Tag: national tour

Scottish Opera brings Pop-Up Opera to communities and schools across Scotland this summer

Scottish Opera’s much-loved Pop-up Opera tours to audiences all over the country from 31 May, with performances of Gilbert & Sullivan’s celebrated comic operas A Little Bit of The Gondoliers and A Little Bit of The Pirates of Penzance, and children’s opera, Puffy MacPuffer and the Crabbit Canals.

The Company has joined forces with Scottish Canals to bring public Pop-up performances to the Union Canal, Edinburgh, The Falkirk Wheel, Caledonian Canal Centre in Fort Augustus, The Egg Shed at Crinan Canal, on board a barge in partnership with Forth & Clyde Canal Society, and Stockingfield Bridge in Glasgow, in partnership with North United Communities.  

There will be additional performances in communities at Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival in Sanquhar, Moniaive, Musselburgh, Cupar, Charlestown, Milngavie, Coatbridge (at Monkland Canal), Lochcarron, Cruden Bay, Kirriemuir, Ayr and East Kilbride.

There will also be free schools performances in Dumfries & Galloway, West Lothian, West Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, Strathcarron, Fort Augustus, Perth, Dundee and Aberdeenshire.

In addition, Scottish Opera will be offering illustration workshops to local primary schools in some venues so they can meet and draw the characters from Puffy MacPuffer & the Crabbit Canals before coming along to see the show.

Scottish Opera’s productions use ten specially created illustrations to help the performers — storytellers Allan Dunn and Katie Barnett, along with singers Jessica Leary, Holly Teague, Colin Murray and Paul Grant, cellist Andrew Drummond Huggan and guitarists Sasha Savaloni and Luke Anderson — present the story.

Scottish Opera’sDirector of Outreach & Education, Jane Davidson MBE said: ‘This year we are once again delighted to bring our miniature musical tales to locations across the country.

‘Gilbert & Sullivan’s topsy-turvy nautical adventures will be navigating the waterways from Penzance to Venice, and we will be stopping at some of Scotland’s most beautiful canalside spots.’

Scottish Canals CEO John Paterson said: ‘We are delighted to be able to bring opera to our canalside locations this summer.

‘Partnering with Scottish Opera allows us to both deliver a truly unique, entertaining, and accessible experience for all.

‘I would encourage everyone to get out and about this summer, and enjoy some canal magic as our canal corridors become the perfect stage for these performances’

Cleverlyre-scored by Scottish Opera’s former Head of Music, Derek Clark, in A Little Bit of The Pirates of Penzance, a young man bound by an overactive sense of duty, a soft-hearted pirate king with a hopeless band of rogues at his side, a beautiful young girl, a very modern major-general and an ineffectual bevy of policemen add to a plot hinging on the technicalities of having a birthday on the 29th of February. What could possibly go wrong? 

A Little Bit of The Gondoliers satirises the ruling classes and their position within society, with the tale of two happy-go-lucky gondoliers who discover that one of them is the heir to the throne of a distant kingdom. In a show packed full of fun, the gondoliers set off to rule with an idealistic – if somewhat chaotic – plan.

Created specifically for five to eight year olds, with music and words by Marion Christie, PuffyMacPuffer & The Crabbit Canals is a tale of the five waterways that link Scotland from the North Sea to the Atlantic. Like most families, each one is different: Caledonian – the longest; Crinan – the most beautiful; hard-working Monkland; Union – the fastest; wise old Forth & Clyde. Each one thinks they’re the best. Can an ordinary little puffer boat make them think again?

These 30-minute shows take opera out of the theatre into unexpected places, and are ideal for anyone new to the artform.

Pop-up Opera was originally inspired by the ancient Japanese art of Kamishibai (which roughly translates as ‘paper story’), a form of entertainment where itinerant storytellers travelled between small communities, telling traditional folk tales using a set of small paintings to accompany the narrative.

Pop-up Opera is supported by Friends of Scottish Opera.

