Theatre, Issue 589

Hitlist - the best theatre

*Ian Rankin's picks Tamburlaine Must Die A modern thriller in Elizabethan guise. Louise Welsh’s adaptation of her novel revisits the life, and mysterious death of Christopher Marlowe. Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Sat 3–Sun 11 Nov. Whipping It Up…

Richard Wilson

‘One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is you end up being governed by your inferiors.’ Given that Plato’s comment was made two-and-a-half thousand years ago, it’s astonishing how fresh it sounds today. Yet, for all the great…

Living Quarters

UK PREMIERE Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 17 Nov Anyone who has lived beyond a certain age may be confronted with memories of decisions taken in earlier life that are destined to haunt them, and be they something done to another or to…

A Midsummer Night's Dream

CLASSIC King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, run ended Since its premiere in New Delhi in April 2006, Tim Supple’s multilingual Dream seems to have conquered the resistance of every audience it has played to. Its first (though surely not last) appearance in…

Tamburlaine Must Die

ELIZABETHAN THRILLER Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Sat 3–Sun 11 Nov Considering she hasn’t even seen the script, Louise Welsh is remarkably relaxed about the upcoming Glasgay! production of her 2004 novella, which trails the playwright and spy…

Flight Path

NEW WRITING Traverse, Edinburgh, Tue 6–Sat 10 Nov David Watson’s new play, presented by Out of Joint, explores Britain’s youth from a multi-generational perspective. The piece presents 12 months in 12 scenes depicting the life of an 18-year-old…

Richard Alston Dance Company

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 13 Nov Music – some choreographers can’t start work without it, while for others it’s the final piece in the jigsaw. But for Martin Lawrance, dancer and choreographer with Richard Alston Dance…

Desire Under The Elms

MODERN CLASSIC Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 17 Nov O’Neill’s 1925 experiment in modern tragedy has been acclaimed as a powerful, elemental drama, so it might ill-behove me to question its status. But Jeremy Raison’s production at the Citz…

Rambert Dance Company

CONTEMPORARY DANCE Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Wed 7–Fri 9 Nov Grace, finesse and refinement – three things every Rambert dancer has at their disposal. But the arrival of Australian choreographer, Garry Stewart this summer, turned the company on…

Optical Identity

MUSIC THEATRE Byre Theatre, St Andrews, Thu 1 Nov, then touring Ambience is all very well as a concept, but if one is to create atmosphere, something needs to happen in it. This, in a way, was the problem for the ambient music scene a few years back…

Paines Plough at Oran Mor

LUNCHTIME THEATRE Oran Mor, Glasgow, until Sat 17 Nov One of the features of Oran Mor’s Play, Pie and Pint of recent times has been its capacity to forge links with other companies. Over the next few weeks, there’ll be a chance to see three pieces…

Hitlist - The best theatre & dance

• Tamburlaine Must Die A modern thriller in Elizabethan guise. Louise Welsh’s adaptation of her novel revisits the life, and mysterious death of Christopher Marlowe. Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Sat 3–Sun 11 Nov. *Ian Rankin's choice • Whipping It Up…

Faustus

NEW WORK Dundee Rep, Tue 13–Sat 17 Nov, then touring In general, the visual arts and theatre go together like garlic and custard. The theatre’s more outward-looking social vision, its concern with public issues, might seem to contrast with the…

Molly Sweeney

REVIVAL Dervaig Hall, Fri 9 Nov, then touring For the eponymous middle-aged woman (Cara Kelly) in Brian Friel’s play the rituals of everyday life are suddenly and irreversibly disrupted when, having been blind for her entire life, her sight is…