Citizens' Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Citizens Theatre is based in Glasgow
, Scotland
and is the principal producing theatre
in the west of Scotland. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and two studio theatre
s, the Circle Studio (100 seats, a theatre in the round
space) and the Stalls Studio (50 seats, an alley theater
space).
The Citizen's Theatre repertory group, originally called the Citizen's Company, was founded in 1943 by gallery director Tom Honeyman
and dramatist James Bridie
. The Citizens Company was based at first in the Glasgow Athenaeum. It moved in 1945 to its present site, the then Royal Princess's Theatre (opened 1878) where it became the Citizen's Theatre.
The Citizens Theatre
is based in the Gorbals
area of Glasgow
, Scotland
and produces a breadth of work from professional productions for its main auditorium and studio spaces through to an ongoing commitment to creative learning and engaging with the community.
While the Citizens Theatre building retains some of the original Victorian
architectural features, it has undergone additional renovations and expansions over the years. It now includes the 500-seat main auditorium, and two studio theatre
s, the circle studio (100 seats, a theatre in the round
space) and the stalls studio (50 seats, an alley theatre
space). The main auditorium contains the original (1878) Proscenium
arch stage, which is raked (slopes down towards the auditorium); it has three seating levels: the stalls, the dress circle and the upper circle (or "gods"). The building contains the oldest original (1878) working understage machinery and paint frame in a working theatre in the United Kingdom
. The paint frame is still used for scenic painting
and its original glass roof remains.
As part of the theatre's ongoing commitment to remain accessible, the Citizens' endeavors to keep tickets reasonably priced and schedules £5 preview performances and "bargain night" £10 performances on Tuesdays. Tickets for students and children are £7.50 for any seat, any performance; and local residents in the Gorbals are eligible for £4.50/5 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.
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 a substantial programme of work each year, from professional productions on the Citizens stages to participatory work with people of all ages, backgrounds and cultures. The new Citizens Learning and TAG department now coordinates all outreach work for the company.
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.
at the Traverse Theatre
, Edinburgh for the last 3 years. Prior to the Traverse, he was Co-Artistic Director (with James Brining) at Dundee Rep Theatre, a post he held for 5 years from 2003. Before joining Dundee Rep, Dominic worked as a Freelance Director, Associate Director at Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, Assistant Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company
and Assistant Director at Perth Theatre.
He has received many accolades for his critically acclaimed productions, including numerous CATS Awards (Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland) for amongst others, The Dark Things (Best Production 2009/10); Peer Gynt (Best Director & Best Production 2007/08); and Scenes from an Execution (Best Director 2003/04).
Dominic took up post in October 2011.
of the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow from 2003 until August 2010. After seven successful years Raison directed his final production A Clockwork Orange
, based on Anthony Burgess
's iconic novel in October 2010.
Previous Citizens productions directed by Raison include Thérèse Raquin
, Baby Doll
, A Handful of Dust
, Desire Under the Elms
and Ghosts (play)
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
, Cinderella
and Wee Fairy Tales.
of the Citizens Theatre in 2006, having previously been Artistic Director of TAG since 2004. After four successful years, Hollands is expected to assume a new role leading the Citizens Theatre company's creative learning portfolio in early 2011. Previous Citizens productions directed by Hollands include "Hamlet", "Waiting For Godot", "Othello", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Caretaker", "Nightingale and Chase", "The Fever" and "Ice Cream Dreams", a ground breaking work which used community actors, people in recovery and professional actors to explore Glasgow's history during the "Glasgow Ice Cream Wars".
Hollands' work for children and families for TAG and on tour includes Yellow Moon, " A Taste of Honey", "King Lear", "Knives in Hens", Liar, Museum of Dreams, "Meep and Moop" and The Monster in the Hall.
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 actor
s 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. Costume
s, 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.
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.
Recently, Christmas shows have been fairy tales adapted by Alan McHugh and presented in highly theatrical productions offered as an alternative to pantomime
.
Guy Hollands founded the Citizens Community Company 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 20 different productions, performing over 90 shows, and growing into a more or less permanent ensemble of around 30 people. The Community Company performs an annual A Wicked Christmas, showcasing the group's writing and acting talents, and taking 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.
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 10-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.
In 2008 Kids@Citz participants performed as "munchkins" alongside professional actors in the Citizens Christmas show The Wizard of Oz
. The production will be directed by Artistic Director Guy Hollands and designed by Jason Southgate.
Teenagers@Citz (ages 13–15) introduces participants to voice, movement and stagecraft; and encourages participants to devise work for performance. Teenagers@Citz have the opportunity to move on to the Citizens YOUNG Co. at age 16, and thus to work on main stage and studio shows within the theatre.
The theatre was built in 1878 (as The Royal Princess's) and designed by Campbell Douglas, a friend and contemporary of Alexander Thomson
(Alexander "Greek" Thomson). It was one of 18 theatres built in Glasgow between 1862 and the outbreak of World War I
in 1914 (during the same period seven were built in Edinburgh
). There were four theatres built in this area: The Palace (demolished), The Princess's Royal (the Citizens'), the Coliseum (demolished), and the New Bedford Theatre adapted as the Carling Academy Glasgow
. The remaining theatres built in this period still operating in Glasgow are the Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow
, the King's Theatre, Glasgow
, the Theatre Royal, Glasgow
and the Citizens' Theatre.
