Theatre
PREVIEW NEW PLAY PANDAS Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 19 Apr–Sat 7 May
Just a few weeks after Rona Munro’s Pandas was revealed as part of the Traverse’s spring/summer season, Edinburgh Zoo announced it would soon be home to the first pair of giant pandas to live in the UK for 17 years. The timing may have been coincidental but links to China are not, as the Edinburgh-set play focuses on a Chinese-Scottish man who imports rugs with images of pandas on them to the capital. But, according to director Rebecca Gatward, who has
previously worked with Munro at the RSC, the panda motif is more than mercantile. ‘Pandas are incredibly shy and very difficult to breed because they wait a long time before they choose their mate,’ she says. ‘Rona’s central point is that individuals are quite shy about making commitments to people too, and really knowing when they’ve found their mate in the modern world.’ Set in springtime Edinburgh, Pandas explores the links
between the city and China through three couples. For the director, this seasonal setting – primarily represented by the cherry blossom on the Meadows – is very important: ‘It’s to do with waking up after a hibernation, when all our senses are waking up as well. It’s about that kind of awakening to how you really feel and what you really want to do.’
And while there are obvious political links, the experience of seeing Pandas is primarily about having a great time at the theatre. ‘It’s so upbeat, it will be a really good night out,’ Gatward says. ‘Sometimes you go to the cinema to see a date movie – maybe this is a date play. We quite often go to the theatre to see stuff which is trying to educate us or lecture, but this is a really wonderful romantic comedy.’ (Yasmin Sulaiman)
G R U B N E D A L K C A J
PREVIEW ADAPTATION SIX BLACK CANDLES Cottiers Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 6 Apr–Thu 14 Apr. For full tour schedule see www.goldfishtheatre.co.uk
‘I see myself as the Bruce Springsteen of Scottish writers,’ says Des Dillon with a smile. ‘I write about a certain class of people – white trash, basically – and I write about them in simple language, using hardly any words to create powerful images. This doesn’t come from the fact that I studied literature at university, it comes from the Scots-Irish storytelling culture I’m part of.’ Only recently has the Coatbridge-based
quinquagenarian begun to merge real critical respect with tangible commercial success for his best- known play, Singin’ I’m No’ a Billy, He’s a Tim. Now his own company, Goldfish, is reviving Six Black Candles under the direction of John Binnie.
The play, which received its original Scottish staging at Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum in 2004, is a revenge story about six sisters who gang up to take revenge on one of their husbands. It’s also, says Dillon, a play for hen nights. ‘Men get it in the neck, and women leave with big smiles on their faces,’ he says. ‘A translation of it by the son of an oligarch is in rep for the foreseeable future in Kiev, but I’d like to take it to the West End ultimately. Why not?’ (David Pollock)
112 THE LIST 31 Mar–28 Apr 2011
PREVIEW CIRCUS CHOUF OUCHOUF Macrobert Theatre, Stirling, Sat 16 & Sun 17 Apr PREVIEW REVIVAL DANCING AT LUGHNASA Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 19–Sat 23 Apr
The Groupe acrobatique de Tanger is bringing a slice of Morocco to Stirling this month – perfect for those who need to be reminded of life beyond wellies and overcoats. Brought to the stage by creative organisation Crying Out Loud, Chouf Ouchouf promises to be visually spectacular.
‘It’s incredibly vibrant in its colour and all the
different layers it presents on stage – combining acrobatics and music and an extraordinary hybrid of movement, dance and circus,’ says creative producer Rachel Clare. While there is no story to follow, each acrobat has
his or her own individual character which the ensemble brings together to recreate the bustling life of Tangier’s Medina quarter. The company, which has been practising on the beaches of Tangier for seven generations, is working in collaboration with Swiss artists Martin Zimmermann and Dimitri de Perrot in a fusion of traditional and contemporary technique and design. Aimed at anyone from seven years up, the show has a wide appeal thanks to its theatricality and eye-catching sets.
‘You’ve got to go along and expect the unexpected,’ says Clare. ‘It will definitely open your eyes to a new type of theatre.’ (Amy Russell)
When the Original Theatre Company’s version of Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa arrives at the Citz, it will mark the 21st anniversary of the play’s very first performance, which took place at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1990. ‘We hope that’s it’s going to really speak to people
in Glasgow,’ says director Alastair Whatley. ‘I suppose it’s something in your bones, that Celtic feeling. The play speaks to people in a much stronger sense if you do have that connection.’
Set in rural Donegal in 1936, Dancing at Lughnasa focuses on the lives of five unmarried sisters as remembered by their grown-up nephew Michael, who is seven years old at the time of the play’s action. ‘They’re based on Friel’s own aunts,’ Whatley says, ‘so it’s tinged with a real poignancy.’
He adds: ‘It’s a memory play and it raises all sorts of fascinating questions about what a memory is, how truthful they can be and how important they are at shaping our lives.’
Ultimately, it’s the play’s emotional power that has
made it such a popular hit. ‘The sisters don’t give into their difficult situation,’ he says. ‘They laugh and get by and I think people resonate with that – and increasingly so.’ (Yasmin Sulaiman)
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