Theatre
generational theatre, music, film and dance performance project that arose out of a piece made for the National Theatre of Scotland’s Five Minute Theatre project in 2011. ■ ROYAL CONSERVATOIRE OF SCOTLAND 100 Renfrew Street, 332 5057. Candid Cabaret Tue 1–Fri 4 May, 7pm. £7 (£5). See Òran Mór, Glasgow. Preview shows. Measure For Measure Wed 2, Fri 4, Tue 8 & Thu 10, 7.30pm; Fri 11 May, 2pm. £9.50 (£6.50). Shakespeare’s drama of sex, despotism and hypocrisy is brought to life by Conservatoire students. The Duchess of Malfi Thu 3, Mon 7, Wed 9 & Fri 11 May, 7.30pm; Thu 10 May, 2pm. £9.50 (£6.50). Conservatoire students perform Webster’s tragedy of desire and power. Modern Ballet Performance Fri 18 & Sat 19 May, 7.30pm. £12.50. The first intake on the Conservatoire’s modern ballet BA programme reach graduation, and appear on stage alongside their counterparts in years 1 and 2, performing choreography by Peter Darrell, Krzysztof Pastor and Stephen Petronio. RCS: The Threepenny Opera Tue 22–Sat 26 May, 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm). £10.50 (£7.50). RCS students bring to life Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s wonderfully acidic love letter to show business.
■ SECC Finnieston Quay, 0844 395 4000. Dancing on Ice Fri 4 May, 7.30pm; Sat 5 & Mon 7 May, 2.30pm & 7.30pm; Sun 6 May, 1.30pm & 6.30pm. £42.50–£57.50. The hit ITV show goes live.
■ THEATRE ROYAL 282 Hope Street, 0844 871 7647. Cirque Du Ciel ShangHi Mon 14–Wed 16 May, 7.30pm. £12.50–£27. Directed by Cirque Du Soleil’s Guy Caron, this combination of acrobatics, dance, music, martial arts and more is here on its first visit to the UK. Scottish Dance Theatre Fri 18 & Sat 19 May, 7.30pm. £10.50–£25. A triple bill from Scottish Dance Theatre featuring Lay Me Down Safe by Kate Weare, Drift by James Wilton and Pavlova’s Dogs by Rachel Lopez de la Nieta, a piece which brings together dance and quantum physics.
■ TRAMWAY 25 Albert Drive, 0845 330 3501. ✽✽ Trisha Brown Dance Company Sat 12 May, 7.30pm; Sun 13 May, 2.30pm. Sat: £18 (£14); Sun: £16 (£12). Work by a choreographer who was at the centre of the New York contemporary dance scene of the 1960s. Sunday performance is followed by a programme of documentary footage of Brown’s performances, which is free to ticket holders. See preview, page 110.
Queen? Until Sat 28 Apr, 7.30pm ■ TRON THEATRE 63 Trongate, 552 4267. ✽✽ Lady M: His Fiend-Like (Sat mat 2.30pm). £7–£15. A work directed and adapted from Macbeth by Mary McLuskey and produced by McLuskey and Kenny Miller’s Theatre Jezebel company, exploring the relationship between the Scottish play’s notorious power couple. See preview, page 112. ✽✽ FREE National Theatre of Theatre Tue 1 May, 6pm–midnight. A worldwide day of five-minute pieces of theatre organised by the National Theatre of Scotland. Venues around the country broadcast efforts selected from an open submission on the timely theme of protest. Entries have come from all corners of Scotland, but also as far afield as Malibu, Milan and Beijing. Audiences can watch along online from anywhere,
Scotland: Five Minute
114 THE LIST 26 Apr–24 May 2012
N A W N E K - A G Y M M O T
Arab spring, riots in England and the Occupy movement. Part of Mayfesto. Springtime Sat 19 May, 7pm. £2.50. A performance, via Skype, of new work made via cross-border collaboration between young people in Scotland and the Middle East, exploring the similarities and differences between their lives. Facilitated by Ankur Productions. Part of Mayfesto. An Evening with Rosie Kane and the Miss Smith Singers Sat 19 May, 8pm. £10 (£7). An evening with former Scottish Socialist Party MSP Rosie Kane, as she tells the story of her life with wit and wisdom, accompanied by songs from the Miss Smith Singers. Part of Mayfesto. Night and Day Tue 22–Sat 26 May, 8.30pm. £10 (£7). A two-act cabaret from Linden Tree, starring Ian Bustard and exploring the light and dark of Cole Porter’s songwriting ouevre. EDINBURGH
Swashbuckler Thu 3 & Fri 4 ■ BRUNTON THEATRE Ladywell Way, Musselburgh, 665 2240. ✽✽ Kidnapped: A Scottish May, 7.30pm. £11.25 (£9.25; under 18s £6). Cumbernauld Theatre presents a new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale of adventure and intrigue on the high seas. See preview, left. Anything Goes Wed 16–Sat 19 May, 7.30pm. £9–£10 (£8–£8.50). Cole Porter’s musical about travellers aboard the SS American, performed by Encore. Alpha Dance Academy Mon 21–Sat 26 May, 7.30pm. £10.50 (£8.50). Annual showcase of dance, including ballet, tap and jazz.
■ THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE 18-22 Greenside Place, 0844 871 3014. Chicago Thu 26 Apr, 7.30pm; Fri 27 & Sat 28 Apr, 5pm & 8.30pm. £20.50–£39. Raunchy cell block musical. Cirque Du Ciel ShangHi Tue 8 & Wed 9 May, 7.30pm. £12.25–£29.50. See Theatre Royal, Glasgow.
■ EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE 13–29 Nicolson Street, 529 6000. Calendar Girls Until Sat 28 Apr 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm). £11.50–£29.50. The show about the Women’s Institute fundraisers who stripped for a nude calendar returns for its final tour with a cast led by Lynda Bellingham, Camilla Dallerup and Jan Harvey. Iolanthe Tue 1–Sat 5 May, 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm). £14–£19. Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic opera about a bunch of fairies undermining the House of Lords. Presented by the Edinburgh Gilbert and Sullivan Society. ✽✽ Anne Boleyn Tue 8–Sat 12 May, 7.30pm (Wed & Sat mat 2.30pm). £16.50–£29.50. Howard Brenton’s celebration of the life of Anne Boleyn imagines her as witty, confident and conspiratorial in this humorous play, accompanied by chamber music, originally performed at Shakespeare’s Globe. See preview, page 116. Danza Contemporanea de Cuba Tue 15 & Wed 16 May, 7.30pm. £12.50–£22.50 (£9.50–£19.50). Featuring the chance to see the Olivier Award-nominated Mambo 3XX1, this programme also includes work by renowned choreographer Itzik Galili. See preview, page 110. ✽✽ Breakin’ Convention 12 Fri 18 (£13.50). This bi-annual celebration of hip hop dance theatre features interactive freestyle sessions, live DJ and demonstrations taking place out in the foyer of the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. See preview, page 110. & Sat 19 May, 7.30pm. £16.50
■ MALMAISON HOTEL EDINBURGH 1 Tower Place Leith, 468 5000.
PREVIEW ADAPTATION KIDNAPPED Cumbernauld Theatre, touring Scotland until Sat 26 May
Robert Louis Stevenson’s swashbuckling tale set in the aftermath of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 is being adapted for the stage by Cumbernauld Theatre this month. The coming-of-age adventure story is a journey through both time and terrain as young protagonist David Balfour tries to make good the wrongdoings of his duplicitous uncle, Ebeneezer. Transposing the cross-country tale from page to stage took a ‘careful blend
of approaches’, according to artistic director Ed Robson.
‘Atop a mountain in Glencoe: the loneliness, the silence, the awe. Trudging in the rain through the Rannoch Moor: the misery, the mud, the never-ending horizon . . . Each place has atmosphere and we use different techniques to try and convey its spirit,’ he says. Rich portrayals of Scottish landscape are complemented by an immersion
into the country at a unique period in its history, allowing analogies to be drawn between the Scotland of the 18th century and the present day. ‘It is a novel about the values and ideas of a nation,’ says Robson. ‘The
political context is key: a turbulent society in the throes of significant change, competing visions about the future of Scotland.’ Although Stevenson’s novel is predominantly (perhaps unfairly) categorised as a children’s book, Robson insists his production is suitable for adults too. ‘A great story is a great story. So our audiences will enjoy not just a terrific
piece of theatre but also, perhaps, see the story in a new light.’ (Kirstyn Smith)
but the event’s live hub is the Tron Theatre in Glasgow’s Victorian Bar; tickets for this part of the event are free but limited – booking recommended. Part of Mayfesto. Snails & Ketchup Tue 1 & Wed 2 May, 7.45pm. £10 (£7). The darkly comic tale of a son who talks to the trees in reaction to his dysfunctional and brutal home environment. Presented by Ramesh Meyyappan in association with Iron-Oxide. Part of Mayfesto. ✽✽ No Time for Art 0+1 Fri 4 & Sat 5 May, 7.30pm. £10 (£7). A series of documentary performances dealing with violence in contemporary Egypt. See feature, page 108. Part of Mayfesto. Chalk Farm Fri 4 May, 8pm. £2.50. Julia Taudevin and Kieran Hurley have written a monologue in response to the English riots of 2011, premiering in a rehearsed reading here. Part of Mayfesto. The Stone Sat 5 May, 8pm. £2.50. Rehearsed reading of a new play by Marius von Mayenburg exploring the echoes of 60 years of German history. Part of Mayfesto. Minute After Midday Wed 9–Sat 12 May, 7.45pm. £10 (£7). A new play, award-nominated in its native Ireland, looking back on the terror and tragedy of the Omagh bombings through a series of monologues. Part of Mayfesto. Scenes Unseen Wed 9 May, 8pm. £2.50. A rehearsed reading of short pieces by well-known playwrights such as Patrick Marber, as well as new writers Stef Smith, Julie Tsang and Andrew Stott. Part of Mayfesto. To a God Unknown Thu 10 May, 8pm. £2.50. Alison Peebles and Marcus Roche present a new version of John Steinbeck’s tale of faith, ownership and survival. Part of Mayfesto. Confab: Going Back Home Fri 11 May, 8pm. £2.50. A rehearsed reading of new work exploring the US civil rights movement of the 1960s, as seen through the complex relationship between singer Nina Simone and playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Part of Mayfesto. Flâneurs Sat 12 May, 8pm. £2.50. A work in progress by Jenna Watt exploring violence in public places. Part of Mayfesto. Fight Night Tue 15–Thu 17 May, 7.45pm. £10 (£7). Single-hander telling and engaging and physical story of a comeback in the tough world of boxing. Presented by Rise Productions. Part of Mayfesto. Ankur Debates . . . Fri 18 May, 7.30pm. £2.50. Innovative production company Ankur invites speakers and performers to respond, in their art form of choice, to the question ‘What sort of revolution do you want in Glasgow?’, while bearing in mind the events of the