You’d be forgiven for thinking that the theatrical new year will be dominated by headline grabbing West End transfers Wicked, War Horse, Rock of Ages, Singin’ in the Rain, One Man Two Guv’nors and Let It Be and revivals of ever-popular shows West Side Story, Dirty Dancing and Tonight’s the Night but 2014 promises to be a knockout year in Glasgow theatre with a diverse, inspirational and challenging programme of works to tempt us.
Firmly established as a major producing house, the Citizens Theatre continues to lead the way under the guidance of artistic director Dominic Hill. First up this season is August Strindberg’s Miss Julie starring Sherlock star Louise Brealey closely followed by a revival of the much-lauded musical Glasgow Girls.Top quality plays in the season also include Ciara starring TV favourite Blythe Duff, Twelfth Night and Refugee Boy from the West Yorkshire Playhouse.
In the West End of the city Òran Mór continues its world famous lunchtime theatre programme A Play A Pie & A Pint which launches its new programme on 27th January.
The home of Scottish Opera, Glasgow’s Theatre Royal is undergoing major reconstruction work but the company continues its artistically strong opera season with Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, followed by Puccini’s beloved Madame Butterfly and Verdi’s Macbeth in collaboration with the Citizen’s Theatre.
In dance, Scottish Ballet present Romeo and Juliet created for the company by Dutch National Ballet’s Krzysztof Pastor, set against a dramatic multimedia backdrop, this story of star-crossed lovers spans three decades of Italian life, the company will also stage new work The Crucible and Peter Darrell’s beautiful version of The Nutcracker. Matthew Bourne fans won’t be disappointed with two works, the ground-breaking, all-male Swan Lake and Lord of the Flies touring and Strictly Come Dancing star Brendan Cole brings his Bond-themed Licence to Thrill to the Concert Hall with fellow Strictly professional Aliona Vilani as his leading lady.
Comedy fans are in for a treat too from the Glasgow Comedy Festival with familiar names such as Omid Djalili, Jenny Eclair, Ardal O’Hanlon, Miles Jupp and Shappi Khorsandi and big hitters Miranda Hart, Lee Evans and Jack Whitehall also touring this year.
Scotland’s latest mega-venue the 12000-seater Hydro Arena is home to international superstars Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus, Maroon 5, Il Divo and Katy Perry as well as home-grown acts Elbow, McBusted, The Wanted and Take That stars Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams. Cirque Du Soleil also visits the venue with their first arena tour of Dralion in May.
The International Celtic Connections Festival begins in Glasgow on 16th January with 21000 artists from around the globe and 300 events over 20 venues throughout the city and let’s not forget the artistic programme that will run alongside the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Unique, vital, challenging and all-embracing, just like the city itself, the Glasgow theatre year is shaping up to provide some essential viewing for all.
You can read more from Lauren on her own website glasgowtheatreblog.com or follow her on Twitter at @LaurenHumphreyz.
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