Critics' Choice: Theatre

Instrumental in shaping the current Scottish theatre scene, Michael Wilcox’s play was a shocking theatrical experience, dramatising the harsh realities of rent boys in Edinburgh. In the Traverse’s series of Anniversary Readings, original cast member Jimmy Chisholm will appear alongside Kenny Ireland in this performed reading directed by the original director Chris Parr.

Rents opened in 1979 at a time when plays such as The Hard Man (Tom McGrath), The Slab Boys and Cuttin’ a Rug (John Byrne) portrayed a starker realism on stage.

The anniversary readings celebrate 40 years of the Traverse Theatre, revisiting plays which have provided key moments in Scottish theatre, including some of our best-known playwrights. Wilcox will take part in a discussion about the writing and the impact of Rents afterwards.

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh (0131-228 1404), Tuesday, 7.30pm

ARCHES THEATRE COMPANY: TAM O’ SHANTER

A winnock-bunker in the east

There sat auld Nick, in shape o’ beast

A towzie tyke, black, grim and large

To gie them music was his charge

He screwed the pipes and gart them skirl

Till roof and rafters a’ did dirl

The tale of drunken Tam and his horse Meg’s chase across the Brig o’ Doon is given a modern twist as the Arches Theatre Company uses all its inventiveness and ingenuity to present one of Scotland’s most famous poems.

Anyone who has ever walked home a little the worse for wear might identify with Tam’s horror as he confronts the witches and warlocks at Alloway Kirk. Whether you choose to heed Rabbie’s warning about the perils of whisky is up to you.

Premiered at this year’s Burns Festival in Ayr, Tam o’ Shanter is the most recent in a string of plays by respected director Andy Arnold as he brings together a strong ensemble of actors and musicians for a darkly comic and haunting production.

The main creative performance element to the arts programme at the Arches, ATC has gained a name for itself as an innovative and forward-thinking young company and is unsurpassed in its theatrical performances of famous poems - from its very first show Noise and Smoky Breath to the acclaimed version of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood.

The Arches, Glasgow (0901 022 0300), Tuesday until Saturday, 8.30pm