TAG - theatre for children and young people

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-21T14:23:00.003Z

You've reached the end of term! Happy Christmas and looking forward to working with you again in the New Year! From all at the Citizens Theatre.

Krapp's Last Tape/Footfalls - Education Programme

2011-12-06T12:06:00.001Z

GENERAL WORKSHOP

DIRECTOR'S NOTES | KRAPP'S LAST TAPE/FOOTFALLS
With Artistic Director Dominic Hill
Wed 6 June, 5.30pm

Ever wondered how a play is put on stage? Fascinating insights into casting, rehearsal, design, lighting and costume.

In the Main Auditorium | approximately 40 mins
Cost: Individuals £2, Schools/Groups £1 per person (with ticket to show)

TO BOOK Contact Box Office directly on 0141 429 0022
More Spring 2012 Workshops
Betrayal
King Lear

King Lear - Education Programme

2011-12-05T16:17:00.003Z

SCHOOLS' WORKSHOP

GET INSIDE THE PLAY | KING LEAR
Thu 3 May, 5pm & Wed 9 May, 5pm
Bring the language of the play to life and explore the characters, key scenes and themes of the production. Available as a pre-show workshop for Secondary School students at the Citizens or we can come to your school*.

Maximum of 30 pupils per workshop
Running time: 1 hour, 30 mins

*Available in schools from February 2012 onwards

Cost (at Citizens): £50 state school, £100 independent school
Cost (in school): £75 state school, £150 independent school

TO BOOK
Contact Education Officer, Louise Brown | email | 0141 418 6273

GENERAL WORKSHOPS
Open to the public as well as schools

THE MECHANICS OF THE STAGE | | KING LEAR
Wed 2 May, 5.30pm
An informal look at how lighting and sound are used in King Lear and why they are integral parts of every production.

MUSIC AND TRAGEDY | KING LEAR
Fri 27 April, 5.30pm
Musical Director Paddy Cuneen discusses how he approached creating the musical landscape for this most powerful of tragedies.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES | KING LEAR
With Artistic Director Dominic Hill
Thu 10 May, 5.30pm
Ever wondered how a play is put on stage? Fascinating insights into casting, rehearsal, design, lighting and costume.

All events take place in the Main Auditorium
and will last approximately 40 mins.
Cost: Individuals £2, Schools/Groups £1 per person (with ticket to show)

TO BOOK Contact Box Office directly on 0141 429 0022

More Spring 2012 Workshops
Betrayal
Krapps Last Tape / Footfalls

Betrayal - Education Programme

2011-12-05T16:17:00.001Z

SCHOOLS' WORKSHOP

GET INSIDE THE PLAY | BETRAYAL
Thu 8 March, 5pm
Bring the language of the play to life and explore the characters, key scenes and themes of the production. Available as a pre-show workshop for Secondary School students at the Citizens or we can come to your school*.

Maximum of 30 pupils per workshop
Running time: 1 hour, 30 mins

Joe Egg Resources

2011-11-02T10:25:00.000Z

If your Higher Drama class came to see A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, you'll find these resources very useful indeed.

The show is on until 12 November 2011, so there's still time to get tickets.

You can download these resources and more from the Resources section of our website.

You can also watch Artistic Director Dominic Hill in conversation with the show's writer Peter Nichols and the current director Phillip Breen.

Win Christmas show tickets for your class!

2011-10-13T15:16:00.002+01:00

COMPETITION FOR GLASGOW PRIMARY SCHOOLS:
DESIGN OUR HANSEL AND GRETEL PROGRAMME COVER

Every year we ask local school children to design a cover image for the programme of our Christmas show, which this year will be Hansel and Gretel.

We would like to invite your students to draw or paint an image which they feel represents Hansel and Gretel. We would like entries that are as creative as possible, and students should be encouraged to let their imaginations run wild!

THE PRIZE 
The child with the winning entry will receive tickets for their whole class to come and watch the production, as well as meeting the cast after the show and will see their winning design created into a programme which will be given to everyone who sees the show - over 20,000 people.

Terms and conditions:
1.    Entries should measure H 300mm x W 140mm (approx. one third A3 size) and be portrait format.
2.    Entries should be the image only and should NOT include any text such as ‘Hansel and Gretel’ or ‘Citizens Theatre’ as we will add that.
3.    Please ensure that each entry has the child’s name, age and school on the back of the artwork.
4.    We will endeavor to accommodate the winning class in their first choice performance, subject to availability.

