.i
THEATRE LISTINGS
Communicado. Seen at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. On tour.
‘The things that men want done with cream buns!’ exclaims one of the working women in Sue Glover’s play about a prostitutes’ strike and occupation of a French church. And you know by the ribald laughter this raises from her companions that these are women, working in an industry like any other, who have for a moment forgotten the fear and tension that has created their predicament; the serial killer preying on prostitutes who is ignored by the police because it is easier for them to hassle the women on the street.
Sacred Hearts is full of leavening like this. Indeed the moments of fun and vibrant tableaux are the best parts of a production which is overly inclined towards the didactic. The serious agenda is that all women, not just these, are imprisoned by male violence. However, while the sanctuary of the Chapel of Our Lady
SACRED HEARTS
1 provides contrast to their everyday 3 lives, it can only inject a neutered
, example of maleness into the
‘; equation. The vitality of the women
finds inadequate balance in a priest, more troubled than troublesome, and a
‘ verger who is brought close to nervous
breakdown by the prostitutes’
presence.
The real problem for Glover is that while debunking myths of prostitution, modern literature has created a few cliches of its own. So, in hesitating to use the older myths, she becomes
. entangled in their more recent, , cliched, equivalents. You keep on expecting the play, loosely based on a
real life incident in Lyons in 1975, to say something new, but the anticipation is never rewarded. Sadly, these tendencies stultify and detract from what is otherwise a well designed and staged production which manages to be both entertaining and thought provoking.
(Thom Dibdin)
performance project about people leaving home for the big city.
Men Sun 27 Mar. 7.30pm. £2 (£1). See Curnbemauld Theatre above.
living on the Edge Tue 28 Mar. 7.30pm. 50p. Drumchapel‘s own One-Up Girls look at what it is like to be a teenager living in the area.
I PAISLEY ARTS CENTRE New Street. Paisley. 887 1010. [Access: PPA. 1-. R. Facilities: WC. WS. H. G. C. Help: A. AA]
Orphans Fri 25 Mar. 8pm. £5 (£3). Shared Boat Theatre Company from St Andrews in a play by Kyle Kessler about two orphan brothers surviving on the profits of petty crime.
Tramcars and Greyhounds Sat 26 Mar. '8pm. £5 (£3). See Touring and review. Stags and Hens Thurs 31 Mar. 8pm. £4 (£2). Willy Russell‘s lavatorial comedy is perfomed by Gap Theatre Company. Dramashop Performance Fri 1 Apr. 7pm. £3 (£1.50). Fifty l2—21-year-olds show off the work they have been doing on a week-long workshop with PACE Theatre Company.
I ROYAL SCOTTISH ACADEMY OF MUSIC AND DRAMA 100 Renfrew Street. 332 5057. [Access: PPA. ST. L. Facilities: WC. WS. H. G. C. Help: A. AA]
Habeas Corpus Until Fri 25 Mar. 7.15pm. £2.50 (£1.50). Alan Bennett’s comedy is directed by John Cargill Thompson and firformed by second-year students.
I! Boyfriend Mon 28 Mar—Sat 2 Apr. 7.30pm. Sat mat. 2pm. £6/£7. Glasgow‘s West End Theatre in the musical send-up of the English bourgeoisie.
I SCOTTISH MASK AND PUPPET CENTRE 8——10 Balcarres Avenue. Kelvindale. 339 6185..
Tales from a Treehouse Sat 2 Apr. 1 lam and 2pm. £2.50 (£1.50). Freehand Theatre in a puppet show aimed at adults and
‘, children over live.
I THEATRE ROYAL Hope Street. 332 9000. [Access: PPA. ST. R. Facilities: WC. WS. H. G. C. Help: AA]
Compania llacional De Danza Until Sat 26 Mar. 7.15pm. See Dance.
I TRON THEATRE 63 Trongate. 552 4267. [Access: PPA. ST. R. 1.. Facilities: WC. WS. H. G. C. Help: AA]
Sacred Hearts Fri 25—Sun 3 Apt- (including Suns. but not Mon 28). 7.30pm. See Touring and review.
Bruce Morton Tue 5—Thurs 7 Apr. 7.30pm. £7. See Touring and preview.
