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The Herald Scotland
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
True crime tale of Glasgow poisoning turned into city play
Written by Tom Cooper and Jen McGregor, the musical is inspired by the scandalous tale of 19th century femme fatale Madeleine Smith, who was accused of poisoning her lover but given a rare Not Proven verdict. The truth as to what happened is still questioned to this day. Also this season at the West End venue, award-winning poet and playwright Kevin P Gilday makes his PPP debut with Gravity, a drama about a man who refuses to vacate his flat in a condemned Glasgow high-rise, and the unconventional social worker determined to help him before tragedy unfolds. Brian James O'Sullivan (Image: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan) Katy Nixon, writer of the David MacLennan Award-winning Jellyfish, returns with new drama Cheapo about two teenagers who play chess in their local KFC, while a fading starlet holding onto the hope of playing the role of a lifetime is the subject of Maybe Tomorrow by PPP favourite Brian James O'Sullivan and performer Hannah Jarrett-Scott in her playwriting debut. The season also includes two spooky productions - Righ Isagair: The Fisher King, a folk thriller from writer and performer Kenny Boyle, about two best friends who discover they are not alone on the dark Outer Hebridean moors; and Hauns Aff Ma Haunted Bin! by Éimi Quinn, about an auntie and niece attempting to hide a murder. Éimi Quinn (Image: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan) The autumn line-up, which runs from September 1 to November 22, also includes a contemporary hip hop musical exploring the legend of William Wallace. Co-produced with Raw Material, Wallace is an exciting collaboration between playwright Rob Drummond and acclaimed rapper-songwriter Dave Hook, that explores Wallace's contested place on the spectrum between myth and history. Brian Logan (Image: Calum O'Brien) Brian Logan, PPP's artistic director, said: 'The nights may be drawing in but the lunchtimes will be brighter than ever at Òran Mór this autumn, with a scintillating line-up of pastry-assisted theatre. 'As usual at PPP, this season balances broad comedy with big-hitting drama, rookies with well-loved talents, shows about the past with shows thrillingly about the here and now. 'We couldn't be more excited to kick off with Wallace, the hip hop musical they're already calling (well, I am…) Scotland's Hamilton. 'Throw in some spine-chilling Gaelic folklore, a cracking Glasgow drama in a doomed high-rise, and a generational set-to between TikTok and the stage, and you've got twelve weeks of brand new theatre that you really wouldn't want to miss.' Tickets are on sale now for all performances.
Glasgow Times
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
True crime tale of Glasgow poisoning turned into city play
The Glasgow Poisoner is one of 12 new works to take centre stage at Oran Mor's lunchtime theatre series, A Play A Pie and A Pint, in the autumn. Written by Tom Cooper and Jen McGregor, the musical is inspired by the scandalous tale of 19th century femme fatale Madeleine Smith, who was accused of poisoning her lover but given a rare Not Proven verdict. The truth as to what happened is still questioned to this day. Also this season at the West End venue, award-winning poet and playwright Kevin P Gilday makes his PPP debut with Gravity, a drama about a man who refuses to vacate his flat in a condemned Glasgow high-rise, and the unconventional social worker determined to help him before tragedy unfolds. Brian James O'Sullivan (Image: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan) Katy Nixon, writer of the David MacLennan Award-winning Jellyfish, returns with new drama Cheapo about two teenagers who play chess in their local KFC, while a fading starlet holding onto the hope of playing the role of a lifetime is the subject of Maybe Tomorrow by PPP favourite Brian James O'Sullivan and performer Hannah Jarrett-Scott in her playwriting debut. The season also includes two spooky productions - Righ Isagair: The Fisher King, a folk thriller from writer and performer Kenny Boyle, about two best friends who discover they are not alone on the dark Outer Hebridean moors; and Hauns Aff Ma Haunted Bin! by Éimi Quinn, about an auntie and niece attempting to hide a murder. Éimi Quinn (Image: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan) The autumn line-up, which runs from September 1 to November 22, also includes a contemporary hip hop musical exploring the legend of William Wallace. Co-produced with Raw Material, Wallace is an exciting collaboration between playwright Rob Drummond and acclaimed rapper-songwriter Dave Hook, that explores Wallace's contested place on the spectrum between myth and history. Brian Logan (Image: Calum O'Brien) Brian Logan, PPP's artistic director, said: 'The nights may be drawing in but the lunchtimes will be brighter than ever at Òran Mór this autumn, with a scintillating line-up of pastry-assisted theatre. 'As usual at PPP, this season balances broad comedy with big-hitting drama, rookies with well-loved talents, shows about the past with shows thrillingly about the here and now. 'We couldn't be more excited to kick off with Wallace, the hip hop musical they're already calling (well, I am…) Scotland's Hamilton. 'Throw in some spine-chilling Gaelic folklore, a cracking Glasgow drama in a doomed high-rise, and a generational set-to between TikTok and the stage, and you've got twelve weeks of brand new theatre that you really wouldn't want to miss.' Tickets are on sale now for all performances.
