp through the changing values of the 1960s. Swan Lake on Ice Tue 18–Sat 22 Jan, 7.30pm (Wed & Sat mat 2.30pm). £12.50–£32.50. The Imperial Ice Stars’ performance of Tchaikovsky’s ballet promises to be by turns beautiful and jaw-dropping.
■ ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE Grindlay Street, 248 4848.
✽✽ A View From the Bridge Fri 14 Jan–Sat 12 Feb (not Sun/Mon),
7.45pm (Wed 19 & 26 Jan, 2 Feb & Sat 22 & 29 Jan, 5 Feb mat 2.30pm) £11–£28 (£5–£26). See preview, page 77. BSL performance Wed 2 Feb 7.45pm. Captioned performance Sat 5 Feb 2.30pm.
OUTSIDE THE CITIES
■ DUNDEE REP Tay Square, Dundee, 01382 223530.
✽✽ Sleeping Beauty ●●●●● Thu 6 & Fri 7 Jan, 7.30pm; Sat 8 Jan,
2.30pm & 7.30pm. £9–£16.50 (£6–£12). Dundee Rep’s take on the timeless fairy tale featuring a beautiful princess, a handsome prince and a sleeping spell. Breakin’ Rules Fri 14 & Sat 15 Jan, 7.30pm. £8 (£5). An evening of head- spinning action from some of the UK’s
THE USHERS Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 18–Sat 22 Jan
The phrase ‘period drama’ is more likely to bring to mind a play set in Regency England or 18th century Paris than Paisley in the 1990s. Yet, Simon Crowther’s new comedy The Ushers, which follows a group of young characters as they deal with leaving home and falling in love in the long summer of 1996, was conceived as an attempt to capture the essence of the decade of Britpop, New Labour and the internet. ‘I lived in Sheffield in the 1990s. It was an exciting place to be, things
were happening,’ says Crowther. ‘But what got the play started was remembering a funny story my friend told me years ago, about something he’d said to a girl. Not even a story really, just a very brief exchange. It seemed to sum up how we were at that age. Initially I avoided setting the play in the 90s – I feared it was too recent. Then I bit the bullet. The 90s was our 60s, or 70s, and I wanted to capture its flavour.’ The play is set in 1996, a year the playwright remembers fondly. ‘The European Championships were in town, everyone was full of hope,’ he says. ‘But prior to that summer, I remember being at a big house party on the night Bruno fought Mike Tyson for the second time. Something terrible had happened a few days before. I set the play quite specifically on the Friday night between those two events.’
The production is directed by Raindog’s Stuart Davids, who previously
helmed some episodes of Coronation Street Crowther had written. ‘Unlike me, Stuart is a doer. He got four of the younger Corrie cast
members to do a read-through of The Ushers, just to hear it come alive. Then he took it to the Tron. Stuart’s very good with comedy, but I also knew he could bring out the darker layers, the pathos and the doom that underpin the play.’ (Allan Radcliffe)
78 THE LIST 6–20 Jan 2011