THEATRE list.co.uk/theatre
HOME NATIONS FESTIVAL Liz Lochhead play inspires staging of work from around UK
T he idea for this mini-festival of plays from around the Home Nations began with Edwin Morgan’s Dreams and Other Nightmares by Liz Lochhead,’ says the Tron’s artistic director, Andy Arnold, with its ‘brilliance’ demanding he show it with the eyes of the Culture 2014 carnival upon it. This soon fed into a desire to surround it with shows from elsewhere on these islands: Beowulf by Seamus Heaney, because Morgan’s own version was one of his earliest works; Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood, in large-scale community production to fulfil the sizeable number of roles; and Carol Anne Duffy’s Grimm Tales – Arnold wanted Duffy and sought her out in the form of Wales’ Theatre Iolo’s production of the Tales.
this case a
‘What links all these pieces is tremendous theatrical language,’ says Arnold. ‘The spoken word is the basis of theatre performance, and all four pieces are bound by language that resonates with musicality and visual imagery.’ As this is a festival, there will also be a fringe, including a two-day poetry slam judged by Lochhead, Peter Ross and Bram Gieben, evening performance poetry with Lochhead, late-night music in the Tron bar and an open-submission playwriting event on the theme of the Commonwealth Games which has attracted entries from the UK, Canada, America and South Africa. (David Pollock) Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Thu 17 Jul– Sun 3 Aug
HITLIST THE BEST THEATRE & DANCE
✽ Henry IV Gordon Barr mashes up the two Shakespeare histories (Henry IV Parts
1 & 2) as three actors follow the progress of Hal from playboy prince towards majestic monarch. Botanic Gardens, Glasgow, Sat 19 Jul–Sat 2 Aug.
✽ Surge Conflux hit the streets with their annual festival of performance that refuses
to stay on the stage. Part of the Merchant City Festival. See preview, page 108. Various venues, Glasgow, Sat 19 Jul–Sun 3 Aug.
✽ The River Barrowland Ballet remind Glasgow they can combine professional
and community dance in this spectacular celebration of the Clyde (pictured, top). Part of Culture 2014. See preview, page 108. The Briggait, Glasgow, Sun 20–Mon 21 Jul.
✽ Moving Bodies Two days of Japanese dance theatre events, including
performances from Scotland’s Paul Henry and Ken Mai, who promises a meditation on compassion and erotic desire. CCA, Glasgow, Wed 23–Thu 24 Jul.
✽ Please Stay Nostalgic musical featuring the hits of the 1960s, set in Glasgow’s
Locarno dance hall. Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 23 Jul–Sat 2 Aug.
✽ Beowulf Seamus Heaney’s translation of the classic adventure brought to the
stage. A Norse history, rendered in Anglo- Saxon tongue and finding its expression in a Gaelic idiom of storytelling. Part of Culture 2014. See preview, left. Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Thu 24 Jul–Sat 2 Aug.
10 Jul–21 Aug 2014 THE LIST 107