When it opened, the theatre seated 1,200, and presented melodrama, variety and pantomime
s. By the 1880s the Royal Princess and its neighbour the Palace Theatre were surrounded by the acknowledged worst slum in Europe, called the Gorbals
. In the 1930s the Palace was converted to a cinema. The advent of television further drew off audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. By the time the slums of the Gorbals had been cleared, the Palace had become a bingo hall. Together with the Royal Princess's Theatre and the swimming baths and tenement opposite, these were the only buildings remaining from the Victorian
age.
The Citizens Theatre Company was formed in 1943 by a group of theatre-minded men led by Tom Honeyman
and James Bridie
, the latter Scotland's then best-known playwright
. The name of the new company was taken from the manifesto drawn up in 1909 by Alfred Wareing of the newly formed Scottish Playgoers Co Ltd for their repertory company, which was to provide live theatre for the citizens of Glasgow, staging new Scottish and international drama, opening at the Royalty Theatre
.
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."
This manifesto inspired the vision of James Bridie
as he led the efforts to found the repertory group, the Citizens' Company, in 1943. Originally based at the Athenaeum theatre (now the Old Athenaeum) in Buchanan Street, Bridie's Citizens Company relocated to the Victorian-era Royal Princess's Theatre in the Gorbals
in 1945 at the invitation of Harry McKelvie, "The Pantomime King". Bridie renamed it the Citizens Theatre and the Citizens Company opened on September 11, 1945.
.
He studied medicine at the University of Glasgow
, then he served as a medical officer during World War I
in France
and Mesopotamia
. With the success of his comedies in London, Bridie became a full-time writer in 1938. The Bridie Library in Glasgow University Union, an organisation of which he was President, is named for him.
, Philip Prowse and Robert David MacDonald
. The three were responsible for the Citizens' Theatre being recognised as one of the leading theatres in Britain. Havergal and Prowse came up to Glasgow from the Watford
Palace Theatre in 1969. By 1971 Robert David MacDonald completed the triumvirate. 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. Havergal, Prowse and MacDonald remained at the Citizens' for over 30 years.
was Director of Watford
Palace Theatre (1965–69) and director of the Citizens Theatre from 1969 to 2003. He directed over 80 plays in Glasgow including works by Shakespeare and Bertolt Brecht
. He has also directed over 20 children and family Christmas productions.
Havergal's production of Travels with My Aunt
adaptated from the Graham Greene
novel of the same title
, was first presented in Glasgow in 1989 and then played in the West End
where it won an Laurence Olivier Award in 1993, and off Broadway in 1995.
His production of his and Robert David Macdonald's adaptation of Death in Venice
by Thomas Mann
was first presented in Glasgow in 2000. It played at the Manhattan
Ensemble Theatre, New York
in 2002.
was trained at the Slade School of Art and since 1970 was a Co-Director of the Citizens Company with Havergal and Robert David MacDonald. In 2003 both Havergal and MacDonald stepped down from their posts as directors of the company. Prowse however, continued his role as artistic collaborator with newly appointed Artistic Director, Jeremy Raison, until 2004.
He directed and designed over 70 plays with the Citizens Theatre and has worked throughout the world designing and directing for opera, ballet and drama.
became a Co-Director of the Citizens Company with Havergal and Philip Prowse in 1971 and retired in June 2003. In that time he wrote and adapted fourteen plays for the Company: Dracula (1972); Camille (1974); De Sade Show (1975); Chinchilla (1977); No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1978); Summit Conference (1978); A Waste of Time (1980); Don Juan (1980); Webster (1983); Anna Karenina (1987); Conundrum (1992); In Quest of Conscience (1994); Persons Unknown (1995); The Ice House (1998), Britannicus (2002), Cheri (2003) and Snow White (2003).
As an actor with the Citizens Company he played leading roles in more than twenty productions. He translated over sixty plays and operas from ten languages and as a director with the company he directed fifty productions including ten British or world premieres.
Robert David MacDonald died in 2004.
In December 1970 city councillors called for an end to the 12,000 annual grant the Glasgow Corporation gave to the theatre after it was announced that anyone presenting a trade union card on 8 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, 7 December 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" (7 September 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 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" (10 September 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 councilor 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, 13 March 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 citizens' 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.
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 four muses are Music
(Euterpe
), Comedy
(Thalia), Tragedy
(Melpomene
) and Dance
(Terpsichore
).
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 12 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.
, Rupert Everett
, Helen Baxendale
, Tim Roth
, Celia Imrie
, Mark Rylance
, Laurance Rudic
, Lorcan Cranitch, Tim Curry
, Sean Bean
, Una McLean
, Pierce Brosnan
, Ann Mitchell
, Alan Rickman
, Glenda Jackson
, Greg Hicks
, David Hayman
, Iain Robertson
, Henry Ian Cusick
, Robbie Coltrane
, Stanley Baxter
, Allison McKenzie
, Duncan Macrae, Gary Oldman
, Leonard Maguire
, Fidelis Morgan
, Moira Shearer
, Julie Le Grand
, Andrew Keir
, Sophie Ward
, Roberta Taylor
and Trisha Biggar (who designed the costumes for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
), was for very many years, wardrobe mistress. Renowned designer/directors, as well as Philip Prowse, include Kenny Miller, Stewart Laing, Nigel Lowery, Tom Cairns, Antony McDonald and designers Sue Blane, Michael Levine, Maria Bjornson, David Fielding etc. Rae Smith worked as a scene painter.
