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KILL JOHNNY GLENDENNING Two different theatre spaces served well with one play
A yrshire playwright DC Jackson returns to Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum following his successful contemporary update of Beaumarchais’ The Marriage of Figaro back in 2012. His return is accompanied by a partnership which the Fringe First-winning writer of My Romantic History believes has worked well for him. ‘I’ve always admired from afar what Mark [Thomson, artistic director] has done with the Lyceum; I think he’s a very smart programmer,’ says Jackson who has recently launched a TV career for himself writing for the third series of C4’s student sitcom Fresh Meat. ‘It must be a difficult building to run and keep everyone happy. Along with the Citizens in Glasgow [co-producers of Kill Johnny Glendenning], it’s the pinnacle of the subsidised sector.’
It seems that this play will straddle the two worlds both theatres need to serve; on the one hand it’s a hard-edged gangster comedy that
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starts on an Ayrshire farm used to dispose of murder victims by way of feeding them to pigs and ends in a plush flat in Glasgow’s West End. Yet at the same time, marked-for-death Ulster paramilitary Johnny Glendenning (David Ireland) and his Glasgow gangster nemesis Andrew MacPherson (Paul Samson, returning to the stage after over a decade in River City) say much more about the west coast’s attitude to glorifying violence, not least through the media. ‘That was definitely what sent me into this territory,’ says Jackson. ‘Although there is a point in storytelling at which you become the thing you want to satirise. Hopefully I’ve stayed on the right side of that.’ (David Pollock)
Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 11 Oct; Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 22 Oct–Sat 8 Nov.
HITLIST THE BEST THEATRE & DANCE
✽ Kill Johnny Glendenning See preview, left. Royal Lyceum Theatre,
Edinburgh, until Sat 11 Oct; Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 22 Oct–Sat 8 Nov.
✽ balletLORENT: Rapunzel Liv Lorent transforms the classic fairytale, alongside
Carol Ann Duffy’s narration, music from Doctor Who’s Murray Gold and costumes by Emmy- winning Game of Thrones designer Michele Clapton. See preview, page 90. Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Fri 19 & Sat 20 Sep.
✽ Hamlet Shakespeare adapted through Dominic Hill’s distinctive style, taking in
elements of contemporary and classical theatre (pictured). See preview, page 89. Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Fri 19 Sep–Sat 11 Oct.
✽ The Battle of Calder Street After a long occupation by the community, Glasgow City Council used the police to reclaim Govanhill Baths. This is the story of that day. See column, page 92. Govanhill Baths, Glasgow, Mon 22– Sat 27 Sep.
✽ The Crucible Scottish Ballet take Arthur Miller’s play and add the music from
Hitchcock’s Pyscho. See feature, page 29. Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Thu 25–Sat 27 Sep; Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Fri 3 & Sat 4 Oct.
✽ Three Sisters John Byrne updates Chekhov’s classic to the 1960s. Andy Arnold directs. See preview, page 89. Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 1–Fri 17 Oct.
✽ Assessment Activist-artist the vacuum cleaner helps the audience find out what
is happening in their minds as part of Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival’s theatre programme. See feature, page 25. The Arches, Glasgow Tues 14 & Wed 15 Oct.