Tickets are on sale now at www.scottishopera.org.uk/pop-up-opera-2025/

www.scottishopera.org.uk

You can follow Scottish Opera on Bluesky, Facebook, Tik-Tok, You Tube and Instagram @ScottishOpera

Cast

Storytellers Allan Dunn & Katie Barnett

Sopranos  Jessica Leary &Holly Teague

Baritones   Colin Murray & Paul Grant

CelloAndrew Drummond Huggan  

Guitar Sasha Savaloni & Luke Anderson

With illustrations by Iain Piercy & Otto von Beach

Performance Diary

Public performances

A’ the Airts, Sanquhar 

31 May, 1pm & 3pm

Glencairn Memorial Institute, Moniaive

1 June, 1pm & 3pm

North Esk Parish Church, Musselburgh

5 June, 7pm (double bill performance)

Cupar Corn Exchange

6 June, 7pm (double bill performance)

Queen’s Hall, Charlestown, Dunfermline

7 June, 1pm & 3pm

Lochrin Basin, Edinburgh (Union Canal)

8 June, 1pm & 3pm (free outdoor performances)

Milngavie Town Hall

13 June, 2pm & 4pm

Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, Coatbridge (Monkland Canal)

14 June, 3pm (free performance), 7pm (ticketed double bill)

The Falkirk Wheel

15 June, 1pm & 3pm (free outdoor performances)

The Lochcarron Centre, Strathcarron

18 June, 7pm (double bill performance)

Caledonian Canal Centre, Fort Augustus

20 June, 7pm (double bill performance)

The Egg Shed, Lochgilphead (Crinan Canal)

22 June, 12pm, 1.30pm & 4pm (plus illustration workshop at 11am)

Port Errol Public Hall, Cruden Bay

28 June, 2pm & 4pm

Kirriemuir Town Hall

29 June, 2pm & 4pm

The Cutty Sark Centre, Ayr

2 July, 12pm, 1.30pm & 4pm (plus illustration workshop at The Grain Exchange at 11am)

Forth & Clyde Canal Society

3 July, 1pm & 3pm, Kirkintilloch Southbank Marina to Hillhead Basin (30 minute circuit)

Forth & Clyde Canal Society

4 July 1pm & 3pm, Glasgow Canal House, Applecross Street to Firhill Basin (30 minute circuit)

Stockingfield Bridge, near Brassey Street, Glasgow

5 July, 1pm & 3pm (free outdoor performances)

East Kilbride Arts Centre

6 July, 1pm & 3pm (free outdoor performances)

Full cast and creative team announced for National Theatre of Scotland’s Maggie & Me

  • Full cast and creatives announced for the tour of Maggie & Me, the first stage adaptation of Damian Barr’s award-winning memoir touring UK in May and June 2024 
  • Gary Lamont as DB leads an ensemble cast with Sam Angell as Wee DB and Beth Marshall as Margaret Thatcher 

WORLD PREMIERE  

National Theatre of Scotland presents 

Maggie & Me 

Written by Damian Barr and James Ley, adapted from the memoir by Damian Barr  

Directed by Suba Das 

Set and Costume Design – Kenneth MacLeod, Lighting Design – Katharine Williams, Sound Designer – Susan Bear, Video Designer – Tim Reid, Movement Director – Struan Leslie, Casting Director – Orla O’Connor   

Cast – Sam Angell, Nicola Jo Cully, Gary Lamont, Beth Marshall, Grant McIntyre, Douglas Rankine, and Joanne Thomson 

Opening at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow (sold out), and touring to Eden Court, Inverness; Perth Theatre; Lanternhouse, Cumbernauld; Dundee Rep Theatre; Royal & Derngate, Northampton and Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. 

Maggie & Me, Damian Barr’s award-winning and darkly witty memoir about growing up gay in Thatcher’s Britain is coming to stages across the UK, in a bold and explosive new production led by a queer creative team.    

Damian Barr is adapting his memoir for the stage, teaming up with Scottish playwright James Ley and directed by Suba Das.   

