Civic pride isn’t exactly renowned for making good theatre, let alone a musical. The tale of how a maverick entrepreneur not only built a palace to call his own, but relocated it piece by piece by sailing it down the Clyde to make it one of Glasgow’s most striking architectural sights, however, is pure romance. Hence Kibble!!, devised by A Play, A Pie And A Pint’s team of David MacLennan and Dave Anderson, and performed in situ in the Royal Botanical Gardens’ restored Kibble Palace as part of Glasgow’s West End Festival.
“Old man Kibble was a bit of a character,” according to Anderson’s take on his subject. “He was a great inventor and a keen photographer. The palace was originally in his home in Coulport in Loch Long, and he had it moved in the 1870s when Kelvinside was still outwith the city boundaries. It’s not on record how he did it, but the received knowledge is that he transported it by boat along the Clyde.”
Out of this, Anderson and MacLennan have spun a musical narrative performed by Anderson alongside actress Juliet Cadzow. They’ll be helped out by a string quartet, a pianist and two dozen members of The Lochwinnoch Choral Society Choir performing songs from and about the period alongside Anderson’s brand new score. With dramatised excerpts from Gladstone and Disraeli’s rectorial addresses, Kibble will also feature meditative ruminations on goldfish and the original Kibble Palace waltz composed in 1896.
Such an ambitious work out will usher in a new period for the Kibble Palace, which re-opened at the end of 2006 following a multi-million pound makeover that kept its doors closed for more than three years. It also marks MacLennan and Anderson’s ongoing pursuit of a mini-musical form which in the last year has seen them cram assorted orchestras, choirs and big bands into Oran Mor’s intimate space.
This skip across the road to the gardens, then, is a historical novelty perfectly in tune with The Kibble’s own roots as a concert venue.
“Seeing orchestras in venues like this and Oran Mor is thrilling to see,” says Anderson. “What’s great as well about this show is that we get to introduce to people a bit of history on their own doorstep which they may not have known about. There’s a lot in this. We’ve been reading books and everything.”
Kibble!! Kibble Palace, Royal Botanical Gardens, Glasgow, June 18-24, 9pm
www.westendfestival.co.uk
The Herald, June 12th 2007
ends
“Old man Kibble was a bit of a character,” according to Anderson’s take on his subject. “He was a great inventor and a keen photographer. The palace was originally in his home in Coulport in Loch Long, and he had it moved in the 1870s when Kelvinside was still outwith the city boundaries. It’s not on record how he did it, but the received knowledge is that he transported it by boat along the Clyde.”
Out of this, Anderson and MacLennan have spun a musical narrative performed by Anderson alongside actress Juliet Cadzow. They’ll be helped out by a string quartet, a pianist and two dozen members of The Lochwinnoch Choral Society Choir performing songs from and about the period alongside Anderson’s brand new score. With dramatised excerpts from Gladstone and Disraeli’s rectorial addresses, Kibble will also feature meditative ruminations on goldfish and the original Kibble Palace waltz composed in 1896.
Such an ambitious work out will usher in a new period for the Kibble Palace, which re-opened at the end of 2006 following a multi-million pound makeover that kept its doors closed for more than three years. It also marks MacLennan and Anderson’s ongoing pursuit of a mini-musical form which in the last year has seen them cram assorted orchestras, choirs and big bands into Oran Mor’s intimate space.
This skip across the road to the gardens, then, is a historical novelty perfectly in tune with The Kibble’s own roots as a concert venue.
“Seeing orchestras in venues like this and Oran Mor is thrilling to see,” says Anderson. “What’s great as well about this show is that we get to introduce to people a bit of history on their own doorstep which they may not have known about. There’s a lot in this. We’ve been reading books and everything.”
Kibble!! Kibble Palace, Royal Botanical Gardens, Glasgow, June 18-24, 9pm
www.westendfestival.co.uk
The Herald, June 12th 2007
ends
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