ENTRIES SHOULD BE SUBMITTED BY THU 3 NOVEMBER 2011
Please send to: Cat McNaught, Citizens Theatre, 119 Gorbals St, Glasgow G5 9DS. If you would like more information regarding the competition please email Cat or phone 0141 418 6233.

AND REMEMBER….
Tickets for this year’s Christmas show, Hansel and Gretel, are selling fast. If you haven’t booked a festive treat for your pupils yet, then why not bring them along to join the adventure, as our squabbling siblings try to avoid being cooked for dinner!

SCHOOL GROUPS - ALL TICKETS ONLY £8!
£8 for any seat in the house + 1 free teacher with every 10
tickets bought.

Jill's placement blog

2011-02-14T17:33:00.003Z

I have just finished my third week of my six week placement working here at TAG at the Citizens Theatre.  

I arrived at the beginning of a two week tour of a play exploring the origins of crime and post-show drama workshops as part of the Glow project. The project is based around a multi-school intranet service called Glow where primary 3 and 4 classes can interact with each other sharing their experiences of participating in the tasks and events set up by TAG. Prior to the tour, the schools also had the opportunity to join a “Glow Meet” so they had already met the TAG team and the actors online. 

After watching the performance at Dalmarnock Primary School I assisted in post-show drama workshops designed to further explore the issues raised in the play. The workshops were great fun and proved very interesting in relation to the variety of responses to the issues explored. The workshops then followed the production on tour around 18 different primary schools in the east end and south side of Glasgow. I think I arrived at just the right time in the project as the workshops have been so amazing to be apart of. The encouragement I received from everyone to take a turn of leading parts of the workshops was amazing and I enjoyed leading games and activities and interacting with all the pupils general.  

As well as jumping from school to school I have also been working in the office. I have mostly been collating evaluations of the Glow project but also have been getting a great insight to the running of TAG. Although office work does not seem quite as much fun as facilitating, the atmosphere in the office is so welcoming and fun that admin work is not so boring! 

I also got the opportunity to check out the wardrobe department. I had never been in the wardrobe department of a theatre before and it was so amazing to see all the costumes from shows that have been on in the theatre as well as seeing some being made.  

In addition I have attended meetings and also a community performance of “On the Rim of the World” which was a great experience of opera and really interesting too.

I have had an amazing time in the three weeks I have been here although it seems like I’ve been here so much longer. Everyone is so helpful and welcoming and with some exciting projects coming up I can’t wait for the next three weeks.

Jill

Glow Meet

2011-01-18T14:51:00.015Z

I have just had the pivilege of sitting in on our first fully blown Glow Meet. Glow is LTS's online learning portal for schools.

Today's "Meet" involved 16 Glasgow Primary Schools connecting to us online via Glow to view, what was essentially a live broadcast direct from the rehearsal room of Don't Start Me.

It was with some intrepidation that we waited to find out if all the schools could connect. Technology and bandwidth issues have been known to cause problems in the past. Fortunately all those we were expecting appeared online.

Angela Smith hosted; in her words, she was "Davina" for the hour's event. She did an amazing job of presenting, co-ordinating between all the schools and leading discussions. Davina would have been proud!

An introductory whip round the schools allowed the p3-4 pupils in each school, to cheer loudly in turn, to let us know they were online. The first sound of their voices sent delight round the rehearsal room as we realised we had a fully fledged audience.

After watching a clip of rehearsals (from earlier today) the pupils were able to ask the cast and Director questions via live chat and even speak to us from microphones at their schools. Hearing the pupils engage directly in this way, was definitely a highlight for everyone in the room.

We hope all the schools had as much fun as we did listening, watching and interacting via Glow.

Our next "Meet" will be this Thursday when pupils will get to chat with PC Geoff from Strathclyde Police.

Hx

Don't Start Me! Glow project kicks off

2011-01-14T10:50:00.004Z

It's been a very exciting week for the TAG team as we have now started rehearsals for our production of Don't Start Me! TAG was chosen as one of only 10 arts companies in Scotland to run an innovative drama project using the new Scottish schools intranet system GLOW. We are working alongside Strathclyde Police to deliver a range of activities exploring the origins of criminal behaviour. We will be working with P3 and P4 pupils in Glasgow schools.

The cast arrived on Monday morning with only ideas and a skeleton of a storyline. The following 2 weeks will be spent fleshing out and then polishing until a full play has been created. We have 4 actors involved and they will all play different parts throughout the performance.

