Citizens Theatre: Difference between revisions
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The Christmas show is always adapted from a classic text and is offered as an alternative to [[pantomime]]. |
The Christmas show is always adapted from a classic text and is offered as an alternative to [[pantomime]]. |
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==Citizens' Community Company and Citizens' |
==Citizens' Community Company and Citizens' YOUNG Co.== |
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[[Image:Wicked-1-14.jpg|thumb|right|Citizens' Community Company Production A Wicked Christmas 2007]] |
[[Image:Wicked-1-14.jpg|thumb|right|Citizens' Community Company Production A Wicked Christmas 2007]] |
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The concept of forming a Citizens' Community Company began to take shape in 1999 with the first Community Performance Project "Driving Out The Devil", short plays by [[Bertolt Brecht]], directed by Guy Hollands. Since this first evening the company has presented twenty different productions, performing over ninety shows and growing into a more or less permanent ensemble of around thirty people. Among projects the Community Company creates and performs is it's now annual performance A Wicked Christmas, showcasing the group's writing and acting talents and an irreverent look at all things festive. |
The concept of forming a Citizens' Community Company began to take shape in 1999 with the first Community Performance Project "Driving Out The Devil", short plays by [[Bertolt Brecht]], directed by Guy Hollands. Since this first evening the company has presented twenty different productions, performing over ninety shows and growing into a more or less permanent ensemble of around thirty people. Among projects the Community Company creates and performs is it's now annual performance A Wicked Christmas, showcasing the group's writing and acting talents and an irreverent look at all things festive. |
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Revision as of 13:00, 10 September 2008
 Exterior of the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre from Gorbals Street | |
 | |
| Address | 119 Gorbals Street Glasgow Scotland |
|---|---|
| Owner | City of Glasgow Council |
| Designation | Category B Listed building |
| Capacity | 500(main auditorium), 90 (circle studio), 50 (stalls studio) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | September 11 1945 |
| Architect | Campbell Douglas |
| Website | |
| www.citz.co.uk/ | |
The Citizens' Theatre is located in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Citizens' Theatre Today
Glasgow's Citizens' Theatre is based in the heart of the Gorbals and produces a breadth of work from professional work for it's main auditorium and studio spaces through to an ongoing commitment to creative learning and engaging with the community. The company is headed by two Joint Artistic Directors, Jeremy Raison and Guy Hollands.
While the Citizens' Theatre building retains some of the original Victorian architectural features it has undergone additional renovations and expansions over the years and now includes the 500-seat Main Auditorium, and two studio theatres, the Circle Studio (90 seats) and the Stalls Studio (50 seats). The Main Auditorium features a traditional Proscenium Arch stage which is raked (slopes down towards the auditorium) and has three seating levels, the stalls, the dress circle and the upper circle (or "gods").
As part of the theatre's ongoing commitment to remain accessible the Citizens' endeavors to keep tickets reasonably priced and schedules £4 preview performances and "bargain night" £7 performances on Tuesdays. Tickets for students and children are £7 for any seat, any performance and those living locally in the Gorbals are eligible for £4/5 tickets for all performances. In 2008 over 900 children from the Gorbals and surrounding schools will participate in a free workshop in their school and come to see The Wizard of Oz at the subsidised ticket price of £2.
Citizens' Theatre and TAG
TAG Theatre Company is one of the major players in the children and young people's theatre sector in Scotland.
The Citizens' Theatre and TAG Theatre Company came together as one company in April 2007. Together, the new company offers an unrivalled programme each year, from professional productions on the Citizens' stages to participatory work with people of all ages, backgrounds and cultures.
Within the new company, TAG encompasses all of the work for children and young people. Citizens' Learning focuses on developing links between the Citizens' Theatre and people of all ages living and working in Glasgow and the surrounding area, by encouraging them to engage with the theatre's work and participate in drama.
During the Citizens' Theatre production of Hamlet in September 2007 TAG Theatre accompanied the production with an extensive selection of workshops in schools, pre-show lectures and CPD sessions for teachers.
Autumn 2008 Season
Wed 17th September - Sat 11th October
Bringing together a 21st century Don Juan with his historical counterpart, this is a bold collision of old and new in a radical new version of the timeless story. [1]
A new version based on Carlo Goldoni's Don Juan Translated by Robert David MacDonald Directed by Jeremy Raison & Maxine Braham
The New Not New
Tue 30th September - Sat 4th October
Based on selected writings by Anais Nin, this is a 15 minute visual theatre short by puppeteer, Ailie Cohen. [2]
Directed by Guy Hollands (Curtain Raiser Event Preceding Don Juan)
Wed 22nd October - Sat 15th November
Harold Pinter's The Caretaker brought him his first major artistic and commercial success, and has been adapted for television and film. With a masterful use of dialogue, this is a brutally funny play that endures today as a modern classic. [3]
Directed by Phillip Breen
Sat 29th November 08 - Sat 3rd January 09
A faithful stage production of one of the most beloved films of all time, this special Citizens' production will showcase all the film's popular songs, played by a live band. [4]
Directed by Guy Hollands By Frank L. Baum With Music and Lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg Background Music by Herbert Stothart
Current Artistic Directors
Jeremy Raison
Jeremy Raison has been Artistic Director of the Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow since 2003. In Autumn 2008 he will direct the main stage production Don Juan.
