Calum’s Road / Adapted by David Harrower, from the book by Roger Hutchinson Based on Roger Hutchinson’s elegiac book of the same name, Scots playwright David Harrower offers audiences a richly detailed and unhurried description of a dying way of life in northern Raasay. Calum MacLeod, having battled the inaction of authorities on Raasay for years,…
A version by Gerry Mulgrew of the famous poem. Expanded with other Burns material and original rhyming. Fabulous arrangements of traditional tunes plus the Jolly Beggars oratorio, the nearest the Bard came to a play or work for the theatre. Played on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Assembly Hall in a co-production with Assembly…
By Nikolai Gogol / Adapted by Adrian Mitchell / Directed by Gerry Mulgrew The Government Inspector is one of the world’s most famous plays. Written in 1835, and set in Tsarist Russia, it is a classic satire on human vanity. By turns hilarious and vicious in its expose of corruption among those in power, this masterpiece seems…
Following the critical acclaim of Communicado’s adaptation of Jenkins’s The Cone Gatherers, Fergus Lamont once again brings to life the work of one of Scotland’s finest writers. In a story rife with scathing Scots humour Jenkins introduces us to Fergus, a man at odds with his own identity. Despite a childhood in the slums, he…
Written by Václav Havel / Translated by Vera Blackwell Havel is one of the twentieth century’s leading playwrights. Long associated with the intellectual opposition to Stalinism in (the then) Czechoslovakia, to the extent of being imprisoned for his beliefs, he went on to be President of the Independent Czech Republic. The Memorandum is his masterpiece. Although…
Zlata’s Diary is an adaptation of the diary of Zlata Filipovic, a ten year old Muslim girl, which relates her experiences during the siege of Sarajevo in 1992. An intensely moving story of survival in this besieged city, the play is an important testimony of a child’s experience of war. The story is not merely…
By Gerry Mulgrew A co-production with Sounds of Progress A monumental piece played on site in The Old Fruitmarket space in Glasgow. About the Cherokee Indians and their Trail of Tears, the name they gave to the forced removal of the people from their homelands in Georgia/ Tennessee to Oklahoma. Forced to walk and travel…
Adapted by Neil Bartlett after Dickens Directed by Andy Farrell “The ghosts are whimsical rather than scary, and the ensemble, selfless playing of a company who have been welded into one unit is a marvel. “Bah, humbug” to anyone who does not regard this as another triumph for Communicado.” The Scotsman, 1997 “In true…
By Pavel Kohout /Translated by Bill Findlay Directed by Gerry Mulgrew Another terrifying comedy from Eastern Europe, about political power and its manipulation. Cast Helen Lomax, Martyn Tim Webster, Lewis Howden, Jon Leith, Neil McKinven, Simon Macallum Assistant Director – Andy Farrell Designer – Karen Tennent Lighting Designer – Jeanine Davies Costumes – Miriam Duffield…
By Nikolai Erdman Translated by Eileen Thalenberg and Alan Richardson Directed by Gerry Mulgrew A version of this 1930 satire on Stalin’s Soviet Union. Cast Eric Barlow Paul Blair Michelle Butt Carol Ann Crawford Peter Grimes Conleth Hill Iain Johnstone Vicki Lidelle Irene MacDougall Gerry Mulgrew…
By Michel Vinaver A production of a chamber piece by France’s leading exponent of “theatre du quotidien” – an experimental play, dealing sometimes with three different scenes simultaneously. Cast Veronica Leer Vicky Liddelle Jim Bryce Sandy Neilson Peter Grimes …
Written and directed by Gerry Mulgrew A story telling piece featuring superb traditional Scottish tales adapted from the telling of traveller Duncan Williamson. “There is a dearth of good children’s theatre in Scotland, but here is the best of stuff. Tall Tales employs Communicado’s energetic flair, originality and distinctive talent in this…
By Athol Fugard Directed by Kenny Glenaan An allegorical play about a Russian army deserter hiding out for thirty years in a pig sty. “Glenaan and his actors, Gerry Mulgrew and Ann-Louise Ross, have made something special happen. The result is a profound and ferocious synthesis of big personal-political ideas delivered with great flair and…
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By John Synge An adaptation of the famous Irish play by JM Synge. “The acting by the Communicado company is outstanding, and even the device of having young actresses playing old men works surprisingly well. It is a real joy to discover a classic coming up as fresh as paint…
From the short story by Gustave Flaubert / Translated by Robert Baldick (Penguin Classics 1961) Adapted by the company A visual and choreographic rendition of this invented mediaeval morality tale. Cast Kenneth Glenaan , Steve Kettley, Jan Knightley, Pauline Laverty, Tomas Lee, Frank McConnell, Michael Nardone Directed by – Gerry Mulgrew Assistant Director – Paul Pinson Composer of Recorded Soundscape – Jim…
By Edmond Rostand / Translated by Edwin Morgan The celebrated French play about noses, war and love letters, in a magnificent translation into Scots by the Scottish poet Edwin Morgan. Morgan’s Scots translation of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac was commissioned by Communicado Theatre Company, and premiered in Inverness on 6 August 1992, before…
Adapted by Stuart Paterson after Zola Directed by Jennifer Black “Much of Communicado’s reputation rests on their emphasis on physical and visual theatre, and when this aspect is given full rein, as in the murder scene, the results are stunning. Paterson’s adaptation is a sleek creature, moving from scene to scene with…
A children’s play about a plot to mutate human beings into motor cars, and how this is undone, by a girl, her dog, and a guerrilla in wolf’s clothing… “There are hundreds of good things in Communicado’s light –hearted, serious minded extravaganza.” Scotland on Sunday