As well as rehearsals happening this week we have had two practice 'Glow Meets'. These are interactive video conferencing sessions on the Glow site. Teachers from our 20 primary schools all logged on at the same time and we could chat to each other, share information etc, and the teachers didn't even have to leave their classrooms!

The reason for these practice sessions was because on 18th January we are holding our first proper Glow Meet session as part of our project. Approximately 1000 pupils from all over Glasgow will log on to our Glow Meet and will get to see behind the scenes at the Citizens Theatre. The pupils will see the actors rehearsing and they will be able to ask them and the director questions about the play and about what it's like to work in a theatre. This session will allow the pupils to see a part of the theatre making process that they would never normally get to see.

We also have another Glow Meet happening on 20th January with PC Geoff Smith of Strathclyde Police making a presentation to the children. Again, the pupils will be able to ask PC Smith questions which he will answer live as the Glow Meet happens.

The tour of our theatre production starts on Monday 24th January. There will also be post-show drama workshops taking place and classroom activities and resources for teachers to access as part of the overall Don't Start Me project.

Angela

Joe's work experience

2010-10-11T12:49:00.004+01:00

Last week, Joe spent a week away from school, working mainly on TAG projects for his work experience:

I have liked so many things in the Citizen’s Theatre during work experience like going to Bannerman high school to see a rehearsal of their play and then going to the royal concert hall to see their performance and learning about the rosey project.

I have also liked being about the office and meeting everyone here, They are all very helpful , friendly and great to talk.

I have been about the theatre and seen a rehearsal of a play called “The Monster in the Hall” it was great to watch and everyone had a pleasant mood about them.

Even just doing normal work is fun because the atmosphere is so nice and everyone is really cheerful. I’d say I have had a very nice experience here and I would happily do it again.

Joe

Teachers' Resources ready for The Monster in the Hall

2010-10-07T12:07:00.005+01:00

Here is a flickable copy of our Teachers' Educational Resource Pack for The Monster in the Hall. Recommended for 14+, this educational resource pack contains interviews with cast and production team members, as well as case studies, activities for classes and related Curriculum for Excellence outcomes.

You can click the image below to view full screen or visit Issuu to download or bookmark a copy. You can also download a copy from the Resources section of our website, under "Secondary Resources".

Secondary Schools Newsletter Sep '10

2010-09-22T16:00:00.003+01:00

Here's our brand new secondary schools Autumn newsletter, with news of forthcoming productions, as well as training and workshops. You can click to view full screen or visit Issuu to download or bookmark a copy.

Vroom, sha-boom and chocolate moles

2010-09-21T22:40:00.014+01:00

I had a great blast from the past today as I got out into the "field" to join the cast and crew of The Monster in the Hall as they rehearsed at Kirkland High School in Methil (Fife).

Photo by Richard Campbell

This is not usual practice for last week of rehearsals, but as this production is presented in association with Arts and Theatres Trust Fife we have upped and moved sticks to Methil to open up the theatre-making process to local English and Drama students.

As the Digital Marketing Manager, I travelled to Fife today to observe and be on hand as our friends at Urbancroft were making a short film/trailer about the show. It was a busy day for lots of departments: our Education Officer, Louise was also present to lead workshops with students and I took the opportunity to start formatting the teachers' resource pack.

It was great to see David Greig's script properly come to life. The company rehearsed all day (...even into the evening). During the day two separate classes sat in to observe. This was no performance or contrived scenario, but rather a genuine glimpse at how professional rehearsals operate.

It was a surprise to the students how long could be spent on any one section of the script, even down to actors perfecting their vocal sound effects to make the most accurate "vroom" they could for a scooter.

They saw one of the particularly physical scenes involving lifts and some of the amusing musical numbers involving the "Duckettes"...a sight very much worth beholding!

After a bit more rehearsing, the Director, Guy, was kind enough to let us borrow his cast for a short while to run some scenes for the trailer. Time is always very tight with these things; so our film-maker Martyn had to do lots of thinking on his feet to determine his approach and prioritise footage.

So after they'd run a few scenes, we took actress Gemma McElhinney outside to film some close-up shots of her character. I can't say it's my proudest moment, but at one point - for want of anything better - I found myself trying to create a fake mole from some lumps of chocolate cake!? This was not my idea...and fair play to Gemma she was totally game! You'll be pleased to know we all bailed on that idea, hoping the audience would forgive this tiny missing detail.

