Citizens Theatre Announces Spring 2017 Productions

The Citizens Theatre today announces a new production of Graham Greene's Travels With My Aunt, a Brexit-inspired production from the National Theatre and shows by top theatre companies Cheek by Jowl and Kneehigh in their season which runs from January - June 2017.

Tickets for all productions presented from Jan -Jun 2017 will go on sale on 15 November and the full season includes:

· The Winter's Tale, a fiercely contemporary production of Shakespeare's late masterpiece by interNational Theatre Company Cheek by Jowl;

· the second instalment of John Byrne's The Slab Boys Trilogy, Cuttin' A Rug which will also tour to King's Theatre Edinburgh;

· My Country: A Work in Progress a Brexit-inspired production written by Carol Ann Duffy drawing on interviews conducted in towns and cities across the UK, including Glasgow, from National Theatre of Great Britain in association with the Citizens Theatre and seven other UK theatre companies;

· SomewhereNew - a new award as part of the Take Me Somewhere festival of contemporary performance that builds on the legacy of The Arches;

· a co-production with Royal Lyceum Edinburgh of Noël Coward's Hay Fever directed by Dominic Hill;

· a new production of Giles Havergal's adaptation of Graham Greene's comedy Travels With My Aunt directed by Phillip Breen;

· the first visit to the Citizens Theatre by Kneehigh with Tristan &Yseult directed by Shakespeare's Globe Artistic Director Emma Rice;

· UK's top comedians performing at the Citizens as part of the Glasgow International Comedy Festival.

Announcing the new season Artistic Director Dominic Hill said:

"We're presenting a season that brings together some of the UK's top theatre companies, three new comedy productions and the country's next generation of talent.

Fans of John Byrne's The Slab Boys will be able to catch up with the boys' antics in the second instalment of John's trilogy, Cuttin' A Rug. The Slab Boys was a big audience hit when we re-staged it in 2015 and we're looking forward to presenting this less well-known but equally entertaining second part of the trilogy. We continue our close relationship with the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh with our co-production of Noël Coward's Hay Fever which I will be directing. It's a play I've always loved; it is genuinely funny and insightful and has an acerbic cruelty that lifts it above a simple comedy of manners.

Always mindful of the rich history upon which the Citizens is built, I've asked Phillip Breen to direct a new production of a play that's played an important part in the Citizens' story: Travels With My Aunt. Giles Havergal performed an extract from his adaptation of Graham Greene's novel at our 70th anniversary celebrations in 2015, and I was reminded of what a fantastic piece it is.

It's important that the Citizens Theatre supports the next generation of theatre makers, and when Jackie Wylie approached the Citizens to partner with her on Take Me Somewhere, we agreed to present a new award to a Scottish artist to develop and present a new theatre or performance project in our Circle Studio.

We'll be welcoming Cheek by Jowl, Kneehigh and The National Theatre of Great Britain to the Citizens for the first time this season. That companies of this calibre are presenting work at the Citizens demonstrates the strong reputation that the Citz has across the UK, and I'm delighted that we're able to share the work of these fantastic companies with Glasgow audiences this season. "

Judith Kilvington Executive Director said,

"We've had a very successful Autumn 2016 season that has seen some of the best attendances at the Citizens Theatre in a number of years. Audiences packed out performances of Trainspotting, The Gorbals Vampire, Glasgow Girls and The Cheviot, The Stag and The Black Oil and it's been fantastic to see so many people enjoying Great Performances in our theatre. Trainspotting in particular brought many people into our building for the first time and it is vital to our success that our productions engage people from all walks of life. I look forward to welcoming many of those new audiences back to the Citz for another season of great drama.

MORE ABOUT THE CITIZENS THEATRE'S SPRING 2017 SEASON

The Winter's Tale (24 - 28 January 2017)
Cheek by Jowl tackle the countless hairpin turns in Shakespeare's late masterpiece, from violence to farce, through multiple countries and over the course of 16 years, in a fiercely contemporary production.

Director Declan Donnellan and his cast take up Shakespeare's most fundamental questions about redemption and forgiveness and test the limits of hope, humanity in this tour-de-force interpretation.

Founded in 1981 by Director Declan Donnellan and Designer Nick Ormerod, Cheek by Jowl is one of the world's leading theatre companies and a regular on the global festival circuit. Their production of The Winter's Tale has received rave reviews during its European tour and will be the first visit by the company to the Citizens.

Cuttin' A Rug (8 February - 4 March 2017)
Following its 2015 production of The Slab Boys, the Citizens presents the second instalment of John Byrne's much-loved trilogy, Cuttin' A Rug. The play dives straight back in to the story, following the boys to the annual staff dance, still chasing the unobtainable Lucille and their dreams of life beyond the slab room. Cuttin' A Rug is directed by Caroline Paterson, well-known for her TV role as Mark Fowler's wife Ruth in EastEnders. Paterson has a long association with the trilogy, having previously appeared in The Slab Boys as Lucille in the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh's 1989 production, and in Dundee Rep's 1987 production which also starred Alan Cumming and Robert Carlyle. Paterson has previously directed a radical reworking of The Slab Boys trilogy for Rain Dog, which starred David Hayman, the late Gerard Kelly, Andy Gray, Barbara Rafferty and Robert Carlyle. Kenny Miller joins the creative team as Designer. Miller was for many years Head of Design and Associate Director at the Citizens and has worked as a freelance director and designer at theatres across the globe.

Take Me Somewhere - Somewhere New (2 - 4 March)
A new festival of contemporary performance will take place in venues across Glasgow in Spring 2017. Take Me Somewhere builds on the legacy of The Arches venue which closed in 2015.

The Citizens Theatre is partnering with the festival to give an award to a Scottish artist to present a new piece of work in the venue's Circle Studio. True to the Citizens' ethos, it is hoped that the award will be made to a project which offers a radical and experimental reinterpretation of a classic, celebrated or known text.

Applicants will be interviewed at the end of November, and it is expected that the award recipient will be announced in December.

Glasgow International Comedy Festival (13 - 25 March 2017)
Glasgow International Comedy Festival takes over the Citizens Theatre for two weeks, bringing some of the biggest names on the UK circuit to the Gorbals stage. Acts in 2017 include David O'Doherty, James Campbell, Bridget Christie, Alex Norton, Des Clarke, Jon Ronson, Chris Ramsay, Richard Herring, John Shutleworth and Susan Calman.

My Country: A Work in Progress (28 March - 1 April 2017)
The National Theatre of Great Britain has collaborated with seven UK theatre companies, including the Citizens Theatre, to talk to people across the country about the recent EU referendum. The interviews will be woven together by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy and National Theatre Artistic Director Rufus Norris to create a performance piece that will tour the country presenting the wide range of opinions that have been captured.

This is the first time that The National Theatre of Great Britain will have presented work at the Citizens Theatre.

Hay Fever (5 - 22 April 2017)
The Citizens Theatre and the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh present a new production of Noël Coward's much loved 1920s dark comedy that charts the unconventional antics of a self-dubbed 'bohemian' family of four.

The various members of the eccentric Bliss family have each invited a guest to stay at their idyllic rural retreat. The house party turns disastrous as the hapless visitors become playthings in the Bliss' self-made melodrama.

Dominic Hill will direct this funny and biting exploration of the games people play to avoid confronting the realities of life.

The production plays at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh from 10 March - 1 April 2017 before transferring to the Citizens.

Travels With My Aunt (3 - 20 May)
Giles Havergal's hilarious adaptation of Graham Greene's novel was first performed at the Citizens Theatre in 1989. Since then, there have been two West End productions and an Olivier Award for the play which is still performed around the world. The play follows the travels of Henry Pulling, retired bank manager and dahlia enthusiast and his septuagenarian Aunt Augusta with whom he is newly acquainted. Highly entertaining, utterly charming and deliciously quirky, Havergal's adaptation challenges a cast of four to take on more than 20 characters through the course of the play.

Director Phillip Breen returns to the Citizens Theatre having previously directed True West, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg and The Caretaker.

Giles Havergal was Artistic Director of the Citizens Theatre from 1969 - 2003 alongside Philip Prowse and Robert David Macdonald, collectively known as 'The Triumvirate'. Under their leadership, the Citizens consolidated its reputation as a European power house of contemporary, challenging and provocative work.

Tristan & Yseult (30 May - 3 June)
Kneehigh were launched onto the international stage with their playful and profound version of the ancient Cornish legend of fated lovers.

Circus performers, poetry, audience participation and live music spanning mambo, ballad, punk and opera are mashed together in this landmark production which has won fans across the world.

Speaking about the production, which has toured regularly around the globe over the last decade, writer and director Emma Rice said "It is one of those rare shows that is greater than the sum of its parts. It has taken on a life, a universality that touches and surprises me each time we perform. People will laugh and cry and go on a journey that will remind them they are part of a community and are living, loving, flawed and fantastic human beings."

Tickets for all shows are on sale now, and available to purchase from the Citizens Theatre's website citz.co.uk or by calling the box office on 0141 429 0022. Tickets are priced at £9.50 - £22.50 with a range of concessions from only £2. There are also regular 50p ticket sales, with 100 cut-price tickets available to buy in person from the theatre from 10am the Saturday before a Citizens Theatre production opens. Full information about pricing and 50p ticket sales are available from the Citizens Theatre's website.

CITIZENS THEATRE LIMITED Registered in Scotland No. SC022513 and is a Scottish Charity No. SC001337. VAT No. 260799332. Registered Office: Citizens Theatre, 119 Gorbals Street Glasgow G5 9DS
This email, together with any attachments, is confidential. If you have received the email in error, please notify the sender by return email and delete the message from your computer immediately without making any copies, forwarding it or disclosing its contents to any other person. No warranties or assurances are made in relation to the safety and content of this e-mail and any attachments. No liability is accepted for any consequences arising from it.

To post a comment, you must register and login.