theatreSCOTLAND

't wad best be dune swippertlie

IF THEATRICAL rarities are your thing, there are two enticing productions on the horizon. In London, the Finborough Theatre is giving the first production in the capital in over 45 years of Events while Guarding the Bofors Gun – a decade after the death of playwright John McGrath in January 2002. Based on the 7:84 founder's experience of doing National Service in the 1950s, the play was first produced by the Hampstead Theatre Club in 1966 when it was described as a "subtle and intelligent classical drama". Robert Hastie's production opens on 22 May.

Closer to home, Edinburgh Theatre Arts is presenting the world premiere of Macbeth in Scots, a translation of the Shakespeare tragedy by the late Robin Lorimer. The company staged extracts of Lorimer's version on the Edinburgh Fringe of 1995, when it was praised for "its simple passion and compression", and is now tackling the whole thing. It'll play at St Ninian's Hall on Comely Bank Road, 1–3 May, as part of the RSC Open Stages Project involving the National Theatre of Scotland, before a run on the Edinburgh Fringe. “From a simple reading of Robin Lorimer's translation of Macbeth I know it to be muscular, passionate, dark, and very, very rich," says makar Liz Lochhead. "Can't wait to hear it."

Tailor made

A NEW issue of IJOSTS, the International Journal of Theatre and Screen, has appeared online (dated 2011). The four articles include a study of Dogstar's The Tailor of Inverness (right) by French academic Danièle Berton who, "examines how the concept of rhizomic pattern, minutely dealt with by the philosophers Deleuze and Guattari, underlies Matthew Zajac’s auto/biographical dramatic work". You don't get that in the Evening News. Also in this issue is an article by Ian Brown about dramaturgy and the place of workshops run by the Scottish Society of Playwrights.

OPENING SOON One Day in Spring, NTS/A Play, a Pie and a Pint, on tour, Apr 16–Jun 2 Would you Please Look at the Camera, A Play, a Pie and a Pint, Oran Mor, Glasgow, Apr 16–21 Beats, Arches, on tour, Apr 17–28 Thatcher's Children, Arches, on tour, Apr 17–28 Mr Write, NTS, on tour, throughout 2012 from Apr 18 Kin, Donna Rutherford, Tron, Glasgow, Apr 19–21   LAST CHANCE TO SEE Waterproof/From Paisley to Paulo, Mull Theatre/A Play, a Pie and a Pint, on tour, Mar 1–Apr 21 The Marriage of Figaro, Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, Mar 23–Apr 14 For Once, Traverse, Edinburgh, Apr 4–14 Forfeit, A Play, a Pie and a Pint, Oran Mor, Glasgow, Apr 9–14 The Silence of Bees, Stef Smith, Arches at Lush, Glasgow Apr 12–14

REVIEWS AT theatreSCOTLAND

3 April 2012 The Guardian

The Steamie

By Tony Roper.

27 March 2012 The Guardian

The Marriage of Figaro

Translated by DC Jackson. A Royal Lyceum Theatre review.

30 January 2012 Northings

The Captain's Collection

By Hamish MacDonald. A Dogstar Theatre review.