The things we do eh?

So rehearsals continue tomorrow, the show will open for an invited audience including Fife Young Carers (who feature in the story) on Thursday night. After a schools and community tour, The Monster in the Hall will reach the Citz on 2 November. You can click the show name for more info or call 0141 429 0022 to book.

As for me, it's back to the grindstone tomorrow.

Claire's blog - Summer school and beyond

2010-08-23T15:05:00.005+01:00

Regular Young Co. member Claire Dyer blogged for us about the recent summer school week and her own exciting news:

Summing up this Young Co Summer School week without giving away too much about our upcoming new play will be barely possible - but I'll try.

This week we were joined by the lovely Darren who on day one (after the first in a series of strenuous warm-ups) had us moving as the elements - air, water, fire, earth. I was intrigued by the power of air, in that it is inescapably needed. Creating our representations of the elements to music was fascinating. On Tuesday we bumped it up a notch and, with animal characteristics and traits, conducted a frantic search for a certain Tall Tales character who you'll meet in October. The image of Scott leading this procession of personified animals as the elegant, strong stag will bring a smile to my face for a long time yet. Scott and Rehanna's movement instructor Jayne also joined us on Wednesday and taught us how to move fluently and intricately, shifting and sharing weight. This was picked up again by Darren on Friday morning before a game of "Eastenders" which went above and beyond the realms of good old fashioned Whoosh!

(Photo of Claire from the Rosey Project)

Meanwhile, Scott "the music man" worked with us on creating a lovely piece of Scottish music - rather nostalgic of The Singing Kettle or any of the Scots/Gaelic children's programmes we used to watch as kids. We read through the play, ironed out any issues with the text - particularly its authentic Scots dialect - and worked scenes of it on its feet. It was also good to have Mairi with us on Wednesday and Friday afternoon.

It brings me great sadness to admit that this will be my last blog for some time, but from juggling unravelling pairs of socks in a circle to miming horror scenes of childbirth, this week has been the greatest send-off ever. The movement skills and techniques that Darren and Jayne have taught us been a brilliant head start for the sort of work I'll be doing in Manchester - not to mention adding a whole new layer of creative expression to the production - and it's amazing to see all the new faces of the Young Co, which I'm sure will continue to grow and thrive forever!

Right til the last minute, Neil and Louise were giving me excellent advice, and I can safely affirm that if it wasn't for the Citizens Theatre and all the wonderful people I've met and worked with, and the unique opportunities I've had, I wouldn't be going to do this job. It starts in less than two weeks, and from now until next July I will be touring the UK with a company called Rhema who focus mostly on children's theatre and are based in Manchester.

Tall Tales For Small People will be one of the Young Co's greatest and most memorable challenges yet and I know without a doubt they'll pull it off - and then some. I regret not being able to be part of it in many ways, but I am also excited to come and see it, having been involved in the early stages of its development this week - and I hope you all will be too.

Thank you all from the depths of my heart.
Be back before you know it.

C x

15 Minute Shakespare 2010

2010-06-24T10:17:00.007+01:00

This year our Community Drama Artist Kate Black was one of the judges for the annual Citizens Theatre Society 15 Minute Shakespeare competition. She blogged about her experience from the two days:

"As a first time judge I expected the judging to be a lot easier than it was. All the pieces performed over the two days were incredibly well performed.

We used the word ‘mature’ a lot when summing up because we couldn’t believe how well the performers understood the text they were delivering and how good the characterizations were in many of the pieces. St Roch’s ‘Midsummer Nights Dream’ made me laugh so much, St Paul’s energy and chemistry as a group in Romeo and Juliet was impressive, the pace of Shawland’s Othello was so engaging with some of the acting really quite remarkable, the funky fairies of Govan High were brill, as were the others ( I can’t believe that they were first years and they don’t have a drama department. Can you believe that 3 English teachers and a group of 1st yrs would be able to pull off something so good!!).

All secondary competitors. Photos by Helen Black

Bannerman High’s performances of King Lear and Hamlet were so sophisticated and polished and as they were first up on each day, they really set the bar high for the others to follow. St Magaret Mary’s, I thought really pulled the rabbit out of the hat as they managed to make Macbeth funny as well as dramatic and Ross Hall’s performance of Macbeth was so intense with the relationship between Mac and the wife brill (and again mature) for such young people.