Previous Citizens’ productions directed by Raison include Therese Raquin, Baby Doll, A Handful of Dust and Desire Under the Elms as well as Scottish classics The Bevellers, No Mean City and his own adaptation of The Sound of My Voice based on the novel by Ron Butlin.
Raison’s work for children and families in the Citizens’ includes The Borrowers, Charlotte’s Web, James and the Giant Peach, Peter Pan and Wee Fairy Tales.
Guy Hollands
Guy Hollands became Artistic Director of the Citizens' Theatre in 2006. In Autumn 2008 he will direct the Citizens' Christmas Show The Wizard of Oz and a puppetry "curtain raiser" piece The New Not New, based on short stories by Anais Nin.
Previous Citizens’ productions directed by Hollands include Hamlet and Ice Cream Dreams, a ground breaking work which used community actors, ex-addicts and professional actors to explore Glasgow's history during the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars.
Hollands’ work for children and families in the Citizens’ and on tour includes Liar and Yellow Moon, a new work by David Greig (dramatist) aimed specifically at teenage audiences.
A Producing Theatre
The Citizens' Theatre is the west of Scotland's major producing theatre. Approximately 30 members of staff work backstage during the run up to a production in addition to which up to 12 actors for a main auditorium production and a director may be rehearsing in one of the theatre's three rehearsal rooms. The production team includes stage management, lighting, sound, workshop, wardrobe and technicians. Costumes, sets, lighting and sound are prepared by the Citizens' backstage crew and the company produces several shows each year in the main auditorium, studio spaces and for touring.
Specialist training may be provided for actors on stage fighting, ballroom dancing, singing and even glass bevelling depending on the requirements of the production.
The Citizens' Theatre is the only theatre in Scotland still to have the original Victorian machinery under the stage and the original Victorian paint frame is still used today to paint the backcloths for shows. Welding, carpentry, sewing, painting and paper-mache may be used to create sets for productions.
The Christmas show is always adapted from a classic text and is offered as an alternative to pantomime.
Citizens' Community Company and Citizens' YOUNG Co.
The concept of forming a Citizens' Community Company began to take shape in 1999 with the first Community Performance Project "Driving Out The Devil", short plays by Bertolt Brecht, directed by Guy Hollands. Since this first evening the company has presented twenty different productions, performing over ninety shows and growing into a more or less permanent ensemble of around thirty people. Among projects the Community Company creates and performs is it's now annual performance A Wicked Christmas, showcasing the group's writing and acting talents and an irreverent look at all things festive.
The Citizens' YOUNG Co. launched in 2005. The company is drawn from young people aged 16-21 in Glasgow and across the West of Scotland. No prior experience is required. Attendance is free and participants work on professional productions performed as part of the Citizens' Theatre Season. YOUNG Co. members may study writing, performing, design or stage management and have the opportunity to work with theatre professionals to create highly skilled and powerful works.
Kids@Citz and Teenagers@Citz
TAG and the Citizens' Theatre run a programme of weekend drama classes for children and young people which sees over 250 participants attending the theatre most weekends. The classes are run by qualified drama tutors and are available for ages 4-15. At the end of each ten week term participants perform in one of the theatre's studio spaces for family and friends.
Kids@Citz (for ages 4-12) focuses on confidence building, social skills, encouraging children to use their creativity and fun. Participants learn an array of drama games which build upon these skills and devise work to perform for family and friends.
Teenagers@Citz (ages 13-15) introduces participants to voice, movement and stagecraft and encourages participants to take the lead in devising work for performance. Teenagers@Citz have the opportunity to move on to the Citizens' YOUNG Co. on turning 16 and thus to work on main stage and studio shows within the theatre.
In 2008 Kids@Citz participants will perform as munchkins alongside professional actors in the Citizens's Christmas show The Wizard of Oz. The production will be directed by Artistic Director Guy Hollands and designed by Jason Southgate.
History of the Citizens' Theatre
Founding
It is a theatre that belonged to the people of Glasgow, separate and distinct from the London repertory companies, and one made accessible and affordable to all audiences. The 1909 Manifesto of the Glasgow Repertory Theatre expressed these tenets: "The Repertory Theatre is Glasgow's own theatre. It is a citizens' theatre in the fullest sense of the term. Established to make Glasgow independent from London for its dramatic supplies, it produces plays which the Glasgow playgoers would otherwise not have the opportunity of seeing."
