Theatre, Previews

Philip Pullman's Clockwork adapted by Visible Fictions and Scottish Opera

Fairytale novel set for stage adaptation and Scottish tour

When Visible Fictions’ and Scottish Opera’s re-working of Clockwork opens this month, it will be the fifth stage adaptation of the book in seven years. Philip Pullman’s fairytale novel, known for its complex story within a story, clearly lights a flame…

Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival promises a quality homegrown line-up alongside the usual groundbreaking international work

The Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival has always featured quality children’s theatre from both home and abroad. But while international talent has never been in short supply, Scottish-based companies worthy of inclusion were initially thin on the…

Rona Munro’s play Pandas set for Traverse Spring Summer season

Romantic comedy explores links with China through three couples

Just a few weeks after Rona Munro’s Pandas was revealed as part of the Traverse’s Spring Summer season, Edinburgh Zoo announced that it would soon be home to the first pair of giant pandas to live in the UK for 17 years. The timing may have been…

Easter Revelry event at Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle hosts a weekend of family events this Easter

The Easter Revelry event at Edinburgh Castle takes place on Sat 23 - Mon 25 April, and includes historically-themed activities that'll appeal to all the family. Kramis the wizard will perform magic tricks to amuse and amaze you, while Sir Hugo Sofboiled…

Mayfesto to focus on Celtic nations for 2011

Playwrights David Harrower and David Ireland and director Leann O'Kasi share their views

Last year’s inaugural Mayfesto – a theatre festival that aims to showcase politically-themed work at Glasgow’s Tron – took the problems of the Middle East as its overarching theme. This year, Artistic Director Andy Arnold has opted for a more local…

Jemima Levick and Jo Clifford adapt Tolstoy's Anna Karenina for the Dundee Rep

Jemima Levick is what you might call a safe pair of hands – a fact borne witness to by a string of well-received shows at Dundee Rep and an armful of awards from her freelance days. Couple that reputation with a classic novel and a script by Jo Clifford…

Mark O'Rowe's lyrical and violent play Terminus to be revived at the Citz

The drama pairs Tarantino-esque clashes with rhyming monolgues

Wondering what would happen if someone fell from one of the many construction cranes looming over Dublin at the time, writer/director Mark O’Rowe set himself a challenge by starting his play Terminus at the height of the action and let his imagination…

Tramway Family Day: Alice in Wonderland

The Glasgow arts venue celebrates Lewis Carrol's most famous creation

When young Alice sips from a bottle marked ‘drink me’ in Lewis Carroll’s well-loved tale, Alice in Wonderland, a remarkable change occurs. Which is one of the reasons the team at Tramway was inspired to base its latest Family Day around this most…

Election night entertainment - Unholyrood, Welcome to the Hotel Caledonia and Mayfesto: It's a Dead Liberty!

Perhaps injustices tend to hit harder when they’re closer to home; perhaps there’s just more meat; but periods of Tory government do tend to galvanize our satirists and create new relevance for political theatre. You may have noticed stirrings…

Liz Lochead translation Educating Agnes explores universal themes

Scotland's Makar translates Moliere's The School for Wives into Scots

Following on from the success of Tartuffe in 1985 and Miseryguts (nee The Misanthrope) in 2002, Scotland’s new makar Liz Lochhead will return once more here to translating the work of the 17th century French satirist Moliere into Scots, with the…

Shaun the Sheep goes solo in Shaun's Big Show

Author David Wood helps transition from screen to stage

There’s no higher accolade for a character, then to get your own spin-off. Cheers led to Frasier, Friends to Joey, and Family Guy gave birth to The Cleveland Show. But who would have thought, when A Close Shave premiered in 1995, that a skinny legged…

Theatre writer and performer Clare Duffy's new show about money

Platform 18: Money - The Game Show

What drew you to the subject of money for your new show? I was amazed by the enormity of the financial crisis in 2008. I hadn’t really realised before that money might actually stop working on a global scale. Of course I was glad that it didn’t! But it…

Ivan and the Dogs explores notion of feral children

Theatre piece based on true story of Ivan Mishukov

You wait 18 months for a play about feral children, then two come along at once. Not since NIE’s My Life with the Dogs in the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe have we heard the true story of Ivan Mishukov, a four-year old boy from Moscow who lived with a pack of…

Six Black Candles revives adaptation of Des Dillon novel

Revenge story from writer of Singin’ I’m No’ a Billy, He’s a Tim

'I see myself as the Bruce Springsteen of Scottish writers,’ says Des Dillon with a smile. ‘I write about a certain class of people – white trash, basically – and I write about them in simple language, using hardly any words to create powerful images.

