Theatre and dance highlights of the West End Festival 2012

Featuring Pygmalion, Man of the House and Pulse 12

The Tempest

At first glance, the theatre and dance programme for this year’s West End Festival looks a bit traditional as the team from A Play, a Pie and a Pint offers up Shaw and Jarry classics while The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet are brought back for the Bard in the Botanics season (see interview with artistic director Gordon Barr). That said, the newly established (and aptly named) West End Theatre Company stage Man of the House, their Psycho-esque debut play focusing on a clingy mother and her indolent son. Written by Glasgow novelist Laura Marney, the play recalls the darkly comic tone of her books by exploring the damaging yet awkward side of ‘unwise’ love. The dance strand is topped up with some Flamenco Fusion crossed with a bit of opera. You can go one better with a Scottish Step Dance event, featuring live music and offering the chance to learn some basic, traditional bops; or alternatively relax with Annisland College’s Pulse 12 showcase, displaying some of Scotland’s liveliest choreographers.

Various venues, Glasgow’s West End, Fri 1–Sun 24 Jun.