Such were the tenets that inspired James Bridie's vision when he led the efforts to found his repertory group, the Citizens' Company, in 1943. Bridie (born Osborne Henry Mavor) was a well-known and leading Scottish dramatist at the time, and is now considered to be a founding father of modern Scottish theatre following his involvement with both the establishment of the Citizens' Theatre, and the founding of Scotland's first college of drama, now known as the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
Originally based in the Athenaeum theatre (now the Old Athenaeum), Bridie's Citizens' Company relocated to the Victorian-era Royal Princess's Theatre in the Gorbals in 1945. The Royal Princess's was designed by Campbell Douglas, a contemporary of Alexander 'Greek' Thompson, seated 1,200 people and was opened in 1878. In 1945 Harry McKelvie "The Pantomime King" made the generous offer of tenancy to James Bridie. The theatre was renamed the Citizens' Theatre and the Citizens' Company opened there on September 11 1945.
During the long period from the 1970s to the 1990s, the Citizens' was associated with innovative play selections and stagings by Giles Havergal, Philip Prowse and Robert David MacDonald. Their internationalist approach was some distance from the original vision of a national theatre but did meet the access aspirations of the 1909 Manifesto, not least in a commitment to low pricing. There was also an associated studio theatre, The Close Theatre, until it was damaged by fire in 1973.
Controversy
During the 1970s the Citizens' attracted much controversy with its productions and advertising.
In December 1970 City Councillors called for an end to the £12,000 annual grant the Glasgow Corporation gave annually to the theatre after it was announced that anyone presenting a trade union card on 8th December would be granted free entry to the theatre. The Evening Times reported "The free tickets were suggested as a gesture of the actors' solidarity with the trade unionists' strike protest against the Industrial Relations Bill" (Evening Times, December 7 1970). This was the first of many altercations between the theatre and the City Council throughout the decade.
Earlier in the Autumn season of 1970 a controversial new staging of Hamlet caused outrage in the press for the nudity and alternative acting styles of the Company. The Scotsman headline reported "Hamlet Depicted As A Gibbering Oaf" (September 7 1970) but the public flocked to the production and the theatre discovered an all new audience. Cordelia Oliver, a longterm supporter of the Citizens' in her reviews, noted in the Guardian "Schoolchildren en masse rarely sit "Hamlet" out in silence, nor are they often roused to cheering as they did at the end last Friday. If Giles Havergal has set his sights on a predominately youthful audience for the Citizens' this reception suggest he may not be so wide off the mark" (September 10 1970).
In 1975 a flier advertising the spring season was condemned by Labour councillor Laurence McGarry for its depiction of "Shakespeare, in drag with large cleavage, painted lips, corsets, suspenders and hand on hip". The councillor felt the theatre was guilty of "playing to an intellectual minority rather than the great mass of the public".
In 1977 the Lord Provost Mr Peter McCann called for the sacking of theatre bosses after a performance of Dracula which featured nude scenes he described as "kinky claptrap appealing only to mentally ill weirdos" (Sunday Express, March 13 1977). The Provost's calls were not supported by his councillors and his attempts to gain city council control of programming at the Citizens' failed. The entire run of Dracula at the Citizens' was a sell-out.
Throughout its existence the Citizens' has been both criticised and acclaimed for its insistence on producing works which are not specifically populist. While many have claimed that a citizen's theatre should deliberately appeal to a mass audience the theatre has a history of experimental works which have proved immensely popular despite rather than because of their subject matter.
Ghost Stories
Every theatre has a ghost. The Citizens' has many. One long term staff member, trapped in the Upper Circle during a blackout, was led to safety by the distinctive outline of a monk. Customers seated in the Dress Circle during shows in the 1970s often inquired about the costumed "actor" who sat boldly on the balcony and stared back at them. Current staff members have caught glimpses of a "white lady" dressed in Victorian costume and flitting from the Dress Circle bar towards the Circle Studio dressing rooms.
Foyer Statues
Some much loved members of the Citizens' foyer are the theatre's Victorian era statues.
Inside the Citizens' foyer are four elephant statues and four Nautch girls statues, all in the baroque Anglo-Indian style, a reminder of the re-design of the Palace Theatre in 1907 by Bertie Crewe.
An order was made with little warning for the destruction of the Palace in 1977. Staff of the Citizens' arranged a stay of execution to rescue the best of the Victorian fittings, including the statues. The remaining two elephants and two more nautch girls (or goddesses) can now be found in the Theatre Museum in London.
The foyer's repainting in bright pink in the summer of 2004 included the statues and the entrance to the main auditorium is now guarded by four pink elephants.
The foyer also features statues representing William Shakespeare, Robert Burns and four muses, music, dance, tragedy and comedy, which were originally placed on the roof of the Royal Princess's Theatre and are the work of Victorian Glasgow sculptor John Mossman.
The six pillars on which they sat were once the front of the Union Bank on Ingram Street. The statues were brought down from the building after nearly a hundred years on 12th July 1977 in order to protect them from demolition work taking place at the nearby Gorbals Cross.
At the time the Glasgow Herald reported the statues weighed around three tons each and newspaper articles from the period reveal that the allegorically named "music" muse also had the nickname Highland Mary. Smaller replicas of the four muses statues can be seen in gold above the main stage itself.
External links
- Behind The Scenes Blog for The Citizen's Theatre
- Blog Of The Theatre's Work With Children and Young People