Dancing at Lughnasa story of five sisters rural in 1936 Donegal

Citizens run marks 21st anniversary of Brian Friel's hit play

When The Original Theatre Company’s version of Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa arrives at the Citizens Theatre in April, it will mark the 21st anniversary of its very first performance. ‘We hope that’s it’s going to really speak to people in Glasgow,…

Contemporary dance festival New Territories 2011

Artistic director Nikki Milican talks us through the highlights

As the New Territories festival continues apace, we asked artistic director Nikki Milican to take us on a whistle-stop tour of the main stage dance productions. First up is a double-bill from Louise Lecavalier, a former dancer with Canadian outfit…

The best upcoming theatre shows in Scotland for Spring 2011

A guide to the unmissable shows in theatreland til June

Girl X On tour, 4 March–20 April Brilliant Belgian director Pol Heyvaert, who directed Aalst for the National Theatre of Scotland, hooks up with Glasgow actor Robert Softley for a provocative play based on the controversial case of Ashley X, a girl…

New show Caged from Catherine Wheels

Theatre company adapt Beauty and the Beast with a non-Disney outlook

What’s in a name? Seemingly a great deal when it comes to selling a show, as Catherine Wheels theatre company discovered when they started work on their new fairytale adaptation, Caged. ‘We were originally going to call it Beauty and the Beast,…

Northern Ballet production of Cleopatra tours UK

A preview of the new dance production from the acclaimed company

From Peter Pan to Dangerous Liaisons, Northern Ballet (formerly Northern Ballet Theatre) knows how to turn a good book into a great dance. With new production, Cleopatra, however, the company is heading into uncharted territory. For, while the movers…

Magnetic North's Wild Life explores idea of modern day feral child

Playwright Pamela Carter's play inspired by ‘Wild Boy of Aveyron’

From travelling freak shows to Channel 4’s sensationalistic Bodyshock series, voyeurism has long been a part of human nature, and the internet has only increased the opportunities for pointing and staring at those who stand out somehow from what our…

Just Checking charts bride-to-be whose OCD is getting the better of her

Very physical piece from Taggart actor

For an actor, no job is for life. Not even when you’re the star of Britain’s longest running cop show. So when Blythe Duff (aka DI Jackie Reid) found herself in between series of Taggart in 2009, she thought it would be prudent to have another string to…

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice set for Dundee Rep

Classic Ugly Duckling story of a young person overcoming life’s obstacles

It was good news for Helen Darbyshire when she checked in with the voice doctor. Before committing to the part of Little Voice in Jim Cartwright’s play, she wanted to be sure her vocal chords were up to the task. This is a character whose pathological…

Ailey 2 company carries an explosive amount of youthful vigour

American dance company set for King's Theatre, Glasgow

When Alvin Ailey died in 1989, he left behind an incredible legacy. Not only had he created a remarkable body of works, and a company – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – to perform them, but he had also looked to the future. As dancers mature and…

Anthony Neilson’s Penetrator set for Glasgow performances

New group Boxman Theatre tackle bold work at Tramway

Since its 1993 Traverse debut, Anthony Neilson’s Penetrator has been held up as one of the Scottish playwright’s best works, its aggressive and unsettling atmosphere making it an early classic of what’s become known as ‘in-yer-face theatre’. It’s a bold…

Rob Drummond: Wrestling fuses pro wrestling, short film and theatre

Playwright, actor and director's play about a pacifist who decides to ‘man up’

Those unfamiliar with choke slams and half nelsons may only associate wrestling with spandex, muscly men and the career salvation of Mickey Rourke. Yet playwright, actor and director Rob Drummond hopes to change that with his latest, and most ambitious…