Summer Season 2010
Download a copy of the Summer brochure.
This May the Tron Theatre launches a short season of contemporary theatre and plays which reflect upon the present day, Mayfesto. The Tron Theatre Company will spearhead the festival with three main-stage productions: Betrayed, From the West Bank and Address Unknown.
George Packer’s Betrayed is a thriller based upon the US journalist’s interviews with interpreters in Baghdad and tells the story of three young Iraqis motivated to risk everything by America’s promise of freedom. From the West Bank is a series of three short plays giving voice to some of those who have witnessed the personal and political struggles in the Middle East. It features 2 World Premieres by David Greig - Ramallah and An Imagined Sarha - and An Arab Woman Speaks by the great Italian writer and actress Franca Rame.
Address Unknown is adapted from a short story by Katharine Kressmann Taylor which became a literary sensation in the 1930s. Set during the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, it is constructed around a series of letters exchanged between friends on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Funny, deceptively simple and ultimately chilling, it is a gripping tale that builds to a terrible twist.
Mayfesto will also feature a strong presence of new work including Room a new play by Abigail Docherty, who is shortlisted for the Tron’s Open.Stage playwriting competition. Rhymes with Purple present Drumhead , an off-site interactive piece of theatre based on real case studies of suspected terrorist or criminal interrogation; and Gappad presents the Scottish Premiere of Jordan . Based on a true story, this is a shocking confession of a woman forced to her limits.
For the Easter holidays the Tron Theatre Company will present Mish Gorecki Goes Missing (Wed 14 – Sun 25 April), a delightful new family show for children aged 8 and over. Written by Sky Loneragan it tells the tale of a nine-year old who decides to disappear after her busy family fail to notice her and sign her school excursion consent form. Funny, surreal and tender, it touches on issues that affect many families and is a wonderful new play that is guaranteed to delight children and the young at heart.
This July also sees the Tron Theatre Company present Valhalla! a hilarious historical romp, directed by Andy Arnold and designed by Kenny Miller and featuring the irrepressible Johnny McKnight. Valhalla! follows on from the sell-out success of last year’s summer hit Cooking with Elvis and brings together the life stories of King Ludwig of Bavaria and two boys growing up in 1940’s Texas. As camp as a Carry On film and as historically accurate as Blackadder, this bawdily funny romp through the 19th and 20th centuries sweeps its audience along on a stream of killer one-liners, outrageous situations and wonderful Wagnerian music.
Some of Scotland, Ireland and the UK’s strongest national companies will also visit the Tron this coming season. The highly innovative Irish company, Blue Raincoat, presents an adaptation of Flann O’Brien’s cult novel The Third Policeman at the Tron in May. It features bicycles that are half-human, humans that are half-bicycle, a murder and a most unusual village police force in a surreal satire of the Irish countryside. We also have a Gaelic speaking play from Theatre Hebrides, Roghainn Na Daòine (Tue 8 – Sat 12th June) and, continuing the Highland theme, Iain Finlay McLeod’s I Was a Beautiful Day (Wed 14 – Sat 17 April, 7.30pm).
Theatre Jezebel returns to the Tron in June following its hugely successful debut production of Neil LaBute’s Autobahn with Doubt (Tue 1 – Sat 5 June, 7.30pm). John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize winning play presents a gripping battle of wits set in a 1960’s New York Catholic school. Filled with brilliantly drawn characters and a deep understanding of human pride and frailty, it was successfully filmed recently with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman in the lead roles. This production will give audiences the chance to experience the stripped back brilliance of Shanley’s original play.
This season will feature two huge hits from last year’s Edinburgh Fringe: double Fringe First winning Crush (Wed 14 – Sat 17 April, 9pm) by Paul Charlton, delves into the pressures of modern relationships in a disconnected world; and Martin Lynch’s Belfast production Chronicles of Long Kesh (Tue 20 –Sat 24 April, 7.30pm) is a shocking and hilarious story of Northern Ireland’s infamous prison, told through the eyes of its inmates, both Republicans and Loyalists. Daniel Kitson also returns to the Tron after last year’s sell-out gig with his Fringe First Award-winning show 66A Church Road (Wed 28 April – Sat 1 May, 7.30pm).
Refugee Week Scotland 2010 (Mon 14 – Sun 20 June) boats an exciting programme of arts events to celebrate cultural diversity in Glasgow. As part of its programme and before opening at the Edinburgh Fringe, Ankur Productions and the Tron Theatre will present preview performances of Roadkill (Tue 15 – Sat 19 June, 7.00pm). Directed by Cora Bissett, this is a chilling production exposing the complex and hidden world of sex-trafficking.
The Necks (Tue 22 June, 8.00pm) and Arun Gosh Sextet (Thu 24 June, 8.00pm) will both play in the Tron as part of this years Glasgow International Jazz Festival (Fri 18 – Tue 22 June). Further details are to be announced soon.
We also have a dynamic line-up for the Tron’s Victorian Bar. TBC Cabaret invites you to go wild and hedonistic at Sex & Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll (Thu 10 June), The Macrazy Vaudeville Orchestra returns after Autumn’s sell-out gig (Thu 1st July) and The Supper Club Cabaret also returns combining good old fashioned entertainment with good old fashioned food. Our ever-popular Gong Show will continue its monthly installments as will Club Sublime and the Sunday jazz afternoons with Tron favourite Loretta Reid.
As ever the Tron productions continue to be supported by our Education and Outreach Department. Offering regular workshops and opportunities to meet the cast and director, the Tron Theatre is committed to enhancing the appreciation of our productions to the widest audience possible and our regular groups Write Tron, Tron Studio and Skillshops continue throughout the Summer 2010 season. Tron Skillshops will present Fallen, (Thu 8 & Fri 9 April) and The Fabulous Beast, (Fri 11 & Sat 12 June), while Tron Studio participants will perform Happy Hour, (Thu 27 – Sat 29 May) and the newly-formed Tron Young Company will perform their first devised piece on Thu 24 & Fri 25 June.
Finally, we can reveal that the dynamic duo of Gordon Dougall and Fletcher Mathers will once again write this year’s cosmic comic panto adventure, Flo White, previewing Fri 3 – Sun 5 December and running until Sat 8 Jan 2011. Booking opens on 8 March for those wishing to guarantee the best seats in the galaxy….
