Theatre
Edinburgh-based playwright Lindsay Miller and performed by Siege Perilous. West End Festival
■ OUT OF THE BLUE DRILL HALL 30–36 Dalmeny Street, Leith, 555 7101. The Retreat Thu 14–Sat 16 Jun, 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm). £5. A play about a reunion from ACTive INquiry’s Flashback Drama group. Part of Leith Festival. ■ THE PARLOUR BAR 142 Duke Street, 555 3848. FREE A Bit of Cairo on Duke Street: Leith Bellydance Hafla Tue 12 Jun, 8pm. A demonstration of bellydancing in a friendly atmosphere. Part of Leith Festival.
■ THE PLEASANCE THEATRE 60 Pleasance, 650 4673. The Idiot at the Wall Thu 31 May & Fri 1 Jun & Thu 7–Sat 9 Jun, 7.30pm. £10 (£8). Premiere of a new play by Elspeth Turner, performed as the inaugural show from new theatre company FirstBicycle. Modern meets traditional and Gaelic meets English in this tale of myth and reality set on a Hebridean island during World War I.
■ PUNJAB’N DE RASOI 122–124 Leith Walk, 07865 895022. The Roots Sat 9 Jun, 7pm. £15. A new play from the World Spirit Forum Theatre group, which is made up of people with experience of seeking asylum, on the theme of culture shock. A meal is included in the ticket price. Part of Leith Festival.
■ ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE Grindlay Street, 248 4848. Edinburgh Grand Opera: Carmen Thu 24–Sat 26 May, 7.15pm. £10–£28. Edinburgh Grand Opera brings the heat and passion of the Seville bullring to Scotland with a new production of Georges Bizet’s classic. Victim Sidekick Boyfriend Me Fri 15 Jun, 7.30pm. £15 (£6–£11). The Lyceum Youth Theatre presents a dark drama by Hilary Bell about guilt, retribution and redemption.
■ SCOTTISH STORYTELLING CENTRE 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. A Most Curious Detour Sat 2 Jun, 7.30pm. £10 (£8). One-man play adapted by Alistair Rutherford from Stuart Hepburn’s book about his experiences before, during and after a stroke which left him with ‘locked-in syndrome’. The Cocktail Party Fri 15 & Sat 16 Jun, 7.30pm. £10 (£8). Theatre Alba’s Adult Leisure Group presents a production of TS Eliot’s absurdist drawing-room satire. Love Bites Sun 17 & Mon 18 Jun, 7pm. £7 (£4). The 14–18-year-olds from Strange Town youth theatre present a play set on midsummer night’s eve in Edinburgh. Occupy Meadows Sun 17 & Mon 18 Jun, 9pm. £7 (£4). Teenage drama group Strange Town performs Alan Gordon’s play following a wandering minstrel as he explores the lives and loves of an ill- fated collective of protesters. Ordinary Days Thu 21–Sat 23 Jun, 7.30pm. £12 (£10). New touring musical theatre company Green Room presents a story of four intersecting lives in New York City.
■ SOUTH LEITH PARISH CHURCH 6 Henderson Street Leith The Drawer Boy Fri 8–Mon 11 Jun, 7.30pm. £9 (£7). Leitheatre presents an award-winning Canadian play. Part of Leith Festival.
■ TRAVERSE THEATRE Cambridge Street, 228 1404. ✽✽ A Play, a Pie & a Pint: Until Sat 26 May, 1pm. £12. Two men Sleeping Beauty Insomnia
132 THE LIST 24 May–21 Jun 2012
At first glance, the theatre and dance programme for this year’s West End Festival looks decidedly traditional as the team from A Play, a Pie and a Pint offers up Shaw and Jarry classics while The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet are brought back for the Bard in the Botanics season (see Stage Whispers, page 125). That said, the newly established (and aptly named) West End Theatre Company stage two contemporary plays in association with another theatre company, Treading the Borders. Marrakech focuses on a couple with very different ideas of what they want out of life, while I Can’t Remember Anything explores the splintering relationship between two old friends. The dance strand is topped up with some Flamenco Fusion crossed with a bit of opera. You can go one better with a Scottish Step Dance event, featuring live music and offering the chance to learn some basic, traditional bops; or alternatively relax with Annisland College’s Pulse 12 showcase, displaying some of Scotland’s liveliest choreographers. (Andrew Latimer) ■ Various venues, Glasgow’s West End, Fri 1–Sun 24 Jun. See listings for details. westendfestival.co.uk
shelter in a bombed out theatre in Beirut, with the body of a dead girl as their only companion. Find out how they get on and who gets the girl in this dark comedy by Abdelrahim Alwaj. Ticket price includes a pie and a drink. See review, page 128. Crave Fri 25 & Sat 26 May, 7pm. £10 (£13) or £17 (£13) for both shows in the double bill. The Actors Touring Company presents Sarah Kane’s ground- breaking work in which four actors embody the voices of a mind in torment. The piece was first performed in 1998, at the Traverse. Part of a double bill with Ivan Vyrypaev’s Illusions. Illusions Fri 25 & Sat 26 May, 8pm. £10 (£8) or £17 (£13) for both plays in the double bill. The company behind Ivan and the Dogs, Actors Touring Company, presents the UK and English- language debut of Russian playwright Ivan Vyrypaev’s work. Illusions is an ironic comedy about love and death, truth and fiction. Part of a double bill with Sarah Kane’s Crave (7pm). A Play, a Pie & a Pint: One Day in Spring Tue 29 May–Sat 2 Jun, 1pm. £12. See Òran Mór, Glasgow. A Play, a Pie & a Pint: Hadda and Hassan Lekliches! Tue 5–Sat 9 Jun, 1pm. £12. A woman who has experienced the dark side of life in rural Morocco addresses a politicised and emotional monologue to God in this new lunchtime play by Jaouad Assounani. Ticket price includes a pie and a drink. The Chairs Thu 7–Sat 9 Jun, 7.30pm. £13–£17. See Tron Theatre, Glasgow. OUTSIDE THE CITIES
■ ABBEY HOUSE Kirk Street, Culross The Barber of Seville Sun 3 Jun, 4pm. £25. Opera Project presents Rossini’s comic opera, sung in English, accompanied by the company’s own orchestra and conducted by Jonathan Lyness. Part of Culross Festival.
