MUSSELBURGH MOVES
Taking over as artistic director of Musselburgh’s Brunton Theatre, Charles Howosielski has imposed on himself a brief that he recounts with
impulsive enthusiasm: ‘There are only seven reps left in Scotland - and this is
the only one doing a season of plays
that are all in Scots or about Scotland in K
some respect.’
Bninton Theatre has already upgraded its reputation of late under the previous director, lan Granville-Bell, and Nowosielski
j recognises that his innovations are i built on his predecessor’s achievements, ‘i’ve got some act to
follow— lan Granville-Bell achieved houses of 64%. it’s do or die this season though.’
Howosielski’s productions will also all involve music, mostly from Richard Cherns, his newly appointed musical director Followers of Theatre Alba will
be acquainted with the Cherns-Nowosielski style, and Howsielski, director oi Alba, plans to
keep the touring company going during the Brunton season. Amongst the plays
in this first season are two new ones, by Howard Purdie and Donald Mackenzie, and a production of Oh What a Lovely War in honour of International Peace Year. But it is the first production on which eyes will be
working class community in a town in Scotland.
Redheads: A Big Red One and The Whangdoodles Thurs 18 and Fri 19 7.30pm. £2.50 (£2). An evening of cabaret from Glasgow‘s abrasively comic left-wing group Redheads, and The Whangdoodles.
O TRON THEATRE 63 Trongate. 552 4267/8. Box Office Tue—Sat. Noon—10pm. Bar.
Blood, Sweat and Tears Until Sat 13 Sept. 8pm. Members £3, Guests £4. Hull Truck company in John Godber‘s play inspired by the story
by the story of Karen Briggs. an
; ’ordinary‘ girl who became a judo
champion. Seealso'i‘elevision.
Hamlet Tue 16—Sat 20 Sept. 7.30pm.
Prices as above. The Actors Touring ( Company. a group renowned for ¢ strong, energetic productions, in
Shakespeare‘s masterpiece, on which they promise to shed interesting light by emphasising the play‘s comic streak as well as its darker elements.
Bing Hitler Sun 14 Sept. 8pm. Tickets
as above. The extremely popular Bing returns with his outrageous tie and own successful brand of head banging one-man comedy.
0 BRUHTON THEATRE Musselburgh. 665 2240. Box office Mon—Sat 10am—8pm. Bar. [D] [E]
The Wallace Wed 17 — Sat 27 Sept. 7.45pm. £3.50 (£2).First night £2 (£1.50). The Brunton sails into
action under its new captain. Charles
Nowosielski. with Sydney (ioodsir Smith's epic drama celebrating Scotland's famous hero — last staged by the Scottish Theatre Company at the 1985 Edinburgh Festival.
l
EDINBURGH i
tocussed - Sydney Goodsir Smith’s The Wallace, produced by the Scottish Theatre Company at last year's Edinburgh Festival. Nowosielski ls undaunted by thisz‘it's in no way a challenge, no way are we saying we can do it better. We can't do it on that scale — we’ve reduced it to two hours from three. Inside The Wallace is a most marvellous play. Sydney Coodsir Smith was a poet though, not a dramatist, and in two hours you can include his beautiful poetry without getting sentimental. Wallace (played here by Neil Duncan oi Taggart) is not a ranting, raving patriot. He was a man who got out of his depth and discovered that he was dealing with the laws of the world — his ideas were polarised by the death of his wife .lt’s an eminent play iorourstyie . . .’
0 KINGS 2 Leven Street. 229 1201. Box office Mon—Sat 10am—8pm. Bar. Rest. [D] [E]
’Ailo, ’Allo Mon 8—Sat 13 Sept. 7.30pm. Sat mat 2.30pm. £6—£9. Concs: Sat mat and Mon eve £2 off all seats; Tue, Wed. Thurs — OAPs. UB405. children halt‘price; Parties of 10 or over 20% discount. The controversial humour of the successful TV series comes to the stage in a plot that is the work of Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft and involves, amongst other unlikelies. three Hitlers . . .
Cluedo Mon lS—Sat 20 Sept. Mon-Fri 7.30pm. Sat 5 and 8pm. £4.50—£6. Cones: Sat mat and Mon eve all seats £4; Tue, Wed. Thurs - OAPs, UB40$ and Children under 16 half price; parties of 10 or over 40% discount. Mystery. crime and comedy with a living version of the board game in which the audience has to decide whodunnit — Colonel
. _ THEATRELIST ,
Accidental Death of an Anarchist Fri 12 I Sept—Sat 4 Oct. 7.45pm; Free
3 Preview Thursi 1 Sept, 7.45pm; Sat mat 27 Sept, 3.15pm. £2.50—£5.50.
i TheatreSaver card holders £1 off.
