Citizens Theatre, Glasgow 4 stars There’s something a little bit special going on in this latest collaboration between the Citizens Theatre Community Company and Scottish Opera. Inspired by and in part sourced from Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, this pocket-sized version may put its twenty-strong cast in period dress, but the references and themes are as twenty-first century as it gets. Tam is a happy-go-lucky kind of guy about to get hitched to Ann, but who is led astray into the Glasgow flesh-pots by a mysterious stranger with a gold credit card. From Byres Road to Sauchiehall Street, the full social mix of a city in motion is observed in all its glory, with Tam falling prey to hedonistic excess, rampant consumerism and the shallow narcissism of celebrity. This comes in the form of a bearded pop starlet called Lady Baba, while there’s nods too to Hello magazine, west end institution Oran Mor and a top flight emporium revelling in the name of Pradamark. The result of all this in Elly Goodman and Neil Packham’s production, devised with the company, and with a new score composed for a live quartet by Matthew Brown, is a playful mash-up of old and new material. While on one hand the company rise gamely to the complexities of Brown’s material, under conductor Chris Gray’s guidance they prove equally adept at tackling the chorus numbers from Stravinsky’s original via its libretto by W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman. While there is much acting talent on offer, it is Jonathan Collins as Tam who anchors the show, although Annette Stewart’s Lady Baba steals things in a refreshingly accessible take on an old story that retains its dark heart. The Herald, July 2nd 2012 ends
Myra McFadyen – Actress Born January 12th 1956; died October 18th 2024 Myra McFadyen, who has died aged 68, was an actress who brought a mercurial mix of lightness and depth to her work on stage and screen. Playwright and artistic director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, David Greig, called McFadyen “an utterly transformative, shamanic actor who could change a room and command an audience with a blink”. Citizens’ Theatre artistic director Dominic Hill described McFadyen’s portrayal of Puck in his 2019 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in London as “funny, mischievous and ultimately heartbreaking.” For many, McFadyen will be most recognisable from Mamma Mia!, the smash hit musical based around ABBA songs. McFadyen spent two years on the West End in Phyllida Lloyd’s original 1999 stage production, and was in both film offshoots. Other big screen turns included Rob Roy (1995) and Our Ladies (2019), both directed by Mi...
Comments