THEATRE LIST
THE TRAVERSE THEATRE 03I-226 2633
NEW WORK FROM SCOTLAND ENGLAND GERMANY& USSR MARCH -AUGUSTI 988
Tickets: E4.50/£2.50 (U840, NUS, OAP) ALL tickets £2.50 SUNDAYS
Grassmarket. Edinburgh
June 10—July 3 at7.30pm PRICKLY HEAT by Simon Donald
June 17 — July 9 at 7.45pm SHADOWING THE CONQUEROR by Peter Jukes
VA: YEAR
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3-ieiuns .
“A smashing, witchy production” THE OBSERVER
Mon-Sat 7.45 pm Tickets from £2.50 Matinee 18 June 3.15 pm
ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE
The Invincible
GRAND UNION ORCHESTRA with A Book of Numbers
’Not just jazz, not only blues and rock, not just sol-fa or samba or ska but...’ CITY LIMITS
’One of the liveliest, most entertaining evenings available anywhere’ OBSERVER
SUNDAY 12 JUNE 7.45pm £4.50 (£3.50 concs) Tel: 031 229 9697
THEATRE WORKSHOP
THEATRE WORKSHOP WOMEN’S THEATRE WEEK
" A Spring Fling Feast of Performances" 0 THE MOTHER by France Flame & Dario Fo. performed by Angie Rew. Tues 7 June, 7.30pm 0 SEALED WITH A LOVING KISS performed by Witch. Wed 8 June, 7.30pm 0 OPEN FEE-EN by Bridgeton Umbrella Group. Thurs 9 June, 7.30pm
0 KHOROS DANCE THEATRE perform a short selection of pieces Tickets For Each Evening: £2.00 (50p)
CRECHE WITH ALL PERFORMANCES
l GAY SWEATSHOP in THIS ISLAND’S MINE Fri 17-Sat 18 June, 7.30pm. Tickets: £3.50 (£2.50)
TICKETS: (031) 226 5425. 34 Hamilton PL, EH3 SAX
T SECTIONS or THE
COMMUNITY
‘I wanted to write something about England now and living in England now,’ says Philip Osment. ‘And I wanted to write about people who feel they don’t lit in, because they’re actual reIugees or because they have a sense at being exiles in their own country.’
The result is ‘This Island‘s Mine’, a warm and wise play, that when Iirst toured by Gay Sweatshop earlier this year was hugely acclaimed by critics right across the board. ‘It's the kind of play you'll want to play a part in' said Time Out, enthusiastically.
Osment was naturally delighted and
. surprised —this is his first play for the
company, although he has been acting with them since soon after they were established in 1975. During thattime he has seen attitudes to homosexuality first open up and then, more recently, close down again. The company’s first play, ‘MrX’, was one of the first to talk openly about being gay and covered the dilticulties oi ‘coming out’. ‘Until then there had been very few positive images of homosexuality—only the camp, Larry Grayson sort of thing,‘ explains Osment. ‘Gay Sweatshop Iormed very much in response to that. It was the Iirst time that it had had that type at platform and it had quite a profound ettect on a lot of people. People used to stand up in the audience and say ‘I'm gay‘ Iorthe Iirsttime.’ Since then the company has covered a broad range of issues, but has always tried to keep productions open and accessible to the broadest audience possible. ‘We’ve always wanted to create work that has universal appeal, but from our standpoint. We‘ve never wanted to just play to gay people,‘ says Osment. ‘This Island’s Mine’ exemplifies this, covering a broad community of people — both gay and straight. The ‘retugees‘ in it are both literal reIugees, exiled from their homeland, and people who find
themselves in some form at minority group, partly exiled irom society. This is an experience that, Osment Ieeis, gay people are again undergoing, given the recent AIDS hysteria and the introduction oi Section 28. It is something that will have to be reflected inthe company‘s work—a Iact that I seems to sadden Osment. ‘It puts you ' back on the delensive again.‘ he says, sounding fatigued. ‘It was beginningto l get better.‘
Ironically the new Section 28 ruling has had some positive effects for the company: ‘There’s negatives and there‘s positives. The whole Section 28 thing has brought people together. So there‘s been support enough for us to do this extra tour, for example. And in a way it's proved our point. We‘ve always said that Sweatshop have been turned away because it’s a gay company. But people won't come out and say it. What Section 28 has done is to show very clearly how that does happen}
The negatives probably outweigh the positives, however. Alreadythe London Borough Grant Scheme, which usually fund the company, are saying that they may not be able to give them a grant next year. ‘We’re asking for very clear reasons,‘ says Osment. The full effect of the ruling won’t be Ielt on this tour, however, he feels: ‘We‘ll have a better idea about the effect with our next production, which is going out on tour in the autumn.’ (Sarah Hemming). This Island’s Mine is at the Crawlurd Theatre, Glasgow and Theatre Workshop, Edinburgh. See Listings.