I actually felt quite humbled as Shakespeare isn’t really my bag and all the performances pulled me in and left me wanting more. What more can you ask of any piece of theatre?

Kate"

This years' winners were:

Lower Secondary Competition - Rosshall Academy with Macbeth

Upper Secondary Competition - St Margaret Mary's Secondary School, also with Macbeth!

Winners pictured with Jeremy Raison (Joint Artistic Director) and Kathleen Hamilton (Citizens Theatre Society)

Well done to all competitors. Another great year of work. If you weren't lucky enough to take part this year (or even if you were), we would welcome additional submissions to our Shakespeare Shortz project. This competition ran last Autumn for members of the public to submit video of themselves "doing some Shakespeare", but you can still submit clips via YouTube to be published on our website.

Hx

Drama Network Conference

2010-06-18T13:56:00.005+01:00

Today, the Citizens Theatre is hosting the annual Drama Teachers' Network Conference. With workshops from leading directors, writers and educators, this one day event is a great chance for teachers to think outside the box and gather new ideas.

From our perspective, we've been letting folk know about our Autumn tour of The Monster in the Hall. From the same writer, director and composer as Yellow Moon, comes another blistering play for teenagers. The Monster in the Hall is billed as an indie-comedy-musical, which will feature live music.

This cool image was created for us by Glasgow artist and designer Duncan MacDonald from Make Studio.

To book tickets to see The Monster in the Hall at the Citizens Theatre, click here, or to find out more about booking the show for your school or venue, visiting our Touring Work page.

Our drama workers offer Continuing Professional Development sessions for teachers. Find out more about CPD on our website. Currently this section just gives an overview of the subject matter we can cover, but we will be announcing some specific dates for training in Glasgow soon.

For full Citizens Theatre season listings, see What's On.

Hx

Thanks to all for Easter Academy!

2010-04-20T12:49:00.005+01:00

Thanks to everyone who came to Easter Academy this year. We had a brilliant week. It was all over so quickly. There weren't any official snaps take this year, but you can see the ones from Easter 2009 on Flickr.

We had loads of new faces, including folk who don't come to our regular weekly classes. So there's no need to worry about coming on your own for the first time. We have loads of new starts. It's hard to believe, as by the end of the first day it's like you've known everyone for ages!

The holiday fun kicks off again in July when we offer a range of 1 and 2 week courses for 4-15 year olds. Summer Academy 2010 promises loads more fun.

Hx

Tam O'Shanter

2010-04-03T17:48:00.003+01:00

This isn't related to a TAG project, but I just came across this great video made by S2 students from Holyrood Secondary School and thought you might enjoy it.

"To keep the light, of our legacy of hope, burning"

2010-02-09T12:08:00.005Z

Scott from Young Co. writes about his experiences working on the Voices From The Holocaust project:

“Holla amigos! By the way if you guys don't already know by now, I'm not too good with the whole blogging shindig, so please bear with me. Well...where to begin. When Neil first mentioned this project to the Young Company I knew I had to become a part of it. Now that might sound a bit big headed, but hear me out first. The topic of the Holocaust was and still is a very important subject to me, personally, and I wanted to use the knowledge I already had to educate the young people about the past. That was my mission. Help them remember those that perished and why we should never allow the Holocaust to be repeated.

So many things have happened over the course of the project, and it's been a very moving experience. So many things actually I'm going to struggle to put everything on this here lovely blog. Over the performances, ranging from secondary schools to the City Chambers, from the Glasgow Film Theatre to the wonderful Citizens Theatre itself, I took many notes on what was going on at these locations. Instead of giving you a long list of bullet-pointed data, I'm going to give you my version of the events, the human version. The very thing which we were performing in the piece; the personal stories of the past.

Like many of my fellow Company members, I auditioned for a place on the project, but knowing only four of us could get positions placed a justified sense of nervousness on me. I can't remember how many exactly auditioned but it was well more than four. Neil than dropped the bombshell when interviewing after: I would have to cut my hair really short. Now if any of you fine people came to see ''Lend Me Your Ears'', you may have seen yours truly sporting a rather full head of curly hair. The prospect of this happening was always there, I knew that and was prepared to do it. Nevertheless when the time came I didn't enjoy it. A necessary sacrifice I told myself. The resulting project members that were selected were myself, Jack, Rehanna and Keren. I offer my condolences to my fellow members who auditioned, but I'll be honest I was glad I got a place. I mean this was a chance to represent the Citizens Theatre, around the city and a chance for me to really educate by doing something I loved.....That kind of opportunity doesn't come round often.

