Dramatic new season ahead at city theatres

Published on Thursday 24 September 2009 09:19

FRANKIE Boyle, Romeo and Juliet and Cape Town Opera – the new programme for the Festival and King's Theatres has been unveiled.

The new season will see the usual mix of pantomime, comedy, opera and dance entertaining the crowds, as well as a special Christmas show.

The Corstorphine Road Nativity has been created exclusively for the Festival Theatre by Tim Firth, the writer behind the film and West End stage production Calendar Girls.

The show, which will take place from 3-19 December, is set in the fictional Corstorphine Road Primary School in Edinburgh and all parts are played by adults.

The family comedy is based on real stories from nativity plays, with Firth cataloguing behind-the-scenes jealousy, teasing, blackmail and unrequited love.

An array of famous comedians will also have audiences in fits of laughter at the Festival Theatre, with Simon Amstell, Dave Gorman, Lee Mack and Frankie Boyle taking to the stage, while Jenny Eclair, Wendi Peter and Susie Blake perform at the King's.

For those more fond of pantomimes, Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates will take place at the King's Theatre over the festive period.

Allan Stewart and Grant Stott will lead the cast as Crusoe, played by Johnny Mac, sets off to find buried treasure.

Meanwhile, theatrical sensation Stomp will entertain crowds at the Festival Theatre in January, while Traces – a high-energy show combining acrobatics, dance, skateboarding, theatre and comedy – appears at the venue the following month.

Music legend Chris Rea will also perform at the Festival Theatre in April, and wartime tribute show We'll Meet Again will bring back the "hits from the Blitz" at the King's Theatre in the spring.

Spokeswoman for the Festival City Theatres Trust, Ruth Findlay, said: "We have a tremendous season ahead. There is something for everyone, from dance, opera and musicals at the Festival Theatre, to drama and comedy at the King's Theatre."

Cape Town Opera will make its UK debut at the Festival Theatre in October, while Scottish Opera returns with The Elixir of Love and The Italian Girl in Algiers in November.

An impressive range of dance groups are also set to perform at the Festival Theatre during the new season, including Mark Morris Dance Group, Richard Alston Dance Company, Northern Ballet Theatre, and street dance company Bounce.

Scottish Ballet will return to the Capital with its 40th anniversary tour this autumn, which will be followed by performances of The Nutcracker in January, and Romeo and Juliet in the spring.

For those looking for a little drama, the King's will open with Tony Roper's Scottish comedy The Steamie, while an adaptation of Neil Gunn's The Silver Darlings continues the Scottish theme.

Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey will complete the King's drama season with Rain Man, direct from the West End.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

AMONG the highlights of the new programme for the Festival and King's Theatres will be dance spectacular Off Kilter.

Showcasing the best of Scottish music and dance, Off Kilter will take to the Festival Theatre stage as part of the Capital's Hogmanay celebrations, from 29 December to 2 January.

The show will feature specially commissioned pieces from leading choreographers, including Ashley Page and Mark Morris. Ticket prices range from 15-25.

Also set to impress theatre crowds is the Chichester Festival Theatre production of The Grapes of Wrath, which will take place in October.

Meanwhile, South Africa's only repertory company, Cape Town Opera, will make its UK debut in October when it performs Porgy and Bess at the Festival Theatre as one of only three UK dates.

Also at the Festival Theatre this season will be Ennio Marchetto – the living cartoon – who will present a star-studded line-up of famous faces in his hilarious award-winning show.