IN ASSOCIATION WITH STUDENT GUIDE | THEATRE & COMEDY
(NEARLY AS) CHEAP AS CHIPS
Think you can’t afford to go to the theatre? Think again. Carolina Morais rounds up the best ways to grab a cheap seat at Edinburgh and Glasgow’s theatres
concession prices
M ost theatres across both cities offer standard for students. However, some go the extra mile with specii c offers for theatre-loving uni-goers. Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre (which celebrates its 70th year in 2015) is one of the best places to take advantage of your student status. You can get a ticket for any seat in the house for just £9 – and if you’re really quick off the mark, there are 100 50p seats up for grabs for any Citz production, on sale the Saturday before the show kicks off (10 tickets per performance, 10 performances per run). In Edinburgh, the Festival Theatre offers a
Student Standby discount, with £10 tickets available for most shows even on the day of the performance. Depending on which production you go to, the Traverse Theatre also grants you access for a modest cost. And if going to the theatre is an experience you like to share with all your friends, it’s dei nitely worth considering their group tickets offer (valid with the standard student price), where for every 10 tickets purchased you get one free. in Theatre Royal and King’s Theatre Glasgow also offer student discount ticket prices on most productions, although it is show dependent. If you’re really keen, it’s
worth asking for an ATG Theatre Card for Christmas: it’s £30 a year, but gives you access to impressive discounts, fee-free bookings and discounted drinks at the theatre bar. You can also use an ATG Theatre Card at the Edinburgh Playhouse. Elsewhere, if you fancy a night at the opera and you’re aged under 26, you can snap up £10 tickets for Scottish Opera performances (a heavy discount, considering opera tickets can sometimes cost upwards of £50).
And if you’re a sucker for ballet, national company Scottish Ballet invites students to watch their sophisticated and graceful manoeuvres for just £10 too.
COMEDY COMEDY COMEDY COMEDY
Comedy editor Brian Donaldson rounds up the best comedy clubs and nights
in Glasgow and Edinburgh
FUNNY FEELING
THE STAND YESBAR
The behemoth of the country’s comedy scene with two purpose-built venues attracting big names as well as regulars on the Scottish circuit. Among the various staples are the Red Raw open mic nights, Bright Club comedy from some of the nation’s funniest academics (yes, we know), Improv Wars, Comedian Rap Battles and Stu and Garry’s Free Improv Show. Some top acts appearing this autumn include Chris Ramsey, Joe Lycett, Zoe Lyons and Hardeep Singh Kohli. ■ Woodlands Road, Glasgow; York Place, Edinburgh.
WILD CABARET & WICKED LOUNGE A brand spanking new comedy night at this exciting venue will bring together a host of names for your Thursday evening entertainment. Just Comedy is lucky to have the ‘godmother of Scottish comedy’, Janey Godley as its host. ■ Candleriggs, Glasgow.
EUSA Edinburgh Uni students are treated to some quality touring names in the Pleasance Theatre this autumn such as local-boy-done-good Iain Stirling and Abandoman, while the Improverts do their regular adlibbing thing at the Bedlam Theatre. Every Tuesday night, Grassroots Comedy (‘the freshest comedy Edinburgh has to offer’) takes place in the legendary Cabaret Bar. ■ Pleasance, Edinburgh; Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh.
This bijou venue brings us some Yesbar Virgins each Thursday night with an opportunity for those at the very beginning of their comedic career to shine while the Comedy Sunday School aims to ‘put the audience in control of the fun’. Which sounds just a little bit terrifying. Both nights have Graham Barrie on MC duties. ■ Drury Street, Glasgow.
BEEHIVE INN This popular boozer is now an established venue at the Edinburgh Fringe hosting the Scottish Comedy Festival. Through the year, the Grassmarket pub houses the Friday night Monkey Barrel Comedy with a series of up- and-comers topped off by a headline act. Proceedings are kept in check by Rick Molland. ■ Grassmarket, Edinburgh.
GILDED BALLOON The Edinburgh institution (30 years young this year) has made westerly in-roads with a regular Friday night extravaganza at Drygate but they’re certainly not forgetting their east coast roots with a capital residency at the Festival Theatre Studio. Among the names showing up before Christmas are politics guy Matt Forde, Australian wag Felicity Ward, rising Shefi eld newbie Jonny Pelham, Hull’s i nest Lucy Beaumont and ‘French’ icon Marcel Lucont. ■ Drygate, Glasgow; Festival Theatre Studio, Edinburgh.
3 Sep–5 Nov 2015 THE LIST 125