I CHURCH HILL THEATRE Morningside Road. 228 1155. Tickets available from Queen‘s Hall and Usher Hall Box ()IITCCS and J. and A. Cruikshank or Harvest Garden (opposite theatre).
All My Sons Until Sat 26 Mar. 7.30pm. £3.50. Edinburgh People‘s Theatre in Arthur Miller's classic tragedy about a man who tried to make a quick buck from the Second World War
I EDINBURGH ACADEMY School Hall. Henderson Row. 556 4603.
Schools Greek Drama Festival Until Sat 26 Mar. £2 (£1) per day. £5 (£2.50) for three days. The Edinburgh Academy hosts
this mini-festival of Greek theatre.
SEAN HUDSON
Antigone and peinaira: Contrasting Heroines in Sophocles Fri 25 Mar. 5pm. The Academy‘s Hans Broekman gives a talk.
The Trachiniai Fri 25 Mar. 7.30pm. Edinburgh Academy performs Sophocles‘s drama of sexual passion. Agamemnon Sat 26 Mar. 7.30pm. Fettes College rounds off the Greek Festival with Steven Berkoff’s version of the Aeschylus tragedy.
I KING’S THEATRE 2 l.even Street. 229 1201. [Access: R. 1.. Facilities: WC. WS. H. G. Help: AA]
Aida Until Sat 26 Mar. 7.30pm. Ben Twist directs Edinburgh Grand Opera in Verdi‘s opera.
Little Shop of Horrors Mon 28 Mar~Sat 2 Apr. Mon-Fri 7.30pm: Sat 5pm and 8pm. £4—-£ 10.50. Fun in the florists as a plant gets too big for its roots in this musical hit starring Sue Pollard.
I NETHERBOW ARTS CENTRE 43 Hiin Street. 556 9579. [Access: ST. R. 1.. Facilities: WC. WS. H. G. C. Help: A. AA]
Lucia Until Sat 26 Mar. 7.30pm. The tireless Fifth Estate returns with a new play by Robert Forrest about a joiner who summons up the ghosts of James Joyce's schizophrenic daughter and Carl Jung. Directed by BBC Radio's Patrick Rayner. See review.
I PLAYHDUSE THEATRE Greenside Place. 557 2590. [Access: R. 1.. Facilities: WC.
W . vs. a .‘Lr .5 Perth City Ballet Tue 29 M ar—«Sat 2 / pr. 7.30pm. £6.50 -£17. See Dance and preview.
What a Show! Mon 4—Sat 9 Apr. 7.30pm. Wed and Sat mats. £5.50—£19. Tommy Steele in a non-stop journey through the hits of his three-decade long career. See preview.
I ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE Grindlay Street. 229 9697. [Access: P. 1.. Facilities: WC. WS. H. G. C. '1‘. Help: A. AA] Oedipus Tyrannos Until Sat 2 Apr. £4-£l(). Mats Sat 26 and Thurs 31 Feb. 3.15pm. Student stand-by ticket for £4 available every Wednesday from 6pm with matriculation card. Kenny Ireland paves over the stalls to allow fora promenade production of Sophocles‘s tragedy which he first directed in 1992 in Manchester. Some seats available 111 the Grand Circle for those who don't want to stand. See review.
I THEATRE WORKSHOP 34 Hamilton Place. 226 5425. [Access: PPA. ST. R. Facilities: WC. WS. H. G. C. Help: AA] Baldy Hopkins Until Sat 26 Mar. 8pm. Popular physical theatre company The Right Size in a new comic parable about grotesques in a grotesque world. Surreal. eccentric and highly skilled.
Inside Out Thurs 7—Sat 9 Apr. 8pm. £5 (£3). Aberdeen‘s first and only physical theatre company in a show combining dance. acrobatics. aerial work anti comedy.
I TRAVERSE THEATRE Cambridge Street. 228 1404. [Access: 1.. Facilities: WC. WS. H. G. C]
The Grapes of Wrath Until Sun 27 Mar. 8pm. £7 (£3.50). See Touring.