This new production from National Theatre of Scotland premieres at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow in May 2024 before touring to Inverness, Perth, Cumbernauld, Dundee, Northampton and Edinburgh.  

“Don’t you worry. I’ll always love you. Love doesn’t run out. It’s not like the gas meter. I’ll find extra love.”   

Brighton, 2008: Damian Barr celebrates getting a deal to write a memoir about his chaotic childhood in 1980s Lanarkshire. But as soon as he opens the door to his troubled past, everybody comes rushing through, including his younger self and the woman who forever changes his family, community and country: Maggie Thatcher.   

Soon, revisiting his past turns into reliving it – the fear and the joy. From the furnaces of the Ravenscraig Steelworks to the sanctuary of Carfin Grotto, there’s trauma and triumph, coming of age and coming out. It’s about friendship and family, finding your voice and fighting to tell your story. Can Damian survive his past again? 

Past and present collide, endangering the future, in an explosive quest that tells the story of a particular place and time through Damian’s childhood. Before you can move forwards, you have to go back… 

In Maggie & Me, Damian will come face to face with his past. DB will be played by Gary Lamont, who will be familiar to Scottish audiences from his role as Robbie Fraser in River City, and most recently seen in Boiling Point, both the Netflix film and BBC television continuation. Wee DB will be played by Sam Angell, who is making his National Theatre of Scotland debut. He started his career playing Billy Elliot in Stephen Daldry’s West End production in 2008. 

Beth Marshall will be taking on the titular Maggie Thatcher, who finds herself pulled into Damian’s world. Recent stage credits include Fleg, The Spark, and Mary and Ada Set The World to Rights (A Play, a Pie and a Pint) and Mrs Puntilla and his Man Matti (Royal Lyceum Theatre), and television credits include Still Game, Shetland and River City. Last year, Beth worked with National Theatre of Scotland in Hannah Lavery’s radio play Finding Seaglass (co-prod with Almost Tangible for BBC Radio 4).  

Both making their National Theatre of Scotland debut, Nicola Jo Cully will be playing Mum, and Douglas Rankine will be playing Dad. Nicola Jo Cully has appeared on screen in Doctors, Outlander, Waterloo Road, River City and Casualty. Stage credits include Welcome to Bannockburn (A Play, a Pie and a Pint) and Prism (Scottish Theatre Producers).

Douglas Rankine is returning to Scottish stages for the first time since 2006, where he appeared in Faust (Royal Lyceum Theatre). His film credits include The Death & of John F. Donovan and Sunset Song, and television credits includes The Pigeon Tunnel (Apple TV+), Traces, Casualty, River City, Peaky Blinders and The Dumping Ground (BBC).  

Completing the cast are Grant McIntyre as Mark and Joanne Thomson as Heather. Grant McIntyre’s recent stage credits include Scots (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), The Addams Family UK tour and Oor Wullie (Dundee Rep). Joanne Thomson is an actor, writer and director,

She was nominated twice for Best Actress categories at the IARA Awards for her role in In Plain Sight (ITV) and will be familiar to audiences from her role in Outlander as Amy McCallum. Stage credits as an actress include The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart (Royal Exchange Manchester), and Twelfth Night (Bristol Old Vic, Royal Lyceum Theatre). 

A creative team including Kenneth MacLeod, Set and Costume Designer (Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning for National Theatre of Scotland and Aberdeen Performing Arts, and Battery Park for Sleeping Warrior Theatre); Struan Leslie, Movement Director, (founding Head of Movement at the Royal Shakespeare Company) and Tim Reid, Video Designer (Quiz – Chichester Festival Theatre, 1984 – West End and Broadway and The Grand Old Opera House Hotel – Traverse Theatre) will create a kaleidoscope of memory spanning two decades, weaving in use of iconic 80s archive footage and live onstage camera work. 

Published in 2013, Maggie & Me was named Sunday Times Memoir of the Year, awarded the Paddy Power Political Satire Award and Barr was named Stonewall Writer of the Year.  