, Bill Paterson, Alex Norton
, Alan Cumming
, Blythe Duff
, Forbes Masson
, Caroline Paterson
and Billy Boyd.
It is possible to look around the 3 theatre spaces, 3 rehearsal rooms and the foyer of the Citizens Theatre using the 360 degree virtual tours on the Citizens Theatre website:
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and is the principal producing theatre
Producing house
A producing house is a theatre which produces its own shows in-house. Theaters which do not produce their own material are known as receiving houses....
in the west of Scotland. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and two studio theatre
Studio Theatre
A studio theatre is a 20th-century term that describes a small theatre space. Studio theatres often have a flexible auditorium whose stage and seating may be re-arranged to suit the specific requirements of a production...
s, the Circle Studio (100 seats, a theatre in the round
Theatre in the round
Theatre-in-the-round or arena theatre is any theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area...
space) and the Stalls Studio (50 seats, an alley theater
Alley Theater
A traverse stage is a form of theatrical stage in which the audience is predominantly on two sides of the stage, facing towards each other.They can see using "Proscenium arc", named after the mirrors used in Proscenium staging...
space).
The Citizen's Theatre repertory group, originally called the Citizen's Company, was founded in 1943 by gallery director Tom Honeyman
Tom Honeyman
Dr. Thomas "Tom" J. Honeyman was the director of the Glasgow Art Gallery.Born in Glasgow, the son of engine driver Thomas Honeyman and Elspeth Smith , Honeyman studied medicine at Glasgow prior to service in the trenches during the First World War...
and dramatist James Bridie
James Bridie
James Bridie was the pseudonym of a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and surgeon whose real name was Osborne Henry Mavor....
. The Citizens Company was based at first in the Glasgow Athenaeum. It moved in 1945 to its present site, the then Royal Princess's Theatre (opened 1878) where it became the Citizen's Theatre.
Background
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
is based in the Gorbals
Gorbals
The Gorbals is an area on the south bank of the River Clyde in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. By the late 19th century, it had become over-populated and adversely affected by local industrialisation. Many people lived here because their jobs provided this home and they could not afford their own...
area of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and produces a breadth of work from professional productions for its main auditorium and studio spaces through to an ongoing commitment to creative learning and engaging with the community.
While the Citizens Theatre building retains some of the original Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
architectural features, it has undergone additional renovations and expansions over the years. It now includes the 500-seat main auditorium, and two studio theatre
Studio Theatre
A studio theatre is a 20th-century term that describes a small theatre space. Studio theatres often have a flexible auditorium whose stage and seating may be re-arranged to suit the specific requirements of a production...
s, the circle studio (100 seats, a theatre in the round
Theatre in the round
Theatre-in-the-round or arena theatre is any theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area...
space) and the stalls studio (50 seats, an alley theatre
Alley Theater
A traverse stage is a form of theatrical stage in which the audience is predominantly on two sides of the stage, facing towards each other.They can see using "Proscenium arc", named after the mirrors used in Proscenium staging...
space). The main auditorium contains the original (1878) Proscenium
Proscenium
A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...
arch stage, which is raked (slopes down towards the auditorium); it has three seating levels: the stalls, the dress circle and the upper circle (or "gods"). The building contains the oldest original (1878) working understage machinery and paint frame in a working theatre in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The paint frame is still used for scenic painting
Scenic painting
Theatrical scenic painting includes wide-ranging disciplines, encompassing virtually the entire scope of painting and craft techniques. An experienced scenic painter will have skills in landscape painting, figurative painting, trompe l'oeil, and faux finishing, be versatile in different media such...
and its original glass roof remains.
As part of the theatre's ongoing commitment to remain accessible, the Citizens' endeavors to keep tickets reasonably priced and schedules £5 preview performances and "bargain night" £10 performances on Tuesdays. Tickets for students and children are £7.50 for any seat, any performance; and local residents in the Gorbals are eligible for £4.50/5 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
The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, which has been adapted into several different works, the most famous being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland...
at the subsidised ticket price of £2.
Citizens Theatre and TAG
TAG Theatre CompanyTAG Theatre Company
TAG Theatre Company is a theatre company established in 1967 in Glasgow, Scotland as the outreach arm of the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow, and was known as the Citizens' Theatre for Youth.-Background:...
is one of the major players in the children and young people's theatre sector in Scotland.
The Citizens Theatre and TAG Theatre Company
TAG Theatre Company
TAG Theatre Company is a theatre company established in 1967 in Glasgow, Scotland as the outreach arm of the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow, and was known as the Citizens' Theatre for Youth.-Background:...
came together as one company in April 2007. Together, the new company offers a substantial programme of work each year, from professional productions on the Citizens stages to participatory work with people of all ages, backgrounds and cultures. The new Citizens Learning and TAG department now coordinates all outreach work for the company.
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
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
in September 2007 TAG Theatre accompanied the production with an extensive selection of workshops in schools, pre-show lectures and CPD sessions for teachers.
Artistic directors
Dominic Hill (2011-present)
Dominic Hill was Artistic DirectorArtistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
at the Traverse Theatre
Traverse Theatre
The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963.The Traverse Theatre commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary playwrights. It also presents a large number of productions from visiting companies from across the UK. These include new plays,...
