THEATRE LISTINGS
Community Drama Association’s one act play competition.
Dance Display Wed l9—Sat 22 Feb. The Cherrie Noble School of Dance struts its stuff.
Aurelia Wed 26—Sat 29 Feb. 7.30pm. £3.50. Edinburgh People‘s Theatre comes up with a mixture of humour. murder. robbery and blackmail in Robert Thomas‘s adaptation of the novel by Jean Pierre Ferriere.
I KING'S THEATRE 2 Leven Street. 229 1201. Box Office Mon-Sat 10am-8pm. Bar. [Access: PPA. L. Facilities: WC. W3. AS. E. G. B. Help: AA]
Aladdin Until Sat 15 Feb. £6.75—£8.75 (concessions available). 7pm. Sat mat 2.15pm. Gerard Kelly and Una McLean finally come to the end of this year‘s spectacular at the King‘s. Magic lamps. flying carpets and Eastern mirth and mystery. Non-stop jokes and pacey fun. The Miser Mon I7—Sat 22 Feb. 7.30pm. Sat mat 2.30pm. £6.50—£12.50(concs available). Tom Billy Liar Courtenay stars in Moliere's money-minded comedy in this highly-rated Royal Exchange Theatre Company touring production. Polly James also stars. See preview. Turandot Wed 26—Sat 29 Feb. 7.30pm. £3—£9. Edinburgh Grand Opera tackles Puccini.
I NET HEROOW ARTS CENTRE 43 High Street. 556 9579. Box Office. mam-4.30pm. 7—9pm perf. evgs. Cafe. [Access: R. Facilities: WC. W8, E. G. B. R. Help: A. AA]
Seven Characters from the Dream and Lambrusco flights Tue 18—Sat 29 Feb. 7.30pm. Fifth Estate. whose rise to success has been remarkably speedy. launches its 8-play 1992 season with a double bill: the first play by Joan Ure. the second by Kathleen Crombie. See preview.
I PLAYHOUSE THEATRE Greenside Place. 557 2590.
Barnum Until Sat 29 Feb. 7.30pm. Wed and Sats mats 2.30pm. £8—£17.50. Paul Nicholas cracks the whip for the smash-hit musical written by Cy Coleman. Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble. The show recreates the days of America‘s Barnum and Bailey circus a century ago. with strong supporting cast. but a rather lifeless
lead.
I OUEEH'S HALL Clerk Street. 668 3456. West Side Story Thurs 20—Sat 22 Feb. 7.30pm. Sat mat 2pm. £6/£5 (£4). Edinburgh Footlights Theatre Co gives a contemporary edge of aggression to the classic Bernstein/Sondheim/Laurents musical reworking of Romeo and Julietset in 19505 New York. Maria. Tonightand America contribute to an unforgettable score.
I ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE Grindlay Street. 229 9697. Box Office Mon—Sat
10am—6pm. lOam-8pm on perf. evgs. Bar.
Rest/Cafe [Access: P. L. Facilities: WC. W5. AS. E. G. B. R. T. Help: A.AA] The Marriage of Figaro Until Sat 29 Feb. 7.45pm. £4—£12. Signed performance Tue 18 Feb. Audio-described performance Thurs 20 Feb. Ian Wooldridge directsthe Royal Lyceum Theatre Company in the original Pierre Beaumarchais play on which Mozart based his opera (currently being toured by Scottish Opera). Comedy and social satire as put-upon servants and neglected wives get one up on the aristocracy. See review.
I THEATRE WORKSHOP 34 Hamilton Place. 226 5425. Box Office Mon—Sat 9.30am-5.30pm. Bar. Cafe. [Access: PPA. R. Facilities: WC. W5. AS. E.G. Help: AA]
Badenhelm1939 Wed 19—Sat 22 Feb. 8pm. £5 (£3). Adrian Harris. Andy Cannon and Morna Burdon direct this large-scale adaptation of Aharon Applefield's novel about Nazi mass murder ofthe Jews. This is the latest in Theatre Workshop‘s successful string of performance projects and which involves over 150 local people. See preview.