There will be a chance for audiences to hear more about bringing the memoir to the stage from Damian at two special events in Edinburgh and Motherwell, and from Damian and co-writer James together in Glasgow. More details about these events will be available soon. 

The National Theatre of Scotland will be collaborating with film and video students from New College Lanarkshire to create a short documentary about the making of the production. 

Maggie & Me was highly acclaimed upon publication and has established itself as a Scottish classic memoir. This is the first time it has been adapted for the stage. 

‘Funny, tender, and heartbreaking.’ The Independent 

‘Certain memoirs catch a moment and seem to define it, bottle it… Hugely entertaining.’  The Sunday Times 

‘A memoir which is both personally moving and a valuable historical document.’ Literary Review 

Author Damian Barr and Playwright James Ley photographed here at Carfin Grotto, Carfin, Motherwell. 9/11/2023 Kirsty Anderson

Born in Bellshill and now living in Brighton, Damian Barr is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. His debut novel, You Will Be Safe Here, was Book of the Year in the Observer, Guardian and Mail in 2019.

He has written several plays for radio, with Maggie & Me marking his first stage play. In 2019, Damian brought books back to television with the BBC’s Big Scottish Book Club, now in its fifth series. He regularly appears on Radio 4. 

James Ley is an award-winning writer living in Glasgow.  

‘One of Scotland’s most exciting, early-career writers.’ Exeunt.  

James wrote and directed Ode to Joy (How Gordon got to go to the nasty pig party), winner of a Scotsman Fringe First in 2022, nominated for a Critics Award for Theatre Scotland Award 2023 for Best New Play and recently enjoyed a run at the Sydney Festival.

His other plays include Wilf (Traverse Theatre) and Love Song to Lavender Menace (Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Summerhall, SoHo Playhouse, New York). James is currently under commission with the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, and is an alumnus of the BBC Writersroom Scottish Voices 2022/2023 and Edinburgh Film Festival Talent Lab. 

Suba Das is an award-winning theatremaker from the Northeast of England. Previously Creative Director at the Liverpool Everyman; and Artistic Director/CEO of the internationally acclaimed new writing company HighTide; Suba trained at Cambridge and on the prestigious Birkbeck MFA in Theatre Directing. He is a 2023 graduate of the National Film and Television School’s Directors Series.  

His directing credits include major revivals of Top Girls (Liverpool Everyman), East Is East (Northern Stage and Nottingham Playhouse) and The Importance of Being Earnest (Bolton Octagon); in addition to the world premieres of Ravi Shankar’s Sukanya (with The Royal Opera and London Philharmonic Orchestra), Pink Sari Revolution by Purva Naresh, and Wipers by Ishy Din (all as Associate Director at Leicester Curve). This is his first time working with the National Theatre of Scotland. 

Touring to Tron Theatre, Glasgow Tues 7 to Sat 11 May; One Touch, Eden Court Tues 14 May to Wed 15 May; Perth Theatre Fri 17 May to Sat 18 May; Cumbernauld Theatre Thurs 23 May to Sat 25 May; Dundee Rep Theatre Thurs 30 May to Sat 1 June; Royal & Derngate, Northampton Thurs 6 June to Sat 8 June; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Tues 11 June to Sat 15 June 

Full creative team: Assistant Director – Matt McBrier, Set and Costume Design – Kenneth MacLeod, Lighting Design – Katharine Williams, Sound Designer – Susan Bear, Video Designer – Tim Reid, Movement Director/Associate Director – Struan Leslie, Casting Director – Orla O’Connor   

Access providers: Integrated BSL interpreters Amy Cheskin & Sarah Forrester, Captioner – Alison Pendlowski, and Audio Describer – Emma-Jane McHenry 

Access – full information on accessible performance can be found here. 

The National Theatre of Scotland’s popular Theatre for a Fiver scheme will be available for 14- to 16-year-olds and those on Universal Credit. 

Full tour information and cast and creative biogs here.  