, Edinburgh for the last 3 years. Prior to the Traverse, he was Co-Artistic Director (with James Brining) at Dundee Rep Theatre, a post he held for 5 years from 2003. Before joining Dundee Rep, Dominic worked as a Freelance Director, Associate Director at Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, Assistant Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
and Assistant Director at Perth Theatre.
He has received many accolades for his critically acclaimed productions, including numerous CATS Awards (Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland) for amongst others, The Dark Things (Best Production 2009/10); Peer Gynt (Best Director & Best Production 2007/08); and Scenes from an Execution (Best Director 2003/04).
Dominic took up post in October 2011.
Jeremy Raison (2003-2010)
Jeremy Raison was the Artistic DirectorArtistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
of the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow from 2003 until August 2010. After seven successful years Raison directed his final production A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange is a 1962 dystopian novella by Anthony Burgess. The novel contains an experiment in language: the characters often use an argot called "Nadsat", derived from Russian....
, based on Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess
John Burgess Wilson – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...
's iconic novel in October 2010.
Previous Citizens productions directed by Raison include Thérèse Raquin
Thérèse Raquin
Thérèse Raquin is the title of a novel and a play by the French writer Émile Zola. The novel was originally published in serial format in the journal L'Artiste and in book format in December of the same year.-Plot introduction:Thérèse Raquin tells the story of a young woman, unhappily married to...
, Baby Doll
Baby Doll
Baby Doll is a 1956 black comedy /drama film directed by Elia Kazan. It was produced by Kazan and Tennessee Williams, and adapted by Williams from his own one-act play 27 Wagons Full of Cotton...
, A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust is a novel by Evelyn Waugh published in 1934. It is included in Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels, and was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the one hundred best English-language novels from 1923 to present....
, Desire Under the Elms
Desire Under the Elms
Desire Under the Elms is a play by Eugene O'Neill, published in 1924, and is now considered an American classic. Along with Mourning Becomes Electra, it represents one of O'Neill's attempts to place plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy in a rural New England setting. It is essentially a...
and Ghosts (play)
Ghosts (play)
Ghosts is a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was written in 1881 and first staged in 1882.Like many of Ibsen's better-known plays, Ghosts is a scathing commentary on 19th century morality....
as well as Scottish classics The Bevellers, No Mean City
No Mean City
- 30th Anniversary Bonus Tracks :Earlier remasters included the song Greens as a bonus track. This is not available on the 30th Anniversary remaster of No Mean City, but is instead found on the same such remaster of Expect No Mercy....
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
The Borrowers
The Borrowers, published in 1952, is the first in a series of children's fantasy novels by English author Mary Norton. The novel and its sequels are about tiny people who live in people's homes and "borrow" things to survive while keeping their existence unknown...
, Charlotte's Web
Charlotte's Web
Charlotte's Web is an award-winning children's novel by acclaimed American author E. B. White, about a pig named Wilbur who is saved from being slaughtered by an intelligent spider named Charlotte. The book was first published in 1952, with illustrations by Garth Williams.The novel tells the story...
, James and the Giant Peach
James and the Giant Peach
James and the Giant Peach is a popular children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The original first edition published by Alfred Knopf featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. However, there have been various reillustrated versions of it over the years, done by Michael...
, Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
, Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
and Wee Fairy Tales.
Guy Hollands (2006-2011)
Guy Hollands became Artistic DirectorArtistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
of the Citizens Theatre in 2006, having previously been Artistic Director of TAG since 2004. After four successful years, Hollands is expected to assume a new role leading the Citizens Theatre company's creative learning portfolio in early 2011. Previous Citizens productions directed by Hollands include "Hamlet", "Waiting For Godot", "Othello", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Caretaker", "Nightingale and Chase", "The Fever" and "Ice Cream Dreams", a ground breaking work which used community actors, people in recovery and professional actors to explore Glasgow's history during the "Glasgow Ice Cream Wars".
Hollands' work for children and families for TAG and on tour includes Yellow Moon, " A Taste of Honey", "King Lear", "Knives in Hens", Liar, Museum of Dreams, "Meep and Moop" and The Monster in the Hall.
Producing theatre
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s for a main auditorium production and a director may be rehearsing in one of the theatre's three rehearsal
Rehearsal
For other uses, see Rehearsal or Dress rehearsal A rehearsal is a preparatory event in music and theatre that is performed before the official public performance, as a form of practice, and to ensure that all details of the performance are adequately prepared and coordinated for professional...
rooms. The production team includes stage management
Stage management
Stage management is the practice of organizing and coordinating a theatrical production. It encompasses a variety of activities, including organizing the production and coordinating communications between various personnel...
, lighting, sound, workshop, wardrobe and technicians. Costume
Costume
The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
s, 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.
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.
Recently, Christmas shows have been fairy tales adapted by Alan McHugh and presented in highly theatrical productions offered as an alternative to pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
.
Citizens Community Company and Citizens YOUNG Co.
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, directed by Guy Hollands. Since this first evening, the company has presented 20 different productions, performing over 90 shows, and growing into a more or less permanent ensemble of around 30 people. The Community Company performs an annual A Wicked Christmas, showcasing the group's writing and acting talents, and taking 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
West of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
West of Scotland is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
. 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
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.
In 2008 Kids@Citz participants performed as "munchkins" alongside professional actors in the Citizens Christmas show The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, which has been adapted into several different works, the most famous being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland...
. The production will be directed by Artistic Director Guy Hollands and designed by Jason Southgate.