_ g Concs also for Season Ticket
Holders inc 10% discount off meal.
durable comedies from the Italian
j and adapted by Gavin Richards. this
! 0 THEATRE WORKSHOP 34 Hamilton - Place. 226 5425. Box office Mon—Sat ' 9.30am—5.30pm. Bar. Cafe. [D]
7 Blood and Ice Tue 16—Sat 20 Sept.
8pm. £3 (£2.50). Winged Horse in a
new production ofone of the earliest
tale of Mary Shelley and how her
j rounmc
—they may be subject to change alter
available to OAPs, UB40s, Students, disabled, under 24 railcard holders, YTS scheme and children under 18. They enable you to bring a friend for£1 offalso).
The Lyceum‘s new season opens with one of the most popular, most
master of anarchic farce. Dario F0. When a man in police custody takes a plunge from a top floor window. speculation is rife and the results riotous. Translated by Gillian Hanna
production is directed by Ian Wooldridge.
plays to spring from the sparklingly inventive pen of Liz Lochhead: the
own creation, Frankenstein. came to take over her life.
0 Please check with venues if possible
press date. 0 Desire Communicado Theatre Company in Stephen Jeffreys‘
DEATH OF AN
adaptation of R.L. Stevenson‘s fable
1986/87 season
opens with g
12 SEPTEMBER - 4 OCTOBER 7.45 pm
ACCIDENTAL ANARCHIST
Did he fall . . . or was he pushed? A boisterous and zany
Italian political farce by Dario F0.
Free Preview 11 September 7.45 pm After show discussion Monday 15 September
Seats from £2.50 Telephone (031) 229 9697
Season Tickets on sale until Sept 27
Save ‘x‘s off normal ticket prices
PERFORMED BY
CEUM 6 "WW
Grindiay Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AX.
g AN IDEAL HUSBAND
‘ Citizens’, Glasgow Philip Prowse's staging of Oscar ‘ Wilde’s table of hypocrisy and love in
high, Victorian circles is a faultless
. delight.
Not the most obvious of Wilde’s
comedies, there are still many magnificent speeches of undiluted wit
and plenty casually brilliant
; epigrams.Perhaps the best lines are ? given to Lord Goring, delivered with
nonchalant effectiveness by Harry Gibson as the slightly ageing aristocrat who affects to have no principles, no
Q ambition and not the slightest intention of marrying. Goring is at the centre of an ambitious, rigid societythat in
public and private life constantly sets
Mustard in the conservatory with the l
lead piping perchance?
Memories. . .
O PORTOBELLO TOWN HALL Portobello High Street, Portobello. Desire Thurs 18 Sept. 7.30pm. £2 (£1). Tickets available: Porto Grill, 10d Bath Street, Portobello; A&J Murray, Newsagents, 8a Bath Street, Portobello and Dept of Recreation, Edinburgh District Council, 249 High Street, Edinburgh. Communicado Theatre Company in their touring adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson‘s story The Bottle Imp. See Touring.
O ROYAL LYCEUM Grindlay Street,
' 229 9697. Box office Mon—Sat
103m—6pm. 10am—8pm on perf evgs. Bar. Rest. [D][E] (TheatreSaver cards cost £1, last all year and are
impossible standards for its individuals. Rising parliamentary star, Sir Robert Chiltern, has a guilty secret
, —weaith founded on the leak of a
Q cabinet secret- that threatens to
destroy his career and ruin his
marriage. Pompous but insubstantial,
Mark Lewis captures the essential
i character of this unfortunate politician
who his wife insists on believing is whiterthan white.
The topicality oi the events adds an extra edge to the drama, adding plausibility to the high passions and relationships between men and women ' - do the opposite sexes’ minds really operate dliferently? - bringing our current PM. still closerto mind. However, Prowse is not content to let poitfcal and social parallels stand 1
alone. No excuses about Wilde’s Romanticism are made to account for the play’s examination of Love. Rather, by leaving the total reconciliation of man and wife open, altering Wilde's ending, these themes are highlighted.
Prowse has illuminated a complex play without simplifying it. Actors have been encouraged to play their parts to the full, and almost everyone gives a perionnance that would stand out as exceptional in any other production. Jill Spurrier’s Lady Markby is a comic creation the match of any Lady Brackneil; Robert David MacDonald wields his stick to triumphant no avail over his hopeless son, Goring; Patrick Hannaway’s Phipps, the butler adds another layer of commentary.
The staging is impressive, and the direction full of bold touches that- as when the villain of the piece, Mrs Cheveley, reveals her breasts to show how lnaccessibly she has hidden a damning letter- cut through any pretension that this is a soft play. This is one of the funniest and most
. thought-provoking productions of
Wilde you arelikeiyto see. (H.B.)
The List 5 — 18 September 9