Cast and creatives announced for Rona Munro’s James V: Katherine

  • Catriona Faint will play the lead role of Katherine in the latest instalment in Rona Munro’s renowned James Plays, with the cast also featuring Sean Conor, Benjamin Osugo, and Alyth Ross.
  • Directed by Orla O’Loughlin, the new production will have its world premiere in Edinburgh before touring venues across Scotland, from the Highlands to the Borders, from April 2024
  • Creative team for the production will include Designer Becky Minto, Composer/Sound Designer Danny Krass, and Lighting Designer Derek Anderson.

A Raw Material and Capital Theatres co-production, James V: Katherine will continue Rona Munro’s celebrated James Plays theatrical series when it premieres next month.

Employing the same vivid historical storytelling of the previous instalments, set during the reigns of Scotland’s generations of Stewart kings. 

James V: Katherine places a lesser-known female historical figure front and centre in the story, with an intimate and up-close performance with focussed, raw and beautiful storytelling, directed by Orla O’Loughlin (Enough of Him, What Girls Are Made Of, Mouthpiece).

Katherine Hamilton is nineteen. She‘s a respectable young married woman, but she also has a secret love she’s trying to forget. When her brother, Patrick, is executed for preaching ideas forbidden by the church, Katherine is also put on trial for her life. In a packed courtroom, watched by most of Edinburgh and the cynical, young King James V, Katherine fights for survival, using her intelligence and wit.

This play is based on real historical figures and is a dramatic interpretation of key events at the very start of the Scottish Reformation, events that did happen and did change Scotland forever. It is also a love story.

The role of Katherine will be played by Catriona Faint, whose recent stage credits have included the UK-wide tour of Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning and the award-winning Enough of Him, both with the National Theatre of Scotland. The production’s ensemble cast will also include Sean Conor (River City, Moorcroft), Benjamin Osugo (A Christmas Carol, The Bookies – Dundee Rep), and Alyth Ross who will make her professional stage debut in the production.

The production will be brought to life by a creative team including Designer Becky Minto, Composer / Sound Designer Danny Krass, and Lighting Designer Derek Anderson.

James V: Katherine will premiere in Capital Theatres’ The Studio in Edinburgh, before embarking on a tour of Scottish venues with stops in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Tobermory, Inverness, Dunoon, Dunkeld, St Andrews, Stirling, Peebles and Melrose.

Supported by Chris Grace Hartness.

Funded by the Creative Scotland Touring Fund.

Full cast announced for new stage adaptation of Sunset Song

  • Touring to Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness and Edinburgh from 18 April to 8 June
  • Opening press performance 7.30pm, Thursday 18 April at Dundee Rep Theatre

Dundee Rep Theatre, in co-production with the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, have revealed the full ensemble cast that will star in their thrilling new adaptation of Sunset Song, which will tour stages across Scotland this Spring.

Danielle Jam (Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning, Kidnapped, James IV: Queen of the Fight, Wings Around Dundee) will lead the exciting cast in the role of Chris Guthrie, Scotland’s most beloved and iconic literary heroine. As an alumnus of the Dundee Rep graduate actor scheme – a programme which supports acting graduates in the transition from drama school into the theatre industry – Sunset Song marks a meaningful return to the Rep stage for Danielle.

The award-winning ensemble cast will also include Rori Hawthorn, Murray Fraser, Andy Clark, Annie Louise Ross, Sam Pashby, Naomi Stirrat, and Kirsten Henderson.

This revitalised and reimagined production is brought to life by a leading Scottish creative team. Co-conceived by writer Morna Young (Lost at Sea, The Stamping Ground) and director Finn den Hertog (The Enemy, Square Go), Sunset Song will also feature new music by Composer Finn Anderson (Islander, A Mother’s Song).

One of Scottish literature’s most enduring classics, Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s powerful coming-of-age tale continues to capture hearts and imaginations across the world. Following the spirited Chris Guthrie as she faces a choice between a hard farming life and a world of learning, her journey to womanhood in the early 20th century sees her face crushing poverty, harrowing family trials, stirring love, and the ever-looming threat of the First World War. With a profound lyrical intensity, Sunset Song tells the story of human resilience in the face of great loss.