I CRAIGMILLAR COMMUNITY CENTRE .\'iddrie Mains'l‘crrace. (‘raigmillar Sealed With A Loving Kiss i-‘ri 10.Iunc. 7.30pm. £2 (£1 ). 'l'he feminist Witch Theatre ( ‘ompany in a new play lookingat different views of love and romance offered to a young girl growing tip in the Iiightics.
I KINGS THEATRE 2 Level] Street. 229 1201. Box Office Mon—Sat 10am—8pm. Bar. [1)]. [I5].
Are You Lonesome Tonight? Tue 7— Sat 18 June. 7.30pm. Sat 4.30 & Spin. £4—£7.50. (‘oncs £2.50 off stalls and grand circle.
£1 .50 off upper circle (does not apply'l‘uc. Fri. Sat). Tue all seats two for the priceof one. Paul Darrow, of Blukes Seven fame, stars in Alan Bleasdale‘s popular play about Elvis Presley.
No Sex, Please. We‘re British Mon 2(lJune — Sat 25 June. 7.30pm. Sat 5 & 8pm. £3—£o.50. Half-price Mon & Sat mat; Tue—Thurs conc groups £2 off(irand (‘ircle and Stalls. The world‘s longest running comedy — but is it art‘.’ Few/(y Towers's Andrew Sachs appears in this production.
I MANDELA THEATRE (iateway Exchange. 2—4 Abbeymount. (>61 0982. Cafe and bar facilities during performances. Performance Project Rehearsals Wednesdays 7pm: Saturdays 2pm. Following on the success of their recent
performance project Elsie Inglis. the Mandela are working towards another production
Nelson Mandela Freedom at Seventy Campaign: Cabaret and Party Tue 14 June. See Cabaret.
I NETHERBOW ARTS CENTRE 43 l Iigh Street. 550 957‘). Box Office “lam—4.30pm. 7 0pm pcrleygs. (ale. [1)] It'll
Women in Mind wed S-Sat l 1 June. 7.30pm. Edinburgh Youth Theatre in Alan Ayckbourn‘s play about a lonely woman who creates her own world of fantasy to overcome the emptiness other life. Spring Fling production. Fuenteovejuna \\'cd 22- Sat 25 June. 7.30pm. £2 (£l ). 'I'elford (‘ollege in Lope dc Vegas' classic play about class struggle in fourteenth century Spain.
Seven Characters out of the Dream Fri 24 & Sat 25 June. 12 noon. 50p. 'l'elford College students in a play by Joan tire.
I PLAYHOUSE H’s—22 (ireenside l’lace,03l 557 2590.
Little Shop at Horrors Mon (i—Sat 1 1 June. 7.30pm. Weds 8’; Sat mat 2.30pm. £(i.5(%£ts'.50. ((‘hildren and ()Al’s allseats £6.50). Mon two tickets for price ofonc, Matinees £5.50 (£4 ). Lorraine (‘hase stars in this touring production of the spoof thriller musical in which plants take on a sizeable new role for a young florist's
22 The List I()— 23 June 1988