Teenagers@Citz (ages 13–15) introduces participants to voice, movement and stagecraft; and encourages participants to devise work for performance. Teenagers@Citz have the opportunity to move on to the Citizens YOUNG Co. at age 16, and thus to work on main stage and studio shows within the theatre.
Citizens Theatre history
- Iain MacIntosh, Theatre Specialist, November 2007.
"The Citizens Theatre is probably more important as part of Britain's heritage than perhaps many imagined. It is Britain's oldest fully functioning professional theatre which retains the greater part of the historic auditorium and stage... This leaves the Grand Theatre, LeedsGrand Theatre LeedsThe Grand Theatre is a theatre and Opera house in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was designed by James Robinson Watson, chief assistant in the office of Leeds-based architect George Corson, and opened on 18 November 1878...
which opened six weeks before the Citizens (nee Her Majesty's) but which had all its stage machinery destroyed 30 years ago. The Citizens is thus a British national treasure."
Alexander Thomson
Alexander "Greek" Thomson was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was little appreciated outwith Glasgow during his lifetime...
(Alexander "Greek" Thomson). It was one of 18 theatres built in Glasgow between 1862 and the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1914 (during the same period seven were built in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
). There were four theatres built in this area: The Palace (demolished), The Princess's Royal (the Citizens'), the Coliseum (demolished), and the New Bedford Theatre adapted as the Carling Academy Glasgow
Carling Academy Glasgow
The O2 Academy Glasgow is a music venue on Eglinton Street in the Gorbals area of Glasgow. It holds 2,500 people....
. The remaining theatres built in this period still operating in Glasgow are the Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow
Pavilion Theatre (Glasgow)
-History:One of Glasgow's oldest theatres, the Pavilion Theatre of Varieties opened on 29 February 1904 as a Music hall. The building has remained relatively unchanged in layout, although the sound and lighting systems have been updated over the years...
, the King's Theatre, Glasgow
King's Theatre, Glasgow
The King's Theatre is located in Glasgow, Scotland. It was built for Howard & Wyndham Ltd under its chairman Baillie Michael Simons as a sister theatre of their Theatre Royal in the city and was designed by Frank Matcham, opening in 1904. The theatre is primarily a receiving house for touring...
, the Theatre Royal, Glasgow
Theatre Royal, Glasgow
The Theatre Royal is the oldest theatre in Glasgow, located at 282 Hope Street in Cowcaddens. The theatre originally opened in 1867, changing its name to the Theatre Royal in 1869, and is the longest running theatre in Scotland...
and the Citizens' Theatre.
When it opened, the theatre seated 1,200, and presented melodrama, variety and pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
s. By the 1880s the Royal Princess and its neighbour the Palace Theatre were surrounded by the acknowledged worst slum in Europe, called the Gorbals
Gorbals
The Gorbals is an area on the south bank of the River Clyde in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. By the late 19th century, it had become over-populated and adversely affected by local industrialisation. Many people lived here because their jobs provided this home and they could not afford their own...
. In the 1930s the Palace was converted to a cinema. The advent of television further drew off audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. By the time the slums of the Gorbals had been cleared, the Palace had become a bingo hall. Together with the Royal Princess's Theatre and the swimming baths and tenement opposite, these were the only buildings remaining from the Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
age.
The Citizens Theatre Company was formed in 1943 by a group of theatre-minded men led by Tom Honeyman
Tom Honeyman
Dr. Thomas "Tom" J. Honeyman was the director of the Glasgow Art Gallery.Born in Glasgow, the son of engine driver Thomas Honeyman and Elspeth Smith , Honeyman studied medicine at Glasgow prior to service in the trenches during the First World War...
and James Bridie
James Bridie
James Bridie was the pseudonym of a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and surgeon whose real name was Osborne Henry Mavor....
, the latter Scotland's then best-known playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
. The name of the new company was taken from the manifesto drawn up in 1909 by Alfred Wareing of the newly formed Scottish Playgoers Co Ltd for their repertory company, which was to provide live theatre for the citizens of Glasgow, staging new Scottish and international drama, opening at the Royalty Theatre
Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho and opened on 25 May 1840 as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. The architect was Samuel Beazley, a resident in Soho Square, who also designed St James's Theatre, among...
.
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."
This manifesto inspired the vision of James Bridie
James Bridie
James Bridie was the pseudonym of a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and surgeon whose real name was Osborne Henry Mavor....
as he led the efforts to found the repertory group, the Citizens' Company, in 1943. Originally based at the Athenaeum theatre (now the Old Athenaeum) in Buchanan Street, Bridie's Citizens Company relocated to the Victorian-era Royal Princess's Theatre in the Gorbals
Gorbals
The Gorbals is an area on the south bank of the River Clyde in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. By the late 19th century, it had become over-populated and adversely affected by local industrialisation. Many people lived here because their jobs provided this home and they could not afford their own...
in 1945 at the invitation of Harry McKelvie, "The Pantomime King". Bridie renamed it the Citizens Theatre and the Citizens Company opened on September 11, 1945.
James Bridie
James Bridie, the pseudonym used by Osborne Henry Mavor was a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and surgeon. He is now considered to be a founding father of modern Scottish theatre, following his involvement with the founding of both the Citizens Theatre, and Scotland's first college of drama, now known as the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and DramaRoyal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is a conservatoire of music, drama, and dance in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Educational Association, it is the busiest performing arts venue in Scotland...
.