Adapted by Bryan Elsley from the novel by Robin Jenkins The well known tale from Robin Jenkins, played in an environmental forest set. “First there is the fun of getting seated. The audience enters a wood, treads through a thick carpet of bark and cones and hunkers down on logs and stumps. On your…
By Anne Downie Directed by Alison Peebles Another Christmas extravaganza set under the sea at Portobello, and blending the Celtic story of the Silkie, or seal –man, with a modern plot of Sewage in the Sea. “It has colour, transformation scenes, monsters, gunge, an environmentally sensitive theme, and a dedicated team shoving it like mad.”…
By Gerry Mulgrew and Liz Lochhead A gigantic, experimental production on the nature of the Scots inspired by Burns and MacDiarmid. Performed by a cast of twenty five in Glasgow’s Tramway and commissioned by the 1990 Glasgow Year of Culture. A surreal baccanale telling the story of the death and apotheosis of The Drunk Man,…
By Georg Buchner The great classic play about the French Revolution, and one of its major figures, Georges Danton, the wine and women loving sensualist and fighter, who, just before he was executed on the guillotine, proclaimed that “as for politics, I should have stayed a pig farmer” “Another Fringe defector (to the International Festival)…
By Maureen Lawrence after Sophocles In this new translation of Sophocles’ classic story of resistance, the production becomes a potent parable for the times we live in. Maureen Lawrence said: “Going back to the Greek after 30 years of trying to write English I was amazed to find the play was so clear and strong…
by Gerry Mulgrew A storytelling piece, performed on a bare stage with some cloths and the physical and musical skills of the company, and exploring the comedy and exotic beauty of this famous collection of tales. “..it’s hard to say who laughs the loudest, the old age pensioners in the back row, the three year…
by John Harvey A modern magical fairytale exploring the weird and wonderful world of dreams. Created specially for the Gorgie Dalry area in Edinburgh, the show starred 200 local schoolchildren who made up four street wise choirs, taking it in turns to perform. In the story, the choir is imagined by Wilberforce, a veteran of…
Presented by Plan and first co-produced by Communicado and Frank McConnell text missing Cast Michael Marra , Frank McConnell Director – Gerry Mulgrew Choreographer – Frank McConnell Music – Michael Marra Designer – Karen Tennent Lighting Designer – Jeanine Davies Production Manager – Grahame Coyle Stage Manager – Suzie Normand Movement Rehearsal Director – Christine…
In a new translation by David Johnston, a highly physical and musical rendition of Lorca’s famous tragedy. Music composed and directed by Karen Wimhurst, in an entirely a capella score for nine voices. “There are many moments in this beautifully crafted show that expose the cruel reality behind the mask of “simple country living”. It…
Set in a kind of circus ring, the events surrounding the fate of Mary Queen of Scots are related in an animated ballad/cabaret with live music and dance. Cast Mary-Anne Lacey, Myra McFadyen, Alison Peebles, Stuart Hepburn, Gerard Mulgrew, John Mitchell, Frank McConnell, Anne Wood Director – Gerard Mulgrew Designer – Colin Macneil Lighting Designer…
Read more Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off / 1987
By Stephen Jeffreys, after Robert Louis Stevenson Directed by Gerry Mulgrew An updating of the Stevenson story The Bottle Imp, a tale of destiny and the fateful nature of desire. Placed on an unnamed Caribbean island, the Faustian allegory of a magic bottle which can bestow unlimited power to the owner, in return for the…
By Andrew Dallmeyer, after Victor Hugo Directed by Gerry Mulgrew The famous allegorical story played as a black Gothic farce. Set against the backdrop of a sackcloth and Meccano cathedral, the gargoyles of Notre Dame come to life and entertain us with a grotesque and pathetic pantomime, creating image after stunning image of comic ferocity.…
Written and directed by Gerry Mulgrew A play which contrasts the experiences of the inhabitants of Sutherland displaced by the Clearances, with the domino effect experienced by the North American Indians, displaced in their turn. With an ironic epilogue in the Garden of Eden. Touring round the Highlands and Islands Cast Sandy Welch, Julia Gordon-Smith,…
A theatrical evening where the audience is invited to dance, and in between numbers, the company, having been playing in the band, entertains with theatrical interludes. “Communicado Theatre Company’s Tropical Barn Dance is certainly out on its own – a manic marriage of the celtic ceilidh and Hawaiian hula–hula. For its new show, the company…
A play version, going back to the original story by Prosper Merimee. Transposed to the time of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. With live music played by two virtuosi violinists, in styles ranging from arrangements of flamenco to Dizzy Gillespie and Antonio Lauro. Written by Stephen Jeffreys Directed by Gerry Mulgrew Music…
By John Harvey A large scale community show at the Theatre Workshop. A A cast of over seventy volunteers from all over Edinburgh, plus the company in a free and visual adaptation of Voltaire’s Candide. Giant puppets, mannequins, an exploding volcano, the story of the woman with one buttock and a wild and theatrical trip round…
Written and directed by Gerry Mulgrew The company’s first touring show. Playing all round the country in village halls, gymnasiums and the newly opened Tron Theatre. Based on the classic Scottish novel by George Douglas Brown. The story of John Gourlay, small town despot and merchant, destroyed by his small town rival and by the…
The 22nd Demand A Celebration For Solidarity- 1983 By John Harvey and the company Directed by Gerry Mulgrew, Alison Peebles, Rob Pickavance A large scale community involvement show, devised over 3 weeks, involving around 50 volunteers, staged at the Theatre Workshop Edinburgh. This was the story, told as a kind of “living newspaper”, of the…
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