Theatre
Stage Whispers
I As New Year hangovers begin to lift, the theatre often stirs, slowly, to life in January, shaking off the grip of panto season with the first halting steps of a restarted season proper. Whispers finds no exception this year, with things not yet entirely in full swing, but the odd show is worth the trip into the January cold for the discerning theatregoer.
I One such show must be 0-90 by Daniel Kitson. Those who saw this monologue’s debut at the Traverse last Fringe will require little incentive to find their way to The Arches for this one. in it, Kitson tells the story of a man who curates old cassette tapes compiled by all kinds of folk for their lovers. This acts as a starting point for a succession of comical character sketches, detailing the lives of many a disappointed or elated lover over many a year. But the man also has a crush on the local lollipop lady in the regional English town of his home, and this becomes the central thread. It’s a comic and sentimental tale that falls just the warm and glowing side of cloying, and is well worth the watch.
I Meanwhile there’s some musical fare from 7:84, who are refusing to lie down after a year of Arts Council privation. Mark Rafferty and Anita Vettesse will be presenting an evening of political song from times of old to the present day at Laurie's Bar in Glasgow, near the Tron theatre. Admission is free, and the songs, Whispers is promised, include everything from cabaret to rap to The Clash. Doors open at 7.30pm on Friday 19th of January.
I So too, over at the Brunton, the English touring company Red Shift will be presenting what looks like a stylish piece of multimedia theatre in their new adaptation of Vertigo, which you might know from Alfred Hitchcock's classic film. This version incorporates a similar story, in which a policeman stricken with a fear of heights becomes fixated on a woman he is tailing, but is set in wartime Paris at the onset of Nazi occupation. It all sounds quite intriguing.
76 THE LIST l8 .Jan~1 Feb 2007
CONTEMPORARY DANCE X FACTOR DANCE Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Thu 1 & Fri 2 Feb
Arriving in Edinburgh to work with X Factor Dance, Philippe Decouer was faced with an unexpected array of talent. ‘I was surprised at how good the dancers are.‘ says the legendary French choreographer. ‘They‘re very experienced and Open-minded. and it's nice to create work with a group like that.‘
Decoutle is indeed working with the strongest line-up of dancers X Factor has ever seen. including ex-members of DV8. Richard Alston and Scottish Dance Theatre. But the real leather in X Factor's cap is Decouer himself. Playing alongside a new work by artistic director. Alan Greig, Morceai/x Choisis (Choice Cuts) will be the first Decoufle work seen in Scotland for many years.
Over the past two decades, Decouer has staged countless major shows. including ceremonies for the Winter Olympics and the spectacular Decodex and Shazam. not to mention choreographing New Order's ‘True Faith' video. X Factor's comparatively small budget, however. forced Decoufle to hark back to his early creativity.
‘Because it‘s a relatively small production. I couldn't develop much in terms of video or sets.‘ explains Decoufle. ‘So I've gone back to something quite simple and pure. Using little parts of pieces I've done before mixed with some new work. There‘s a lot of dance in it.‘
(Kelly Apter)
CHARITY EVENT TARTAN TURNS
The Jam House, Edinburgh, Sun 21 Jan, 6.30pm
There's a certain appeal to a night of variety entertainment that many in the cognoscenti don't really like to admit to. For this reason. it's great when someone gives you an excuse to go by making it a charity night. So it is that we can be thankful to the organisers of this event. which will raise money for sufferers from Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy and an organisatitm called PPUK for children suffering from similar muscular conditions.
It all sounds like a splendid excuse to see Andy Cameron introduce a succession of songs and comic turns from such River City and High Road stars as Eileen McCallum. Jenny Ryan and Shonagh Price. So too. .Joe McFadden, currently appearing in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Playhouse. and the cast of the NTS' triumphant Tutti Fri/tn. some of whom will reform their stage band. The Majestics. will add to the occasion. In the latter part of the evening there's the opportunity for a knees up with dance band It's Not Big and It's Not Clever. All this. a free Tunnock's Tea Cake. and a good cause A- you've had all the excuses you need. (Steve Crainer)
I Tickets are available by elm/ling tartantiirnstvyahoo.com or in person at
the Bt'Iytree Co, 54 Hanover Street.
NEW WORK THERE’S NO V IN GAELIC Citizen’s Theatre, Glasgow. Thu 25—Sat 27 Jan
People can be curiously disparaging about Gaelic as a cultural force for anything larger than localised music events, often with little personal experience on the topic beyond the odd maligned episode of Dotaman. The news that £1.3m worth of arts funding will be spent on an all-Gaelic opera commemorating St Kilda, which will go on to tour major European cities, was greeted with derisive howls from various cultural commentators at Christmas. What on earth is the point, they sneered, having obviously understood every word of the last Cosi Fan Tutte they caught, of sending an opera to countries where they don’t speak the language? Tosg, the only professional Gaelic theatre company in the country, predominately tour children’s productions based on myth and nature stories around Highland venues and the Gaelic- speaking primary schools in the central belt. Although there's an undeniable audience base for the work, Gaelic theatre can often feel ghettoised, tucked away from bigger venues and contemporary city concerns, strengthening the perception that it is only of interest to a minority audience and has little to offer mainstream Scottish culture.
There’s No Vin Gaelic, TAG Theatre’s collaboration with the new Glasgow- based arts hub An Lechran, is setting out to promote Gaelic as a vibrant, urban language able to articulate concerns of contemporary women. While it’s glib and easy to dismiss the production as a ‘Gaelic Vagina Monologues’, playwright Seonag Monk has built up her text around a similar format to Eve Ensler’s confessional project, drawing on the male-domininated Gaelic oral storytelling tradition and subverting it for female voices. Significantly, all three lead actors (Kathleen Maclnnes, Cathie Ann MacPhee and Margaret Bennett) are also musicians and storytellers, using the musicality of the language as much as the meaning of the words to communicate. Woven round the central performance are monologues written and performed by a group of 16-25- year-old Gaelic speakers who live in Glasgow. These pieces assert not only the performers’ right to have a voice, but the stereotype-confounding notion that there might be16—25-year-olds living in Glasgow who not only speak Gaelic (fluently), but have something to say in it. (Kirstin lnnes)