He studied medicine at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
, then he served as a medical officer during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
. With the success of his comedies in London, Bridie became a full-time writer in 1938. The Bridie Library in Glasgow University Union, an organisation of which he was President, is named for him.
The 1969 - 2003 triumvirate
During the long period from the 1970s to the 1990s, the Citizens was associated with innovative play selections and stagings by Giles HavergalGiles Havergal
Giles Pollock Havergal CBE is a Scottish theatre director, actor, and playwright. He was artistic director of Glasgow's Citizens Theatre from 1969 until he stepped down in 2003, one of the triumvirate of directors at the theatre, alongside Philip Prowse and Robert David MacDonald.-Early...
, Philip Prowse and Robert David MacDonald
Robert David MacDonald
Robert David MacDonald , was a Scottish playwright, translator and theatre director.-Work as a Theatre Director:...
. The three were responsible for the Citizens' Theatre being recognised as one of the leading theatres in Britain. Havergal and Prowse came up to Glasgow from the Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
Palace Theatre in 1969. By 1971 Robert David MacDonald completed the triumvirate. 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. Havergal, Prowse and MacDonald remained at the Citizens' for over 30 years.
Giles Havergal
Giles HavergalGiles Havergal
Giles Pollock Havergal CBE is a Scottish theatre director, actor, and playwright. He was artistic director of Glasgow's Citizens Theatre from 1969 until he stepped down in 2003, one of the triumvirate of directors at the theatre, alongside Philip Prowse and Robert David MacDonald.-Early...
was Director of Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
Palace Theatre (1965–69) and director of the Citizens Theatre from 1969 to 2003. He directed over 80 plays in Glasgow including works by Shakespeare and Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
. He has also directed over 20 children and family Christmas productions.
Havergal's production of Travels with My Aunt
Travels with My Aunt (play)
Travels with My Aunt is a 1989 comedy adapted by Scottish dramatist by Giles Havergal from the Graham Greene novel of the same title. The play was first staged at Citizens Theatre in Glasgow on 10 November 1989 with Havergal, Derwent Watson, Patrick Hannaway, and Christopher Gee, and has since been...
adaptated from the Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
novel of the same title
Travels with My Aunt
Travels with My Aunt is a novel written by English author Graham Greene.The novel follows the travels of Henry Pulling, a retired bank manager, and his eccentric Aunt Augusta as they find their way across Europe, and eventually even further afield...
, was first presented in Glasgow in 1989 and then played in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
where it won an Laurence Olivier Award in 1993, and off Broadway in 1995.
His production of his and Robert David Macdonald's adaptation of Death in Venice
Death in Venice
The novella Death in Venice was written by the German author Thomas Mann, and was first published in 1913 as Der Tod in Venedig. The plot of the work presents a great writer suffering writer's block who visits Venice and is liberated and uplifted, then increasingly obsessed, by the sight of a...
by Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
was first presented in Glasgow in 2000. It played at the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
Ensemble Theatre, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 2002.
Philip Prowse
Philip ProwsePhilip Prowse
Philip Prowse is a stage director and designer, and was one of the triumvirate of directors at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow from 1970 until 2004....
was trained at the Slade School of Art and since 1970 was a Co-Director of the Citizens Company with Havergal and Robert David MacDonald. In 2003 both Havergal and MacDonald stepped down from their posts as directors of the company. Prowse however, continued his role as artistic collaborator with newly appointed Artistic Director, Jeremy Raison, until 2004.
He directed and designed over 70 plays with the Citizens Theatre and has worked throughout the world designing and directing for opera, ballet and drama.
Robert David MacDonald
Robert David MacDonaldRobert David MacDonald
Robert David MacDonald , was a Scottish playwright, translator and theatre director.-Work as a Theatre Director:...
became a Co-Director of the Citizens Company with Havergal and Philip Prowse in 1971 and retired in June 2003. In that time he wrote and adapted fourteen plays for the Company: Dracula (1972); Camille (1974); De Sade Show (1975); Chinchilla (1977); No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1978); Summit Conference (1978); A Waste of Time (1980); Don Juan (1980); Webster (1983); Anna Karenina (1987); Conundrum (1992); In Quest of Conscience (1994); Persons Unknown (1995); The Ice House (1998), Britannicus (2002), Cheri (2003) and Snow White (2003).
As an actor with the Citizens Company he played leading roles in more than twenty productions. He translated over sixty plays and operas from ten languages and as a director with the company he directed fifty productions including ten British or world premieres.
Robert David MacDonald died in 2004.
1970s controversies
During the 1970s the Citizens attracted much controversy with its productions and advertising.Evening Times
The Evening Times is an evening tabloid newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, Scotland.-History:The paper, an evening sister paper of The Herald, was established in 1876. The paper's slogan is "Nobody Knows Glasgow Better"....
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, 7 December 1970). This was the first of many altercations between the theatre and the city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
throughout the decade.
Earlier in the autumn season of 1970 a controversial new staging of Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
caused outrage in the press for the nudity and alternative acting styles of the Company. The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
headline reported "Hamlet Depicted As A Gibbering Oaf" (7 September 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
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
"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 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" (10 September 1970).
In 1975 a flier advertising the spring season was condemned by Labour
Scottish Labour Party
The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....
councillor Laurence McGarry for its depiction of "Shakespeare, in drag with large cleavage, painted lips, corsets, suspenders and hand on hip". The councilor felt the theatre was guilty of "playing to an intellectual minority rather than the great mass of the public".
