the citizens theatre
We want to put the theatre back into pre-theatre we also want to let you wine and dine after the show.
We offer a 15% discount to any one who has a valid ticket to a performance.
Our 2 course set menu costs only £10 for pre-theatre dining for patrons and we will have a taxi waiting for you.
For full show listings visit:
http://citz.co.uk/whatson
Choosing Limbo
This week we started rehearsals for Limbo by Declan Feenan, the compelling and tender story of a young girl who gets into a relationship with an older man. Its a one woman play performed by the actor intern at the Citz, Lynn Kennedy. When I arrived at the Citz last September to be the resident assistant director, Dominic mentioned to Lynn and I that we should meet up and see if there was any work we could make together.
I had been at the Citz for a month, working on A Day in the Death of Joe Egg before I got a chance to properly meet Lynn. We sat down together briefly in the office we would later share to chat and see what kind of projects we might like to work on together. I have always worked on new writing and was very keen to find or create a new play for us to develop together but first we both wanted to get to know one another and each others tastes. Taking a trick I’ve used to get to know designers I’ve worked with we went to visit galleries together, see exhibitions, installations, to build up a knowledge of what work was going on right then in Glasgow and to find common ground. Going to the theatre together, then sitting down after with a drink to argue about what we liked and disliked really began to allow us to see how we might begin to work together.
We soon started to focus upon two ideas, to find an existing play to work on together or to devise our own. We got to work just before Lynn started rehearsals for Hansel & Gretel at the Citz and before I headed to assist on Mister Merlin at the Tron. By the time these shows started we knew we wouldn’t have time to devise our own show and should realistically be looking for an existing script.
With this in mind we started then to read, read and read some more. Searching for the best one person play that would suit Lynn perfectly. It was not easy. Finding a great one person play especially a great one person play for a young female actor, proved much more difficult than I ever thought it would be. After striking out with my own search I decided to call in some help and try to find a new play at the same time. I began a wider search by calling, emailing or generally shouting across the street at the literary departments of the Traverse, the Royal Court, Paines Plough and Tinderbox. Four of the biggest new writing companies in the UK. Asking each for recommendations and advice on finding what I was looking for. I got some great advice from everyone in these theatres but nothing at first came up, there seemed to be a lack of new one person plays. Calls then went out to the Playwrights Studio and onto various new writing blogs and still I couldn’t find anything that was suitable.
When I was particularly desperate and days away from when we needed to finalise the decision, I got an email from Tinderbox and one from the Traverse with a few more recommendations, one of which was Limbo. At first I wasn’t sure about the recommendations, I didn’t recognise the names of the writers but after a bit of research and a read of the plays I knew that I had found some winners.
I took a few recommendations to Lynn and after she had time to read them we sat and discussed what we liked. We whittled the choices down to two plays, Limbo and Adult Child/Dead Child by Claire Dowie. One of these two we would take to Dominic. Both were great scripts, Adult Child/Dead Child would be a real challenge in performance, with a fantastically rich and deep character, plus a great story, but Limbo attracted both Lynn and myself to it. The gorgeous and heartfelt story of a young girl alone and trapped in her own life really made us want to produce this piece and so it was Limbo that we took to Dominic.
Several months later we have now just started to get stuck into the play and are really excited about what we will discover and create together over the next few weeks. Come along to find out...
Director
LIMBO | 8-10 March
Starts at 6.30pm (under 45mins)
£5 or £3 with a ticket to Betrayal!
£5 or £3 with a ticket to Betrayal!
Many thanks go out to: Jennifer Williams, Chris Campbell, Andy Arnold, Hanna Slättne, Emma McKee and James Grieve. For all of your help and advice, very gratefully received.
Lovesongs
For Frantic Assembly’s forthcoming tour of Lovesong, we recently ran a competition in our enews where we asked people to send us their favourite lovesongs. The entries were so good and varied, we thought we’d share the list with you. The full list is below, but we also made a playlist of any of the tunes that were available on Spotify...just in time for Valentines day.
Let us know if you’d add anything else.