■ BREDILAND ALLOTMENTS Cardell Drive, Foxbar, Paisley. Booking via Paisley Arts Centre, call 0141 887 1010. Allotment Fri 8 Jun, 2pm, 5pm & 7pm. £10 (£6). Meet two green-fingered sisters among the plants for a cuppa, a homemade scone and a major dose of sibling rivalry as Edinburgh company Nutshell returns with its darkly funny Fringe First award winner. The show is performed on real allotments, whatever the weather, so come prepared!
■ BYRE THEATRE Abbey Street, St Andrews, 01334 475000. A Talent to Amuse Wed 30 May, 7.30pm. £9 (£8). Friends of the Byre and Red Wine Productions pay homage to one of Britain’s greatest wits with an evening of the songs of Noël Coward. The Wiz Thu 7–Sat 9 Jun, 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm). £10 (£8). Dazzle Youth Music Theatre present a glitzy adaptation of the funked-up Michael Jackson/Diana Ross version of The Wizard of Oz. Eugene Onegin Thu 14–Sat 16 Jun, 7.30pm. £14 (£9). St Andrews Opera and Bloomsbury Opera present Tchaikovsky’s Russian opera sung in an English translations. ■ DUNDEE REP Tay Square, Dundee, 01382 223530. Turning Twenty: Candoco Dance Company Fri 25 May, 8pm. £16 (seniors £13; students £9; children £6). A striking retelling of Trisha Brown’s Set and Reset to celebrate the company’s 20th birthday. ✽✽ The Tempest Wed 6–Sat 23 Jun, 7.30pm (Thu 14 & 21 & Sat 16 & 23 Jun mat 2.30pm). £7–£19. Dundee Rep Ensemble takes on Shakespeare’s shipwreck tale of regret and forgiveness. See preview, page 128.
■ MACROBERT University of Stirling, Stirling, 01786
466666. Michael Clark Company: come, been and gone Thu 24 May, 7.30pm. £22.50 (£20.50). Contemporary dance choreographed to the music of David Bowie and his collaborators and influences. Keep Calm and Dance Sat 2 & Sun 3 Jun, 2pm & 7pm. £8.50 (£6.50). Another diverse performance from the young students of The Dance Connection. Skewered Snails Tue 19 Jun, 7.30pm. £10.50 (£9; students £5; friends £7.50). Dark humour mixed with physical theatre tells the disturbing tale of a young boy who escapes his extremely dysfunctional family to live in the woods under the tyranny of his evil sister. Just Dance Wed 20 Jun, 7pm. £6. Evening of dance from Active Stirling’s 5–12-year-olds. ■ PAISLEY ARTS CENTRE New Street, Paisley, 887 1010. John Peel’s Shed Fri 25 May, 7.30pm. £10 (£6). See Tron Theatre, Glasgow.
■ TRAQUAIR HOUSE Innerleithen, 01896 830323, traquair.co.uk; call 01721 725777 (Eastgate Theatre) for Twelfth Night tickets. Twelfth Night Thu 24–Sat 26 May & Thu 31 May–Sat 2 Jun, 7.30pm; Sun 27 May, 6.30pm. £8–£14 (£6–£12). Promenade performance set in the beautiful Traquair grounds from the volunteer team behind the successful annual Shakespeare productions. Traquair Shakespeare Festival Sat 26 & Sun 27 May, times vary. £12 (£10; under 5s free; family £30). Fling yourself back to times of yore with archery, jousting, jesters and, of course, a dose of theatre: Guy Masterson performs his acclaimed Shylock, there’s a version of Macbeth in Scots and workshops for kids and adults alike.