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Theatre in GlasgowIf you're in Edinburgh, then you would be foolish not to nip across the Glasgow to sample the theatrical delights of Scotland's second city. It's half an hour by train and not much different by car - depending on the traffic, which can get very heavy. At one time Glasgow was a city to stay away from: impoverished, dull, little to offer. Not any more. Now it's an exciting and vibrant city with much to offer the theatre-lover. There are two theatres with an international reputation in the city, the Citizens and the Tron. Known mainly but not exclusively for its productions of what we might call classic theatre in the widest sense, the list of actors and actresses who have at some time or other in their career worked at the Citz reads like a who's who of British theatre. Many got their start there under the tutelage of the so-called triumvirate (Giles Havergal, Philip Prowse and Robert David MacDonald) who have run the theatre from time immemorial. There are three auditoria: the main house which seats 605 in a conventional three tiered space, the Circle Studio which seats 120 around its in-the-round stage, and the 60-seater Stalls Studio. The Tron is smaller: its main house seats 244 and is raked, and its Changing House Studio seats 75. It is a part-touring, part-producing theatre, accepting small- to mid-scale touring productions and producing new Scottish writing and innovative productions of classic works. Recently it has become involvved in co-productions andone of its most successful plays of recent years, Further than the Furthest Thing, was a co-production with the RNT. Smaller still, and not so well known is the Arches Theatre, situated in converted railway arches under Glasgow Central Station. Its raked main house seats 102 and its café/bar 500, but the latter is what they call a "theatrical nightclub" rather than a theatre and is used for bands and performance art. As this would suggest, the Arches is very adventurous in its programming, hosting local and touring companies as well as productions by its own professional company. It has another small space, the Crucible, which can be used in the round or end-on. Whilst some of the Arches' more experimental work is not to all tastes, the work produced by all of these theatres is universally recognised as being exciting and of a very high standard. The main receiving house in Glasgow is the Frank Matcham-designed King's Theatre, which seats 1785 in its Grade B listed building. It's a venue for comedy and musicals and does not normally present any drama. Another "biggie" is the Pavilion, but it is very much a variety venue The other well-known theatre is, of course, the Theatre Royal, home of Scottish Opera. Another Grade B listed building it was built in 1867 and seats 1445 people. As well as being the venue for Scottish Opera's productions, it is also a receiving house, hosting drama, ballet, light entertainment and children's shows. Like Edinburgh, Glasgow has lots of other theatres, including the Scottish Ballet's Robin Anderson Theatre, which was built as a venue for new Dance work but also encourages other forms of theatre. And then there is the Tramway. An arts centre rather than a theatre, it is a converted tram shed which has, in its time, hosted some ground-breaking Scottish theatre. The original 7:84 company played there, for instance. Edinburgh and Glasgow do not, of course, exhaust the theatrical wealth of Scotland - Perth has a rep theatre, as do Pitlochry, St Andrews, Mull, Musselburgh, Dundee, Cumbernauld and Arbroath, whilst there are receiving houses in Ayr, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Kilmarnock and Kirkcaldy, apart from all the Civic Theatres which include drama and musicals in their programmes. Next week we'll look at Wales and begin our exploration of regional theatre in England. BACK>> Edinburgh - Introduction Articles Indices: |
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