The Citizens, which over its illustrious history has been a hub for dynamic, new and exciting theatre, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year with a special season of performances to mark the event and jubilantly look to its future.
Since opening in 1945, it has always been a place for radical interpretations of texts and has just said farewell to Filters radical modern take of Macbeth. The Citz makes a conscious effort to provide ‘theatre for everyone’ with an eclectic mix of classic texts and new writing.
The incumbent artistic director Dominic Hill has, in the past, been vary of modernising classic texts without much thought, Keren Nicol, Marketing manager at the theatre, put it best: “Some people try and make Shakespeare relevant for today by putting everybody in jeans, but what Dominic is really skilled at is finding the kernel of the story, and bringing that out in a way that isn’t gimmicky.”
Theatre is often portrayed as elite, and that image is not helped by headlines about wallet busting ticket prices in the countries best theatres. The Citizens’ likes to be different, and makes an effort to welcome everyone through its doors.
From assuming his role in 2011, Hill has made an effort to keep ticket prices down, and introduced the famed 50p tickets scheme to allow a more diverse audience to enjoy the theatres output. The theatre is also not oblivious to its location in one of Glasgow’s most deprived areas, as the Citz is introducing a ‘Gorbals Card’ for all residents with a G5 postcode, entitling residents to £2 tickets for every show.
The theatre is proud of the community work it runs both with local schools, Blackfriars and St Francis’ primary schools and the work it conducts with prisoners at HMP Barlinnie. Education is key to the Citizens’ community approach as it targets young people with an interest in drama and aims to hook them. Most recently, pupils from the theatres drama workshops appeared on stage in Filters’ production of Hamlet.
The Theatre’s education department is very proud of a long term project based on Theresa Breslin’s book Divided City; working with children from different schools to break the cycle of sectarianism that often haunts Glasgow’s schools and stage a production of the book. Claire Lowney, the Citizen’s marketing assistant, says: ‘It’s just a ridiculous idea that something as silly as football colours can divide a whole city, and this is something that we hope we can help change”.
Key to the Citizens anniversary season, The Slab Boys, running February 12 – March 7, is one of the theatre’s most popular performances prior to opening, with Nicol describing ticket sales as “Rammed, totally rammed!” Written by John Byrne and directed by David Hayman, the play is one of the twentieth centuries best loved Scottish works, and the theatre is thrilled to be reuniting the original creators for their anniversary season, Mr Hill said: “To be able to bring David and John, the creators of the original production, together again to re-create the play for our anniversary season, makes this show a must-see event in what is going to be a year filled with exciting productions that celebrate the best of The Citizens Theatre past and present.”
The anniversary season, running throughout summer will feature also feature landmark shows such as Fever Dream: Southside written by Douglas Maxwell and Robert David MacDonald’s stage adaption of Into That Darkness by Gitta Sereny, all culminating in the theatre’s actual birthday which be September 11 2015, exactly 70 years on from opening in 1945. Many happy returns to one of Scotland’s best-loved theatres!
Featured photo credit: Citizens Theatre Facebook page.