I TRAVERSE THEATRE 112 West Bow. Grassmarket. 226 2633. Box Office Tue-Sat 10am-8pm. Sun 6—l0pm. Bar. Rest. [Access: St. Facilities: E. Help: AA] ltnil Dne. Murder One Until Sun 16 Feb. 8pm. £6 (£3). Lip Service returns with its Edinburgh Fringe murder-mystery spoof in which Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding play a plethora of characters. with their patent off-beat. energetic and very funny charm. lwannabewolfman Wed I9—Sun 23 Feb. 8pm. £6 (£3). Nowedon'tknowwhythe wordsarejoinedtogethereither. Bodies in
Flight is a young performance-based company which uses music. dance and drama to tell a horror story about the slow death of a family.
The Roaring Girl’s Hamlet Thurs 27 Feb—Sun 1 Mar. 8pm. Fri mat 1.45pm. Claire Luckham. author of Traford Tanzi. transposes Shakespeare‘s tragedy into a new setting for an all-woman performance by the Sphinx (formerly the Women's Theatre Group. See preview.
The Glass Ceiling Debate Sat 29 Feb. 2—5pm. 32.50. Charlotte Keatlcy.
Sphinx’s writer-in-residcnce and author of
My Mother Said I Never Should. chairs
this debate — open to both men and women
— which looks at women in theatre in the 19903 and asks whether their success is limited by an unbreakable 'glass ceiling‘.
Subtitled ‘An Artform not a l’latform'.the
debate welcomes playwright Rona Munro. Herald critic Mary Brennan. and director Maggie Kinloch onto the stage. Similar debates have proved very popular and successful in London. See prev iew.
TOURING
I Givin’ I1 Fish Dave Anderson ofWildcat takes out his band for a musicalcomcdy revue about living in the modern world. More details on 041 951 1444. Drumchapel. Mercat Theatre Fri 21—Sat 22 Feb. 041 944 1683.
Easter/louse. Bishop/och Residents' Hall Tue 25 Feb. 041 7730705.
Got'anhill. Clada Social Club Wed 26—Thurs 27 Feb. 041 424 3515.
Tour continues.
I Jump the Life to Come 7 :84's look at post-Ravenscraig Motherwell is sadly even more timely than intended after the recent announcement of the steel plant's
early total closure. Noel Greig‘s play takes
its source material from conversations with those affected by the closure. turning them into a poetic celebration ofa community's survival. More details on 041 3312219.See review.
C umbernauld Theatre [I ntil Fri 15 Feb. 7.45pm. 0236 732887.
Bridgeton, John Street Secondary Tue 18 Feb. 7.30pm. 041 554 7020.
Govan Pearce Institute Thurs 19 Feb.
FRIDAY 14
7.30pm. (141 445 1941.
Ayr Civic Theatre Fri 21—Sal 22 Feb. 7.30pm. 0292 264639.
Newton Stewart. I )ouglas' Iiit'ttrt H. S. Tue 35 Feb. 7.30pm. (1671 3773.
Thorn/till. Wallace Hall Acadenrv Wed 26 Feb. 7.30pm. 0848 30294.
Greenock Arts Guild Theatre Thurs 27 Feb. 7.30pm. 0475 23038.
Tour continues.
OABA BET
Cabaret is listed by date, then by city. Shows will be listed, provided that details reach our offices at least ten days before publication. Cabaret Listings compiled by Mark Fisher.
Edinburgh
l Jim Beam Comedy Evening 'I‘he (‘ounting House. 332 West Nicolson Street. 10pm. £4.50(£3.50). This week’s bill-topperin the new two-month season oi'Jim Beam sponsored comedy is the entertaining Bob Dillinger who will have had the temperature raised for him by excellent compcre Kenny llarris. accomplished So You Think You 're funny winner Alan Francis. and busy writer and stand-up David (‘osgrove
I Cabaret Club Young‘s 1 Intel. 12 I4 Leamington Terrace. details 343 3898. 9pm. £3 (£2). (iordon .\'eish introduccsa mixed line-up of local comedy hopefuls. I Theatre Sports Bedlam 'l'hcatrc. Forrest Road. lllpm. £1 (511p). \Vcckly improvisation performed on the hoofby Edinburgh L'nivc rsin Theatre ('ompany.
