Post by sparklingblue on Sept 15, 2003 16:20:59 GMT -5
Curtain up on theatre's anniversary
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3107770.stm
The Citizens Theatre in Glasgow is celebrating its 60th birthday.
The theatre has seen actors such as Pierce Brosnan, Gary Oldman and Glenda Jackson appear on its stage over the years, winning it a reputation as cultural gem in the Gorbals area of the city .
After celebrating its diamond anniversary, a new artistic director, Jeremy Raison, will take up his role in November.
The Citz, as the theatre is often called, was founded in 1943 by playwright James Bridie.
However, hard times had hit the Citzens by the late 60s and it took the transforming influence of artistic director Giles Havergal to bring about a renaissance which has made it one of the most respected theatre companies in the world.
For 34 years Havergal, his fellow directors and close collaborators Philip Prowse and Robert David MacDonald have courted controversy and commanded respect for their adventurous and ground-breaking productions.
Financially accessible
His early, all-male Hamlet had the newspapers in a rage and a Nazi Macbeth did nothing to calm the storm.
But years of far-sighted, quality productions soon cemented the theatre's reputation.
The Citz was the first company to adapt Irvine Welsh's novel Trainspotting, two years before the runaway success of the film version.
And Havergal's ticket-pricing regime made it the most financially accessible theatre in the country, with local residents and the unwaged being able to experience world-class theatre for as little as £1.
While Havergal has now stepped down, his co-directors will stay on until Christmas to allow for a gentle handover to the new directorate.
The autumn season will celebrate the company's diamond jubilee.
The programme includes Thomas Otway's Venice Preserved, Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, Copi's The Four Twins, Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and an adaptation of Louise Welsh's psychological Glasgow thriller The Cutting Room.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3107770.stm
The Citizens Theatre in Glasgow is celebrating its 60th birthday.
The theatre has seen actors such as Pierce Brosnan, Gary Oldman and Glenda Jackson appear on its stage over the years, winning it a reputation as cultural gem in the Gorbals area of the city .
After celebrating its diamond anniversary, a new artistic director, Jeremy Raison, will take up his role in November.
The Citz, as the theatre is often called, was founded in 1943 by playwright James Bridie.
However, hard times had hit the Citzens by the late 60s and it took the transforming influence of artistic director Giles Havergal to bring about a renaissance which has made it one of the most respected theatre companies in the world.
For 34 years Havergal, his fellow directors and close collaborators Philip Prowse and Robert David MacDonald have courted controversy and commanded respect for their adventurous and ground-breaking productions.
Financially accessible
His early, all-male Hamlet had the newspapers in a rage and a Nazi Macbeth did nothing to calm the storm.
But years of far-sighted, quality productions soon cemented the theatre's reputation.
The Citz was the first company to adapt Irvine Welsh's novel Trainspotting, two years before the runaway success of the film version.
And Havergal's ticket-pricing regime made it the most financially accessible theatre in the country, with local residents and the unwaged being able to experience world-class theatre for as little as £1.
While Havergal has now stepped down, his co-directors will stay on until Christmas to allow for a gentle handover to the new directorate.
The autumn season will celebrate the company's diamond jubilee.
The programme includes Thomas Otway's Venice Preserved, Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, Copi's The Four Twins, Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and an adaptation of Louise Welsh's psychological Glasgow thriller The Cutting Room.