Local talent play their part

Aug 15 2008 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

DETAILS and tickets are now available for the new season at Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre.

Celebrating Scotland’s greatest writers in a season peppered with cult classics, Perth Theatre has a dramatically eclectic body of work on offer this year and early in 2009.

The lilting Doric of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Sunset Song is staged at Perth Theatre from October 7-18 in a revised adaptation by Alastair Cording for His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen.

The first Horsecross production of the new season is Tennessee Williams’ A Street Car Named Desire, directed by Ian Grieve (November 7-22).

Ian also directs this year’s Christmas show at Perth Theatre, which takes a slightly different route from the traditional pantomime by showcasing modern Scottish writing at its best in Stuart Paterson’s haunting and hilarious The Snow Queen (December 5-January 3).

Scotland’s most famous export will be celebrated on Robert Burns’ 250th anniversary with an extravagant and vivid dramatisation of the adventures of his hell-bent hero, Tam O’Shanter (January 29-February 14).

This Horsecross production is adapted and directed by Gerry Mulgrew.

Gothic spoof, The Mystery of Irma Vep, will be brought to life by the joint talents of Horsecross and Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, portraying Charles Ludlam’s classic comedy (March 20-April 4).

Visiting productions include the famous musical Annie (in Perth Concert Hall from September 2-6); the Eva Cassidy story, Over the Rainbow (September 19 and 20); Scottish Opera’s the Merry Widow (September 27); and the pole-dancing larks of Lisa Riley in The Naked Truth (March 10-14).

The programme of classical music in Perth Concert Hall offers music-lovers a wide choice of concerts this autumn and winter including the popular series of lunchtime concerts; the Scottish Orchestras Perth Concert Series; Schubertaid 08 – a celebration of Schubert, over the weekend of October 10-13; and a visit from the Russian Patriarchate of Moscow (December 2).

The second series of The Monday Night Thing events of different genres in Redrooms at Perth Theatre covers the 11 Mondays from September 22. Comedy, jazz, traditional and folk are all included in this successful concept of offering excellent, affordable entertainment in an intimate and relaxed environment.

After last year’s spectacular and sell-out A National Treasure concert celebrating the music of Pitlochry’s Gordon Duncan, a glittering cast of musicians from home and beyond present A National Treasure II in Perth Concert Hall on September 27. A highlight will be the performance of Tunes for Gordon – five new pieces of music commissioned by the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust.

The Concert Hall’s music programme has a strong focus on home-grown composers and performers, including Eddi Reader, John McCusker and an all-star line-up for his ‘Under One Sky’ project, Runrig, the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, the many talents of Bill Wilkie’s 59th All-Scotland Accordion and Fiddle Festival, and the return of the Scottish Brass Band Championships.

Magic: A Kind of Queen, Boy George in Concert, and Nouvelle Vague, local dance groups and a series of talks and lectures also feature on the Concert Hall programme.

Pick up brochures from the theatre and concert hall, or visit the website www.horsecross.co.uk