In 1977 the Lord Provost
Lord Provost
A Lord Provost is the figurative and ceremonial head of one of the principal cities of Scotland. Four cities, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, have the right to appoint a Lord Provost instead of a provost...
Mr Peter McCann called for the sacking of theatre bosses after a performance of Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
which featured nude scenes he described as "kinky claptrap appealing only to mentally ill weirdos" (Sunday Express, 13 March 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 citizens' 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
Over time, many patrons and staff members have reported sightings of ghosts. 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 (moving) from the dress circle bar towards the circle tudio dressing rooms. Backstage dressing room 7 is thought to be haunted by some of its past inhabitants and the upper circle has occasional visits from a strawberry seller girl, one of the most sighted of the Citizens ghosts.Foyer statues
Inside the Citizens foyer are four elephant statues and four Nautch
Nautch
In North India, Nautch is one of several styles of popular dance, performed by girls known as "Nautch girls". The word Nautch is an anglicized version of नाच , a word found in Hindi and Urdu , and several other languages of North India, derived from the Sanskrit, Nritya, via the Prakrit, Nachcha...
girls' statues, all in the baroque Anglo-Indian style, a reminder of the re-design of the Palace Theatre in 1907 by Bertie Crewe
Bertie Crewe
Bertie Crewe was one of the leading English theatre architects in the boom of 1885 to 1915-Biography:Born in Essex and partly trained by Frank Matcham, Crewe and his contemporaries W.G.R...
.
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
Theatre Museum
The Theatre Museum in the Covent Garden district of London, England, was the United Kingdom's national museum of the performing arts. It was a branch of the UK's national museum of applied arts, the Victoria and Albert 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
Pink Elephants
Pink Elephants is Mick Harvey's second collection of Serge Gainsbourg covers.-Track listing:#"Pink Elephants" – 2:90#"Requiem. . . " – 2:35#"The Javanaise " – 2:30#"Black Seaweed " – 2:21...
.
The foyer also features statues representing William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
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
John Mossman
John Mossman was one of a number of English sculptors who dominated the production and teaching of sculpture in Glasgow for 50 years after his arrival with his father and brothers from his native London in 1828...
. The four muses are Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
(Euterpe
Euterpe
In Greek mythology, Euterpe + τέρπειν terpein ) was one of the Muses, the daughters of Mnemosyne, fathered by Zeus. Called the "Giver of delight", when later poets assigned roles to each of the Muses, she was the muse of music. In late Classical times she was named muse of lyric poetry and...
), Comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
(Thalia), Tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
(Melpomene
Melpomene
Melpomene , initially the Muse of Singing, she then became the Muse of Tragedy, for which she is best known now. Her name was derived from the Greek verb melpô or melpomai meaning "to celebrate with dance and song." She is often represented with a tragic mask and wearing the cothurnus, boots...
) and Dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
(Terpsichore
Terpsichore
In Greek mythology, Terpsichore "delight of dancing" was one of the nine Muses, ruling over dance and the dramatic chorus. She lends her name to the word "terpsichorean" which means "of or relating to dance". She is usually depicted sitting down, holding a lyre, accompanying the dancers' choirs...
).
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 12 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.
Citizens Theatre alumni
Amongst those who have trodden the boards at the Citizens Theatre or worked backstage are Ciarán HindsCiarán Hinds
Ciarán Hinds is an Irish film, television and stage actor. He has built up a reputation as a versatile character actor appearing in such high profile films as Road to Perdition, The Phantom of the Opera, Munich, There Will Be Blood and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. His television roles include...
, Rupert Everett
Rupert Everett
Rupert James Hector Everett is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country as an openly gay student at an English public school, set in the 1930s...
, Helen Baxendale
Helen Baxendale
Helen Victoria Baxendale is an English actress of stage and television, possibly best-known for her roles in Cold Feet, Friends and Cardiac Arrest.-Early life:...
, Tim Roth
Tim Roth
Simon Timothy "Tim" Roth is an English film actor and director best known for his roles in the American films,Legend of 1900, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Skellig, Planet of the Apes, The Incredible Hulk and Rob Roy, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for...
, Celia Imrie
Celia Imrie
Celia Diana Savile Imrie is an English actress. In a career starting in the early 1970s, Imrie has played Marianne Bellshade in Bergerac, Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies, Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques, Diana Neal in After You've Gone and Gloria Millington in Kingdom...
, Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance is an English actor, theatre director and playwright.As an actor, Rylance found success on stage and screen. For his work in theatre he has won Olivier and Tony Awards among others, and a BAFTA TV Award...
, Laurance Rudic
Laurance Rudic
Laurance Rudic is a British theatre artist best known for his long association as a leading member of the Glasgow Citizens Theatre company....
, Lorcan Cranitch, Tim Curry
Tim Curry
Timothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....
, Sean Bean
Sean Bean
Shaun Mark "Sean" Bean is an English film and stage actor. Bean is best known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe...
, Una McLean
Una McLean
Una McLean MBE is a Scottish actress and comedienne, best known for appearing in pantomimes. She was married to Scottish stage and film actor Russell Hunter from 1991 until his death in 2004....
, Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
, Ann Mitchell
Ann Mitchell
Ann Mitchell is one of Britain's leading stage and television actresses. In 2011, she was cast as Cora Cross in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, the mother of Tanya Jessop and Rainie Cross. She was only to appear originally for 4 episodes but returned on 28 July 2011 as a regular character...