Sunset Song will open at Dundee Rep Theatre from 18 April to 02 May (previews 13 – 17 April) before touring to His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen (08 – 11 May), Eden Court Inverness (16 – 18 May), and the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh (28 May – 08 June).

Baton of Hope Tour stops off in Edinburgh to raise awareness of suicide prevention initiative 

The Baton of Hope aims to be the UK’s biggest suicide prevention initiative

The Baton of Hope, the symbol of the UK’s biggest suicide awareness campaign, reached Edinburgh Castle on Monday as it continues its tour across the UK’s major cities,

The Baton of Hope, the biggest suicide prevention initiative the UK has ever seen, will visited Edinburgh on the first ever tour of its kind. 

Highlighting the suicide crisis that sees 17 people take their own lives every day, the charity’s Baton, its iconic physical symbol, will embark on a tour of 12 cities across the UK, starting in Glasgow on Sunday 25th June and culminating in a trip to Downing Street on Thursday 6th July.

The Baton will bring a unifying message of hope to the thousands of people across the country that are suffering as a result of suicide bereavement or personal mental ill health. 

PICTURED: Louise Marshall, the Lord Provost’s Piper, Christo, the Baton of Hope Tour’s first Baton bearer, Tanya Marwaha and Jenny Raynor, members of the Baton of Hope organising committee, and Paul Marshall, brother of the Lord Provost’s Piper.

Celebrating our Heroes: Royal Regiment of Scotland Band hits the road to support Poppyscotland

They’ve played for Her Majesty the Queen as part of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations – and now fans can hear the Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland on a national tour.

Scotland’s best-known military band has launched a series of concerts, “Celebrating our Heroes” to raise funds for Poppyscotland this autumn.

Renowned for their performances at Holyrood Palace and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the talented musicians will be touring venues in Livingston, Hamilton, Perthshire, Angus, and the Scottish Borders.

This year’s repertoire will include folk music inspired from across Scotland, featuring a collaboration with Hawick folk musician and songwriter, Alan Brydon.

The events follow similar successful tours in 2018 and 2019. All proceeds will go to help Poppyscotland deliver its life-changing support for members of the Armed Forces community across Scotland.

The first one will take place at Hamilton Town House on Friday 2nd September, followed by dates at Howden Park Centre, Livingston, Montrose Academy, and Bankfoot Church Centre, Perthshire. The final, festive concert will be on December 15th at Hawick Town Hall.

Gordon Michie, Poppyscotland’s Head of Fundraising, said: “We’re delighted to welcome back the Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland after a two-year break due to the pandemic, and are very grateful for their continuing support. This is a fantastic chance to hear the internationally acclaimed band at local venues around Scotland.

“The concerts promise to be unforgettable evenings, featuring folk music inspired from across Scotland, from the Borders to the Western Isles, and guaranteed to get your feet tapping! They are always very popular, so we’d encourage music lovers to buy their tickets early before they sell out.

“All funds raised will help us continue our vital work, supporting current and former servicemen and women and their families, which is now needed more than ever.”

The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, based at Dreghorn Barracks, Edinburgh, is one of the 22 Regular Army bands, and is made up of musicians who are also serving soldiers. As well as supporting the Army and performing at ceremonial occasions across Scotland, they have also played around the world, traveling to Hong Kong, New Zealand, Switzerland and Canada in recent years.

Concert dates are:

  • Hamilton Town House – Friday 2nd September 2022
  • Howden Park Centre, Livingston – Friday 30th September 2022
  • Montrose Academy – Friday 21st October 2022
  • Bankfoot Church Centre, Perthshire – Friday 4th November 2022
  • Hawick Town Hall – Thursday 15th December 2022

Tickets cost £15 (£12 concessions) and are available via:

 www.poppyscotland.org.uk/get-involved/things-to-do/2022-band-tour.