Scotsman
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
The Haunting of Alice Gilfrey
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Haunting Of Agnes Gilfrey, Oran Mor, Glasgow ★★★ Youth's a stuff will not endure, says Shakespeare; but in the age of the tribute musical, it can be endlessly recaptured, and made to live again on stage. Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey's 1971 show Grease – later transformed into the 1978 global hit film – is a tribute musical in the true sense. Set in the autumn of 1959, it is one of the original high school musicals, and its much-loved songs – Summer Nights, We Go Together, You're The One That I Want, and many more – are all lovingly crafted in the bubble-gum pop style of the late Fifties. Grease at Pitlochry Festival Theatre PIC: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan To work well, though, a show like Grease needs a company who are themselves full of the rebellious energy and sheer joie de vivre of youth; and that's what the 2025 Pitlochry ensemble provides by the truckload, in the opening production of this year's main stage summer season. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Co-produced with the Grand Theatre, Blackpool, Sam Hardie's Pitlochry-made production has already played a two-week run there; so the version that opened at Pitlochry over the weekend is already warmed up to sizzling-point. Working in the instruments-in-hand style perfected by Pitlochry musical director Richard Reeday, the 17-strong cast offer a sparkling display of quadruple-threat theatrical energy, as they act, sing, dance and play their way through the story of good girl Sandy, her beau Danny Zuko, and the Rydell High School gang who surround them. What makes the show a roaring success, though – despite the occasional rough edge and under-powered moment – is not only that energy, but the sheer underlying professionalism they bring to the task of making the story work, as a fast-moving two hours of theatre, plus interval. Blythe Jandoo is a beautiful, poignant Sandy, and Alexander Service a palpably decent Danny, with Tyler Collins and Fiona Wood fairly knocking the pinball out of the arcade as rough kids Kenickie and Rizzo. In the end, though, it's all about the ensemble, and the terrific collective spirit expressed through the big-number songs, and through Kally Lloyd-Jones's joyful choreography; and when they reach the final triumphant chorus of You're The One That I Want, the Pitlochry audience can hardly wait to leap to their feet and join in the jive, in one of those glorious celebrations of youth that never grows old. Manasa Tagica and Sarah McCardie in The Haunting of Alice Gilfrey at Oran Mor PIC: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan Youth's a stuff that can't be recaptured, though, for the central character in the latest Play, Pie and Pint lunchtime drama, co-produced with Mull Theatre. In The Haunting Of Agnes Gilfrey, by Glasgow based writer-performer Amy Conway, the central character Agnes is an outspoken Glasgow woman in her forties who loves her job in the film industry, but has recently fallen in love with, and married, a slightly younger man, an American actor called Jimmy, who is eager to become a Dad. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The pair are therefore undergoing fertility treatment, so far with no success; and when they arrive for a romantic break at a holiday-let castle on Mull – and encounter the very strange housekeeper, Mrs Carlin – Agnes soon begins to feel haunted by the unhappy spirit of a former lady of the house, whose sombre portrait hangs over the fireplace. The play perhaps spends a little too much time setting up this situation, and referencing various horror-movie tropes, before Agnes's story finally moves towards its crisis. The point it wants to make, though – about patriarchal pressure on women to have children, and on how even the nicest, funniest men can be complicit with it – is a powerful one. And in Katie Slater's production, Mary Gapinski, Manasa Tagica, and a poignant and hilarious Sarah McCardie as Agnes, make a fine job of exploring the tough moment of choice she faces; as she learns to embrace her own inner cailleach, or crone, and her right to grow older, without shame or regret.
Glasgow Times
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow's Citizens Theatre returns with Lockerbie story
The Citizens Theatre will reopen later this year with "Small Acts of Love" after being out of use since June 2018 due to major redevelopment work. The new production, commissioned by artistic director Dominic Hill, will be the first to be performed on the theatre's home stage. Dominic Hill (Image: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan) It centres around the bonds formed between the residents of Lockerbie and the American relatives of the Pan Am 103 tragedy victims in 1988. The production will premiere on September 12. Read more: Woman, 63, arrested after protesters gather at Glasgow venue 'Phenomenal': Glasgow flower shop named best in Scotland at top awards Willowbank schoolgirl's artwork chosen for NHS report front cover Mr Hill said: "To be announcing our cast for Small Acts of Love today is an exciting and pivotal moment in our journey home. "Ranging from some of the most experienced and well-known actors in Scotland to newly graduated stars of the future, this cast and this production announce the ambition and quality of the new Citizens Theatre. "With only a few weeks to go until the start of rehearsals, the whole company is preparing to welcome artists and audiences to our fantastic new building for the first time in seven years.' Ricky Ross, Frances Poet, and Dominic Hill (Image: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan) The production's story follows two communities over 36 years as they forge connections in the aftermath of tragedy. It is based on meticulous research and interviews with families and individuals directly impacted by the Lockerbie bombing. A cast of 14 actors, featuring seasoned stars and emerging talents, will bring these stories to life. Mr Hill added: "We're pleased to continue supporting early-career artists through initiatives like our Graduate Actor roles and our partnership with Birkbeck's MA in Theatre Directing." The production, in association with the National Theatre of Scotland, is also a musical collaboration between playwright Frances Poet and Ricky Ross from Deacon Blue, who has composed an original score. The live soundtrack will be performed by a five-piece roots band.