Brothers of Thunder Until Sun 17 Apr. Still 27 Mar. 7.30pm. Fri 1. Sun 3. Tue 5. Thurs 7. Sat 9. Wed 13. Fri 15 and Sun 17 Apr. 8pm; Sat 2. Wed 6 and Sat 16 mats.
3pm. After-show discussion on Tue 5 Apr. Meet the author and after-show discussion on Sat 16 Apr. £8 (£4/£2). The Traverse‘s I994 iii-house season begins with the premiere of Ann Marie Di Mambro‘s study of forgiveness and reconciliation as a priest offers shelter to a man living with AIDS. Philip Howard directs.
The Hope Slide Fri 25 Mar—Thurs 14 Apr. Fri 25 public dress rehearsal. Sat 26. 7.30pm. Tue 29. Thurs 31. Sat 2. Wed 6. Fri 8. Sun 9. Tue 12. Thurs I4 and Sat 16. 8pm: Wed 30 Mar. Sat 9. Wed 13 Apr mats. 3pm. After-show discussion about ‘women in theatre‘ on Tue 12 Apr. Meet the author and after-show discussion on Sat 16 Apr. £8 (£4/£2). Kathryn Howden stars in the second of two new Traverse shows running concurrently. This is the British premiere of Canadian writer Joan Macl.eod's drama about a rebellious adolescent. a landslide. an anarchic religious sect and the AIDS crisis. Ian Brown directs.
Jewel Tue 5 Apr. 6pm. Free. The latest in the 'l’raverse‘s monthly series of rehearsed readings of new plays from around the world.
This section lists shows that are touring the Central Belt. There is a phone number for each company should you require more information.
I The Grapes of Wrath 7:84 teams up with Dundee Rep for this adaptation of John Steinbeck's classic novel of dust- bowl poverty. lain Reekie directs a cast of sixteen and the show includes live music. More details on ()41 331 2219.
'Ii‘ttvt'rxt' 'Ilit'ttrrt', lz'tllrilmrg/t Utttil Sun 27 Mar. 8pm.
(’umlmvtault/ 'I'ltt'urrt' Thurs 7~~Sat 9 Apr. 7.45pm.
Tour continues.
I Oh What a Lovely War Wildcat takes a break from the usual round of Anderson/Macl ,ennan musicals by reviving the ground-breaking satire of wartime values created by Joan 1.ittlewood's Theatre Workshop in the 60s. See preview. More details on ()41 221 6789.
Citia'nx' 'I'lit'tttrt', (iluxgmv Tue 15 Mar—Sal 2 Apr.
Tour continues.
I Sacred Hearts Communicado teams tip with playwright Sue Glover for this drama loosely based on a strike by prostitutes who occupied l.yons Cathedral in 1975. That was also the year the Yorkshire Ripper made his first attack. and Glover uses the strike to expound on social attitudes to prostitution and women in general. Myra lylcFadyen makes her directorial debut with the show. See review. More details on ()31 228 5465. Tum ’lllt’llll't’, (iltls‘grm‘ Fri 25 M ar—Sun 3 Apr.
Tour continues.
I Salon Janette New musical play specialist Take Two Prtxluctions turns to the girl-group songs of 1963 for this entertaining comedy written by Stuart Thomas and set in a beauty parlour. Mary Riggans stars. More details on ()41 334 9015.
(r'l't’t’rlttt'k Arts (liti/t/ Sat 26 Mar. 7.30pm. 0475 723038.
Alla/n Smith '1 'ltt'tltrt'. Klrkt'ultlv Wed 30 Mar. 7.30pm. ()592 260 498.
Bvrt' Tllt’dll't‘. St Andrews Fri 1--Sat 2 Apr. 8pm. 0334 76288.
I Tramcars and Greyhounds Doreen McArdle and Paula Macgee have split the writing chores on this play about two sisters living on either side of the Atlantic. McArdle concentrates on life at the sharp end in Glasgow. while Macgee looks at the collapse of the American dream. Annexe Theatre Company produces. See review. More details on 041 945 4444. [fast Kilhritlt' Village 'I'llt'um’ Fri 25 Mar. 03552 48669.
l’ttislev Arts Centre Sat 26 Mar. 041 887 1010.
4B The List 25 March—7 April 1994