SATURDAY15
Glasgow
I The Comic Club Blackfriars. 45 Albion Street. Merchant City. 552 5924. 9pm. £4.50(£3.50). Basement comedy in
[liflifllllllllllll JUMPTHELWETDCDME
Seen at Motherwell Civic Centre. On tour.
The opening sequence of Noel Grieg’s play features five fact-quoting, tartan swathed actors. Oh no, here we go again the audience seem to sigh, not another ‘we hate the English, look what they’ve done to us sketch’. simply dredging up the Massacre of Glencoe to compare it to the closure of Ravenscralg.
But this production is a lot more than agit-prop. In the tradition of Wim Wenders's film, Wings of Desire, the play concerns a victim of the Massacre of Glencoe who becomes an angel. Bored with patrolling the gates of Heaven, the angel descends to earth to become a guardian angel. Meanwhile, down on earth, it’s the 1990s and a former worker at Ravenscralg is dying. His son, Malcolm, is a war photographer who decides to come home when he begins to question the validity of his work. So the angel, now a down-and-out, bumps into his charge, Malcolm, but has to come to terms with
Jump The Life to Come is a superbly and imaginatively staged piece. Using the bare minimum of props, including an inflatable globe and a series of drapes on rails, director Ian Reekie uses slides and lighting to evoke Heaven and Earth. Dne scene, a la The Snowman, has Malcolm and the angel flying all over Scotland with magical use of wind-machines and subdued blue spotlights.
But although the production is excellently performed (John Kazek as the gormless but hilarious angel is a star in ascendance), the main theme is that old chestnut, learning to respect other people. The story adequately illustrates this point, in a pacy, amusing and touching manner but, towards the end of the production, we are treated to fifteen minutes of personal recollections of Ravenscraig and Motherwell. Despite being interesting, the link is tenuous, the rhythm of the production is shattered and it's back to that patronising, compulsory 7:84 lecture time. Battling. (Beatrice Colin)
THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO
Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh. Until Sat 29 Lewd propositions, marital infidelities and unlikely cover-ups are the substance - it substance is not too strong a word — of Pierre Beaumarchais’s 18th century comedy, the basis for Mozart's opera and, some say, a spark to the bonfire of the French Revolution. The satirical target is the aristocracy and its conceited double-standards; the joke is that no one - male or female, servant or master— is any less vulnerable to sexual desire than anyone else.
This side of the Bastille’s demise, we’re well used to the idea that the upper classes might not be the pristine paragons of virtue that outward appearances suggest, though some of Beaumarchais’s insights, on politicians in particular, still ring surprisingly true. But really what remains is a silly farce of deceit and double-deceit with a healthy sprinkling of cross-dressing and surreptitious groping to jolly things along. And a silly
5 self-conscious, camped-up and, yes,
silly. Thankfully, this is just the treatment meted out by director Ian Wooldridge
‘ who cleverly side-steps the problem of
the play’s less credible moments by making a feature of them. The more stagey the performance and the more creaky the plot-mechanism, the more likely it is that the house-lights will come up, Gregory Smith’s set will throw a little visual joke our way and the actors will declaim directly out to
the auditorium. And what actors! The
Royal Lyceum fields as close to a Scottish First Eleven as you’re likely to
see on one stage, and the comedy wouldn't shine nearly so brightly without them. To single out any one performer would be an injustice to the rest and, indeed, there is an exuberance here which must only be due to a happy, tightly-knit ensemble.
True, some performances err on the
indulgent and the odd joke misses the mark, but the production is too brisk and good-natured to let anything hold it up. Two centuries old and no sign of a revolution, but a welcome extension to
the fact that he is a descendant of his
farce deserves only one kind of betrayers, the Campbells.
treatment: fast, blatant, up-front,
the pantomime season all the same. (Mark Fisher)
48 The List 14 - 27 February 1992