Theatre
EDINBURGH
■ BRUNTON THEATRE Ladywell Way, Musselburgh, 665 2240. Dancing at Lughnasa Sat 1 Sep, 7.30pm. £11.50 (£9.50; under 18s £6.50). Brian Friel’s Olivier Award-winning play about life in a remote part of Ireland in the 1930s, focusing on the lives and loves of five sisters, told from the perspective of their brother Michael. Production by Theatre Alba. Dream on Midsummer’s Night Tue 11 Sep. See Kids listings. Dannsa: Connections Thu 13 Sep, 7.30pm. £11 (£9.50; under 18s £6.50). Inspired by how dance and music connects people and places, this is a collaboration between dancers and musicians to create a thrilling mix of modern arrangements of trad tunes and a new style of step dancing. Miss Havisham’s Expectations ●●●●● Sat 15 Sep, 7.30pm. £11.50 (£9.50; under 18s £6.50). Mixing fact and fiction, Linda Marlowe brings one of Dickens’ most famous creations to life. ■ CHURCH HILL THEATRE 33a Morningside Road, 447 7597. Summer Holiday Wed 5–Sat 8 Sep, 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm). £10 (£7.50). Lothian Youth Arts & Musicals Company perform Cliff’s 1950s road- trip musical.
■ THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE 18-22 Greenside Place, 0844 871 3014. The Phantom of the Opera Wed 19 Sep–Sat 20 Oct (not Sun/Mon), 7.30pm (Sat & Thu mat 2.30pm). £19.50–£56. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s vastly popular melodramatic musical comes to Scotland at last, with John Owen-Jones and Earl Carpenter sharing the role of the Phantom. ■ KING’S THEATRE 2 Leven Street, 529 6000. The Good Old Days Thu 6 Sep, 2pm. £14.50 (seniors £11.50). An afternoon of traditional music hall and variety presented by veteran host Duggie Chapman.
■ ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE Grindlay Street, 248 4848.
✽The Guid Sisters Thu 20 Sep–Sat 13 Oct (not Sun/Mon), 7.45pm (Wed 26 & Sat 29 Sep, Wed 3, Sat 6, Wed 10 & Sat 13 Oct, mats 2.30pm). £14.50–£29. Martin Bowman and Bill Findlay’s Scots translation of the original Québecois play Les Belles-soeurs. When Germaine Luzon wins a competition, she calls on her family, friends and neighbours help her take advantage. A story about women and economic survival, produced in collaboration with the National Theatre of Scotland. See preview, page 86.
■ SCOTTISH STORYTELLING CENTRE 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. The Barkin House Thu 6 Sep, 7.30pm. £10 (£8). Wilma G Stark’s poetic new play about the struggles of Flora Mary, an inhabitant of a barkin house in Lochranza, Arran, detailing her memories and sorrows as she struggles to stay alive. Directed by Morna Burdon and performed by Margaret Fraser. With music from Duncan Chisholm’s Door of Saints and Amy Allan, and followed by a Q&A session. Absolutely Legless Sat 8 Sep, 7.30pm. £10 (£8; children £5). A full evening show from the Edinburgh-based Irish dance group, who come complete with live band featuring the evocative sounds of fiddles, flutes and guitar.
■ TRAVERSE THEATRE Cambridge Street, 228 1404. Scottish Opera: In the Locked Room & Ghost Patrol Thu 30 Aug, 88 THE LIST 23 Aug–20 Sep 2012
8pm; Sat 1 Sep, noon; Sun 2 Sep, 3pm. £25. See Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Random Object Flying Through the Air Thu 13 & Fri 14 Sep, 8pm. £6 (£4). Students of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, in collaboration with Playwrights’ Studio Scotland, present a new play about the nature of love and connections in the globalised, digital world. The Fragmented Life of Dorothy Lawrence Thu 13 & Sat 15 Sep, 8pm. £6 (£4). MA students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland stage a production of Lewis Hetherington’s play about the true story of Dorothy Lawrence, who dressed up in man’s clothing and cycled across France to fight in WWI.
The Special Fri 14 & Sat 15 Sep, 8pm. £6 (£4). A love story with a kick by Rona Munro (The Last Witch), set in the kitchen of a busy restaurant. Performed by MA students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, in collaboration with Playwrights’ Studio Scotland.
✽Ménage à Trois Wed 19 Sep, 7.30pm. £tbc. See Tramway, Glasgow.