, Alan Rickman
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman is an English actor and theatre director. He is a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson
Glenda May Jackson, CBE is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, and currently represents Hampstead and Kilburn. She previously served as MP for Hampstead and Highgate...
, Greg Hicks
Greg Hicks
Greg Hicks is an English actor. He completed theatrical training at Rose Bruford College and has been a member of The Royal Shakespeare Company since 1976...
, David Hayman
David Hayman
David Hayman is a Scottish film and television actor and director, best known for his role as DCS Mike Walker in ITV drama Trial and Retribution. He also a prominent supporter of the SNP's call for Scottish independence....
, Iain Robertson
Iain Robertson
Iain Robertson is a BAFTA winning Scottish actor. He was once described by Barry Norman as "the best thing to come out of Scotland since whisky"....
, Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
, Robbie Coltrane
Robbie Coltrane
Robbie Coltrane, OBE is a Scottish actor, comedian and author. He is known both for his role as Dr...
, Stanley Baxter
Stanley Baxter
Stanley Baxter is a Scottish comic actor and impressionist, best known for his British television shows. He worked in radio, theatre, television and film.-Early life:...
, Allison McKenzie
Allison McKenzie
-TV Credits:* Doctors - - BBC 1 - 'Just Like A Woman' - Katrina Bryne/Steve* Sadie J - 'Tidylicious' - - BBC 1 - Lorna* River City - BBC One Scotland - Joanne Rossi* Rebus - - STV - 'Dead Souls' - Helen...
, Duncan Macrae, Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
, Leonard Maguire
Leonard Maguire
Leonard Maguire was a Scottish actor. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Maguire had a long career, beginning in the 1940s. He died in 1997, aged 73, after a lengthy illness.-Career:...
, Fidelis Morgan
Fidelis Morgan
Fidelis Morgan is a British actress and writer.She was born in a red gypsy caravan, Kiomi Romani, which stood in a corner of the grounds of the ancient Abbey of Amesbury, halfway between Stonehenge and Woodhenge...
, Moira Shearer
Moira Shearer
Moira Shearer, Lady Kennedy , was an internationally famous Scottish ballet dancer and actress.-Early life:She was born Moira Shearer King in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, the daughter of actor Harold V. King...
, Julie Le Grand
Julie Le Grand
Julie Legrand is a British television, film, and stage actress best known for her role as Jeanette Dunkley on Footballers' Wives and Footballers' Wives: Extra Time. On both of these television shows, she is credited as a main cast member...
, Andrew Keir
Andrew Keir
Andrew Keir was a Scottish actor, who rose to prominence featuring in a number of films from Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and particularly in the theatre, in a professional career that lasted from the 1940s to the 1990s...
, Sophie Ward
Sophie Ward
Sophie Ward , is an English actress and the daughter of actor, Simon Ward.-Career:One of Ward's early film roles was in the film Young Sherlock Holmes. Other early films included Return to Oz, Little Dorrit and A Summer Story, and she also portrayed the unattainable love object in the video of Roxy...
, Roberta Taylor
Roberta Taylor
Roberta Taylor is an English actress and author. She is probably best known for her roles of Irene Raymond in EastEnders , and Inspector Gina Gold in The Bill .-Career:...
and Trisha Biggar (who designed the costumes for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga, as the first of a three-part prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the first film in the saga in terms...
, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. It is the fifth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the second in terms of the series' internal chronology...
and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the sixth and final film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology....
), was for very many years, wardrobe mistress. Renowned designer/directors, as well as Philip Prowse, include Kenny Miller, Stewart Laing, Nigel Lowery, Tom Cairns, Antony McDonald and designers Sue Blane, Michael Levine, Maria Bjornson, David Fielding etc. Rae Smith worked as a scene painter.
TAG Theatre Company alumni
A number of high-profile actors have worked for TAG Theatre Company, including Robert CarlyleRobert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor. He is known for a variety of roles including those in Trainspotting, Hamish Macbeth, The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes, The 51st State, and 28 Weeks Later...
, Bill Paterson, Alex Norton
Alex Norton
Alexander Hugh "Alex" Norton is a Scottish actor. He is probably best known for his roles as DCI Matt Burke in Taggart, and Eddie in the Renford Rejects....
, Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming, OBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actor, singer, writer, director, producer and author. His roles have included the Emcee in Cabaret, Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, Mr. Elton in Emma, and Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids trilogy...
, Blythe Duff
Blythe Duff
Blythe Duff is a Scottish actress, best known for her role as Jackie Reid in the ITV television series drama, Taggart.-Background:Duff was raised in East Kilbride...
, Forbes Masson
Forbes Masson
Forbes Masson is a Scottish actor and writer. He is best known for his classical theatre roles and comedy partnership with Alan Cumming...
, Caroline Paterson
Caroline Paterson
Caroline Paterson is a Scottish actress who has appeared in many Scottish television shows such as one-off STV drama, The Steamie and the BBC's Rab C. Nesbitt. However, she is most recognized for her role in EastEnders as Mark Fowler's wife, Ruth...
and Billy Boyd.
External links
- Citizens Theatre
- TAG
- GLASGOW CITIZENS THEATRE (c.1972) (archive film from the National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE)
It is possible to look around the 3 theatre spaces, 3 rehearsal rooms and the foyer of the Citizens Theatre using the 360 degree virtual tours on the Citizens Theatre website: