Tron Theatre Launch 2018 Mayfesto Season Exploring The Brutal Complexities Of Family Life
By: Stephi Wild Mar. 15, 2018
Mayfesto is the Tron Theatre's mini-festival of edgy and provocative new work - now very firmly fixed in our annual calendar. This year, the festival will present new drama exploring the brutal complexities of family life - situations where not everything is black and white.
Tron Theatre Company's offering, the absurdist Ma, Pa and the Little Mouths by Martin McCormick (3-12 May, Press Performance: Fri 4 May, 7.45pm), will be presented in association with National Theatre of Scotland. The reclusive Ma and Pa, played by Karen Dunbar and Gerry Mulgrew respectively, spend their time exchanging extraordinary and fantastical stories in their high-rise flat as they tend to their 'little mouths'. Dark and full of foreboding, Ma, Pa and the Little Mouths had a rehearsed reading as part of last year's Mayfesto and will transfer to the Traverse Theatre after its world premiere at the Tron. Martin's previous work includes Squash (Winner, best new play CATS 2015), The Day the Pope Emptied Croy (Traverse/Play Pie Pint), Flo (Play Pie Pint/Lemon Tree), Potterrow (Best Short Play 2015) and News Just In (Random Accomplice).
As part of the same National Theatre of Scotland new writing initiative, conceived to create more opportunities to put new work on the stage, the Traverse Theatre will present Frances Poet's taut, psychological thriller Gut (16-19 May), exploring who we can trust with our children. Opening at the Traverse before it transfers to the Tron, Gut will be directed by award-winning Traverse Associate Director Zinnie Harris and was shortlisted for the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting.
Tron is able to include two events from the Take Me Somewhere festival in this year's Mayfesto programme - David Hoyle's biographical Diamond (25 & 26 May), an avant-garde, angry and hilarious journey into LGBT liberation from 1957 to present day, with musical interludes from London drag four-piece The Lipsinkers; and work-in-progress performances of Cora Bissett's What Girls Are Made Of (25 & 26 May) about her rollercoaster journey from small-town Fife to rock-star life with a hot new indie band.
Tron Artistic Director, Andy Arnold was invited to sit on the judging panel for the inaugural Mental Health Fringe Award presented at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe. The winning play, Mental (9-12 May), which is the moving and personal story about Kane Power's relationship with his mother and her mental health will have a short Changing House run. We're also proud to be able to support Fire Exit's Pyromania bursary programme, with rehearsed readings End Of. by Maryam Hamidi (3 May) and The Warhol Assassin by Amy Conway (4 May); Curious Seed's exploration of the interplay between music, dance and the origin of stories, Moving Monologues (5 May); and to present a reading of the Mayfesto Award-winning play Brink (18 & 19 May) by Sarah Farrell.
The Festival will close with another Song Party (30 May) from house band, the Tron Community Choir, with rousing renditions of classic tracks from Cher, The Stone Roses and Camera Obscura and a healthy dose of CHOIR-EE-OKE thrown in.
Artistic Director Andy Arnold says of the festival, 'Mayfesto has always been about programming seasons of work that explore provocative ideas using equally provocative styles of theatre. This year is no different - our partnerships with National Theatre of Scotland, Fire Exit and the Take Me Somewhere Festival, as well as our own ongoing commitment to supporting new writing at an early stage, allows us to share with audiences some of the very best in engaged and engaging work from the finest creative talent working in the sector.'
The Tron Theatre Company is currently under the artistic leadership of Andy Arnold, who took up the position of Artistic Director and Chief Executive in 2008. The Tron Theatre presents the people of Glasgow and the West of Scotland with outstanding professional productions of the finest new writing, with an emphasis on world, UK and Scottish premieres; as well as staging co-productions and collaborations with other theatre companies and supporting the work of new and emergent artists.
Mayfesto was established in 2010 and themes have included conflict in the middle east, the story of Irish rebellion, colonization, women in theatre and issues around identity.
In celebration of Scotland's Year of Young People 2018 the Tron Theatre launched the Mayfesto Award. One writer was awarded a £2,000 cash prize, and a package including script development sessions and run of public rehearsed readings at Mayfesto 2018. In this inaugural year of the award, applications have only been accepted from young people aged 18 - 25. Year of Young People 2018 is an opportunity to celebrate the amazing young personalities, talents, and achievers that make up Scotland.
The National Theatre of Scotland has collaborated with the Tron Theatre and Traverse Theatre to bring two new shows to Glasgow and Edinburgh in the Spring of 2018, in a new three-way partnership conceived to create more opportunities to put new plays on stage. Each play will be performed at their producing venue before touring to the partner venue.
The National Theatre of Scotland is dedicated to playing the great stages, arts centres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations of Scotland, the UK and internationally. As well as creating ground-breaking productions and working with the most talented theatre-makers, the National Theatre of Scotland produces significant community engagement projects, innovates digitally and works constantly to develop new talent. Central to this is finding pioneering ways to reach current and new audiences and to encourage people's full participation in the Company's work. With no performance building of its own, the Company works with existing and new venues and companies to create and tour theatre of the highest quality. Founded in 2006, the Company, in its short life, has become a globally significant theatrical player, with an extensive repertoire of award-winning work. The National Theatre of Scotland is supported by the Scottish Government.
http://www.nationaltheatrescotland.com
Take Me Somewhere is Glasgow's new festival of contemporary performance, building on the legacy of The Arches following its closure in 2015. The festival combines the best home-grown talent with some of the world's most cutting-edge contemporary performers as part of an exciting programme of events. Take Me Somewhere aims to provide a crucial support structure to Scotland's most innovative and exciting community of artists and makers. The festival was founded in 2017 by Jackie Wylie, now Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Scotland, with the inaugural festival proving to be a huge success with both critics and audiences, selling out at venues across Glasgow.
https://takemesomewhere.co.uk/
The Mental Health Foundation is one of the UK's leading mental health charities. Its work in Scotland focuses on social justice and inequality in mental health, raising awareness of mental health with the public and working in partnership with community organisations, policy makers and researchers. The Mental Health Foundation presented a new award at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe, in recognition of the show that most successfully explored the subject of mental health.
http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk
The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (known until 2016 as the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival) is one of Scotland's most diverse cultural events, covering everything from music, film and visual art to theatre, dance, and literature. Launched in 2007 and led by the Mental Health Foundation in partnership with numerous organisations across Scotland, it has grown into one of the largest festivals of its kind in the world, with over 300 events each year. By engaging with artists, connecting with communities and forming collaborations, we celebrate the artistic achievements of people with experience of mental health issues, exploring the relationship between creativity and the mind, and promoting positive mental health and wellbeing. The festival's innovative approach, combining high quality artistic events with community led programming and a social justice agenda, has been replicated internationally. http://www.mhfestival.com
Pyromania is a bursary programme created by Fire Exit to support playwrights based in Scotland to develop their skills in experimental writing. Designed for writers at any stage in their career, Pyromania aims to help create truly innovative text for contemporary theatre. is a Fire Exit programme with Tron Theatre and support from Playwrights' Studio Scotland and Take Me Somewhere. Funded by The Bridge Awards and Creative Scotland.
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