OUTSIDE THE CITIES ■ BYRE THEATRE Abbey Street, St Andrews, 01334 475000. The List Thu 30 Aug, 7.30pm. £12 (£8–£10). The award-winning tale of a bereaved woman struggling to come
to terms with rural living, who begins to stick rigorously to her lists until this ritual introduces a new set of troubles. Allotment Fri 31 Aug, 3pm, 5pm & 7pm. £10 (£8). Meet two green-fingered sisters among the plants for a cuppa, a homemade scone and a major dose of sibling rivalry as Edinburgh company Nutshell returns with its darkly funny Fringe First award winner. The show is performed on real allotments, whatever the weather, so come prepared. The Best of Times, The Worst of Times Sat 1 Sep, 7.30pm. £12. Moving production that explores war and its long-lasting effect on veterans, specially created by Friends of the Byre to raise funds for Combat Stress. The Pirates of Penzance Tue 11–Sat 15 Sep, 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm). £10– £13. Gilbert & Sullivan’s swashbuckling opera is presented by Anstruther & District Amateur Operatic Society. Please note the 2.30pm performance on Sat 15 Sep is audio described. Licketyleap Sat 15 & Sat 22 Sep. See Kids listings. Billy Budd, Sailor Thu 20 Sep, 7.30pm. £12 (£8–£10). A story of male relationships, lust and obsession on the high seas, taken from Herman Melville’s novel and presented by Magnetic North. Ages 16+.
■ DUNDEE REP Tay Square, Dundee, 01382 223530. Mill Lavvies Thu 30 Aug–Thu 6 Sep (not Sun/Mon), 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm); Sat 15–Sat 29 Sep (not Sun), 7.30pm (Sat 15, Thu 20 & Thu 27 Sep mats 2.30pm. £6–£19. Play set in a 1960s Dundee jute mill following the lives of five men working there and featuring songs by Michael Marra.
✽She Town Wed 12–Sat 29 Sep (not Sun/Mon, not Sat 15 Sep), 7.30pm
(Sat 22 & 29 Sep mats 2.30pm). £6–£19. Dundee Rep Ensemble presents this largely female play about a group of women working in the mills to support their families and stay at home husbands. In the mean time, many miles away, the Spanish Civil War proves to have a lasting effect on the women of Dundee.
NEW WORK MÉNAGE À TROIS Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 24 & Sat 25 Aug; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Wed 19 Sep
‘Someone hung a jacket on a pair of crutches, like a scarecrow. There was something in it that really fascinated me and I wanted to come back to it.’ Unable to shake this innocuous image, multi-disciplinary performer
Claire Cunningham held onto the idea for a couple of years as it grew, taking on a cohesive shape that would become her newest piece of work, Ménage à Trois. The cutting-edge performance scrutinises society’s perceptions of the aesthetics of the onstage body by awarding Cunningham’s own crutches a starring role in the piece, as well as exploring the long-term relationship she has with them. Cunningham admits that creating the production took a lot of soul
searching.
‘It has been quite a difficult process – making the show meant I had to take myself apart and discover what were the issues I had, how I felt I was perceived by potential partners, how to physically represent the walls that you put up to protect yourself.’ Incorporating not only dance, but animation and puppetry,
Cunningham depicts the often closed-off world in which she lives and juxtaposes this with a magical dream environment that occurs when her crutches come to life as her ideal man, further enhancing the personal vibe that suffuses the show. Sentimentality is not indulged here, in fact it is often punctured.
‘Dance has a history of taking itself a little too seriously, so this show displays a very dark and twisted humour. We tried hard to make something that pulls the audience in to feel as though they’re in my imagined world.’ (Kirstyn Smith)
■ INVERESK LODGE GARDEN 24 Inveresk Village Road, Musselburgh. Booking via the Brunton Theatre: 0131 665 2240. Allotment Thu 6 Sep, 3pm, 4pm & 7pm. £9 (£6). See Byre Theatre, St Andrews. ■ MACROBERT University of Stirling, Stirling, 01786 466666. Allotment Wed 5 Sep, 2.45pm, 4.45pm & 6.45pm. £10 (£9). See Byre Theatre, St Andrews. Held at an outdoor location near to macrobert; meet at the box office 15 minutes before the start of the performance. The Lockerbie Bomber Sat 8 & Sun 9 Sep, 7pm & 9pm. £10 (£9). Controversial new play by Kenneth Ross is brought to the stage detailing the events of December 1988 and revealing some of the tragedy’s secrets.
■ PERTH CONCERT HALL Mill Street, Perth, 01738 621031. The Lady Boys of Bangkok: Carnival Queens Mon 3 Sep, 7.30pm. £18.50–£24. See King’s Theatre, Glasgow. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat Tue 11–Sat 15 Sep, 7.30pm (Wed mat 1.30pm; Fri mat 10.30am; Sat mat 12.30pm). £17–£31 (£14.50–£28.50). Bill Kenwright’s production of the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical returns, with Keith Jack starring as the boy with the troublesome coat. ■ PERTH THEATRE 185 High Street, Perth, 01738 621031. Tam O’Shanter Wed 5–Sat 8 Sep, 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm). £10.50–£19. See Citizens Theatre, Glasgow.