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Roberta Flack
You're the One Shane McGowan/Maire Brennan
Circle of Friends Soundtrack
Bed of Roses
Bon Jovi
Heartbeat
Buddy Holly and the Crickets
Love Hurts
Roy Orbison
Romeo and Juliet
Dire Straits
Just An Old Love Song
John Stewart
Endless Love
Diana Ross and Lionel Ritchie
Ae Fond Kiss
Eddi Reader
Nocturnal Me
Echo and the Bunnymen
Lovin’ You
Minnie Ripperton
Dance Me to the End of Love
Leonard Cohen
Always
Atlantic Starr
May You Never
John Martyn
I Can't Make You Love Me
Bonnie Raitt
The Lady in Red
Chris de Burgh
Try A Little Tenderness
Otis Redding
At Last
Etta James
If Love Could Last Forever
The Bathers
Between the Bars
Elliot Smith
Wonderful Tonight
Eric Clapton
I Want You
Bob Dylan
I Feel The Earth Move
Carole King
Have I Told You Lately That I Love You
Rod Stewart
This Must Be The Place
Talking Heads
Something
The Beatles
You Are So Beautiful
Joe Cocker
My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose
Karen Matheson
Couldn’t Love You More
John Martyn
Someone Like You
Van Morrison
Love Theme from Bladerunner
Vangelis
It’s Oh So Quiet
Bjork
That’s Amore
Dean Martin
Let’s Get it On
Marvin Gaye
Secret Love
Doris Day
Time After Time
Cyndi Lauper
I Surrender
David Sylvian
Lovesong described by The Telegraph as "a tribute to the durability of loving relationship" has been receiving rave reviews in the early part of its tour. It reaches the Citizens Theatre on Tue 7 February and plays until Sat 11.
“I’ve never seen such an instantaneous standing ovation…the piece beats with such profound truth that you’re held rapt “
The Telegraph ★★★★
“Lovesong is compelling, understated perfection…poignant and uplifting…a hugely memorable performance”
The Stage
“It all works beautifully…This haunting play is shot through with compassion and tenderness.”
Plymouth Herald
"Lovesong is an atmospheric, gentle, humorous tear-jerker.”
What’s On Stage ★★★★
More info on Lovesong
50p tickets! Yes, you heard us right, 50p.
This season the Citizens Theatre is doffing its cap to the good old days with a 50p ticket offer for Betrayal, King Lear and Krapps Last Tape/Footfalls.
 | |
| Not even the Glasgow weather could keep them away! |
We are offering:
10 tickets per performance for
10 performances of each show for just 50p!
These will go on sale for each show at 10am on the following dates:
Sat 25 February for BETRAYAL
Sat 14 April for KING LEAR
Sat 26 May for KRAPP'S LAST TAPE/FOOTFALLS
These tickets are only available at the theatre in person, so it's time to join a good old fashioned queue. You can't reserve in advance, it's first-come-first-served! Cash only. 2 tickets for person. Allocated price band II seats. Terms apply.
Don't worry if you can't make it down. The Citizens Theatre is committed to making its work accessible through concessions and standard offers such as £6 Previews and £10 Tuesdays, which you can book online!
In addition this season you can also get a CLASSIC PASS for the 3 shows listed above. See Pricing for info on this and other offers.
 |
| The Citizens (and Palace Theatre) facade back in the day! |
No longer an unsung hero
Yesterday on Facebook, we posted some pictures of a surprise party for Frances Coyle who has worked at the Citizens Theatre for an astonishing 44 years and retires this year.
 |
| Photo by Richard Campbell |
Frances who is 82, has been a friendly face behind the coffee bar for a great many years and is known to audiences possibly far more than some of the creative teams behind the shows!
Today we're delighted to announce that Frances is one of the first recipients of an Unsung Hero Award from The Stage.
You can read more about the Unsung Heroes and The Stage 100 Awards on The Stage website.
It is said that Frances has never taken a day off sick. Two of her eight children have also worked at the theatre and more recently one of her grand-daughters.
We'd like to offer a sincere thank you to Frances for her incredible service over the years and wish her the very best for a happy retirement!
 | |
| Frances with the Front of House team |
"Frances may you enjoy every minute of your retirement and let someone else serve you tea and coffee for a change. Much love. Claire x"
"Happy Retirement Frances, i remember working with you, cant believe you have been there all this time!! Great days with all the girlies!! Xxx"
"Happy Retirement Frances, i remember working with you, cant believe you have been there all this time!! Great days with all the girlies!! Xxx"
"Frances has probably been the most constant and familiar face at the Citz as far back as I can remember. I hope she has a wonderful retirement and enjoys every minute of it. Best wishes"
Spring Season Brochure 2012
As you may already know our Spring Season 2012 is on sale. Our season brochure is at the printers and will be on doorsteps and in leaflet racks across the city early in January.
Here's a sneaky peek - click on the preview to view full screen and flick through at your leisure.
The season starts with a schools' production of Theresa Breslin's award-winning story Divided City, a stunning piece of visual theatre from Frantic Assembly: Lovesong (trailer below) starring Siân Phillips; 6 shows from the Glasgow International Comedy Festival and The Infamous Brothers Davenport by Vox Motus.
You can see the Citizens Theatre's own productions of Betrayal, King Lear and a Beckett double-bill of Krapp's Last Tape and Footfalls using our brand new Classic Pass, or for those of you not afraid of some old-fashioned queuing - you could take the risk of going for some of our 50p tickets! You can see information on special offers on our Pricing page.
Here's to a happy and fun-filled Christmas and New Year!
Both Little Ulla and Hansel and Gretel are on until 7 January, but if we don't see you for those, we look forward to presenting some amazing theatre in 2012.