Work began full-on in early January, we all met up before Christmas and discussed the details of the project with Neil and Louise. It was at this point we were issued our 'homework'. Over the Christmas period we were each to research testimonies from Holocaust survivors, more specifically survivors from Auschwitz. I moaned non-stop about the temperature of the room, it was freezing. I'm talking Arctic temperatures here. Funnily enough it was these cold work rooms that allowed me to focus into the work, helped me get into these people's shoes. That was the first step towards building a character, in my mind at least, the cold. Returning after Christmas and we had all brought lots of material to work with. The play was supposed to be twenty minutes long, so we had to cut certain stories. This felt kind of disrespectful as not all these stories were being told, but I'm afraid that for the purposes of the piece it had to be done. The first readings of the pieces were, really quite disheartening. Although stories of survival and hope, I couldn't help feel down beat. Progress was rife however. We had selected the pieces which sounded the most interesting to us, in a performance sense, by the first day and by day two we already had a rugged running order. I remember feeling really good about the progress. Within the fourth day we had begun putting movements to the pieces and by the end of the week we had a complete play, with a slight story arc involving stories from before the war begun to the liberation of the camps.

The week beginning the schools’ tour and we were all quite perky, really up for the task ahead, but over the course the week I found myself more and more drained by the experience. I was nervous about showing to school children, as I knew what their responses would be. I too would have done it as a child, the nervous laughter and so on. Contrary to my beliefs all the schools we went to had magnificent responses to the piece and I have to admit that the questions and comments they made during the Q and A surprised me. Some questions genuinely challenged us. We did our best to answer them, but in my opinion I believe we had done our job by showing them the piece to begin with. It got them thinking. Even when we left the school, I believe the piece stayed with them. Asking themselves questions as well as their peers, and that was one of our goals. We had many different venues and audience sizes so our performance was never the same twice, which kept our energy levels up. This was until the end of each day were I, personally, found myself falling asleep once I got home. I remember once sleeping for twelve hours when I arrived. I wasn't the only one, we were all feeling the strain. By the end of the tour week, we were exhausted. It was all I could do to wake up at the weekend.

It was dawn. Sunday. I got up extra early. It was the day of the Glasgow Film Theatre performance. I was not so much nervous at performing at this point but at finding the actual building. I'm not joking here, I couldn't find it. I eventually found it when backtracking. I was the first one there. The place was quiet, apart from a few people in the bar, where I decided to have a drink of juice while waiting for the others. I sat in the bar of the GFT and the realisation of what was happening hit me; I was in a theatre group who was not only representing the Citizens but the people of the Holocaust. The survivors and those that didn't. I had a slight moment of panic and rushed into the toilet. I was breathing heavily as I splashed my face with water. I knew it was a big responsibility but then I realised it was also a great honour. To give the people of the Holocaust, the ''little people'', the people who didn't get recognised by the mass media, a voice. A chance to be heard. To not be forgotten. This calmed me as I went back to the bar. Later on the rest of the cast and crew arrived and we prepared for the performance. More and more arrived into the theatre as we had our own personal warm-ups. The audience sat and so did we. We all watched the short film made by Shawlands Academy. It moved me, very deeply. So much so I didn't move the entire showing. Nobody did. It ended and there was a deep respect as we were introduced onto the performance area. In my lines in the piece, I was on the brink of tears. The short film had moved me so greatly. We finished the piece and sat on our chairs ready for the audience's comments. The comments made by the people in the audience were very touching. One person, who we later found out to be an actual Holocaust survivor, said our piece was the thing that he could most relate to out of all the films, plays and shows he'd seen. As you can guess, this humbled us to the point of silence. I remember having my jaw dropped in reverence to this man's comment. A great compliment, which I didn't know how to thank. Myself, Rehanna, Keren and Jack were stunned by it. It was at this point we met Seth, the film director who filmed, directed and edited the short film from Shawlands Academy. He expressed his deep congratulations to us and his deep desire to film our piece. I was interested in the prospect but doubted it due to false promises in the past. Long story, and I won't go there. The day ended with farewells to friends and family, as we knew we still had two more performances left.

Tuesday. The day of the City Chambers and Citizens Theatre performances. Another grand day of reverence and respect to the Holocaust. We performed with microphones, which was strange, but I'll be honest I felt a little empowered by it. This meant however greater diction was demanded from us, as our booming voices would be heard but our words would be missed. When it came to the Citizens performance, we were ready for the finale. The one last show before the end. I'll admit that I was completely run down by the whole project. I knew that it was to be expected, but I still wasn't prepared for the effect of the characterisation. We finished it and a tremendous amount of relief washed over me. I got downstairs and started mingling with the audience, they were complimenting us all every minute or so. I found myself saying ''Thank you'' very rapidly. I found my fellow cast members utilizing the free wine at the bar. I don't like wine, but I enjoyed myself nevertheless by laughing at their drunken antics. I won't name names, but they know who they are. Suddenly I got hit with a bombshell: we got the green light for the filming. I was stunned. I didn't think it would happen. But it looked like it would happen. Excitement pumped through me like the many pints of blood that keep me standing. Knowing full well the high quality of the short film, I wondered what our piece would be like filmed.

The filming began a week later. Inside the Citizens Circle studio. Many angles were shot, lots of time was used and lots of Irn-Bru was drunk, on my part that is. I've got a bit of filming experience so I wasn't too fazed by the cameras, and the others handled themselves well also. When they said that this film would be seen by school kids, not only in Glasgow, but in the whole of Scotland, I knew I had done my job. The personal mission which I had taken into the project was going to be completed.

Now we come to the end of this project, called ''Voices Of The Holocaust''. I know I will never forget this experience. I find myself even now typing this blog, reliving every moment it describes. Hopefully you will too. If you do you will be helping me fulfil my mission. To remember the past. To not forget. To learn from our mistakes. To keep the light, of our legacy of hope, burning.”

''Do not fear shadows, for it simply means there is a light shining nearby''

Scott McKay.

See the rest of the Voices From The Holocaust photos here.

Young Co. talk about Holocaust project

2010-02-05T16:05:00.003Z

Following up Neil's AudioBoo from last week, I caught up with two Young Co. members today, who are in filming Voices From The Holocaust today so that their performance can be distributed to schools across Scotland along with the Auschwitz film created by students from Shawlands Academy.

Scott and Rehanna told me about their experiences working on this project:

Listen!

Hx

Voices From The Holocaust

2010-01-22T16:28:00.003Z

This week members of Citizens Young Co. have been out on tour in Glasgow schools performing a piece they created using words of Holocaust survivors.

I spoke to Neil Packham, Community Drama Director to find out more:

Listen!

Hx

Workshops, glittery slippers and bendy roads

2009-12-18T14:54:00.005Z

Hello all

Today is my last day of placement here at TAG and I have to say I'm very sad to be going. (oh no I'm sadder than that...Gotta love a panto joke) It's been such a great experience, from workshoping to admin tasks, making a giant glittery glass slipper, nearly breaking a Camera...but let’s gloss over that!

I have had so much fun and learned so much from all of the very talented staff here, I'm so thankful I have been given this opportunity as I know six weeks of a pestering placement student can be a toll order.

To highlight a few of the finer moments, workshops in the Gorbals were always so much fun. Dressing up, playing games all followed by the ever so tasking decision of what to have for lunch, but lets just say I’m a creature of habit and if I like something then it is totally justifiable to have that every day for 6 weeks- well maybe not a shinning example of a balanced diet then.

Trips to Ayrshire, with our resident Alfred Nobel and Stacey Solomon sound-a-likey, a queazy stomach from the bendy roads not made any better with a little emergency stop at traffic lights. A Trip to Dalbeattie to put us in the festive mood, congratulations to all involved, an absolutely fantastic production, really, really enjoyed myself.

On another festive note, went for a nice power walk with Louise after a delicious...but I really didn't need that last bite...Christmas lunch, to go back to the Citizens and see the snow start to fall. Quite the magical moment followed by a little frolicking and general excitement.Well I could actually write a 6 page essay, but who wants to read that!

So I will round up with a big thanks to all the TAG team and the whole of the Citizens, I have met so many lovely people and have memories to last a life time. - thank you

and Merry Christmas

Amy x

Family Day Fun!

2009-12-16T21:26:00.003Z

On Saturday 12th December the Citizens Theatre held its first ever Family Day to accompany the Christmas production of Cinderella.

A number of family groups attended and it was a really fun afternoon. The families were given the opportunity to see some behind the scenes props and costumes from previous Citz productions. They also saw Jason Southgate's original designs for Cinderella and the set model box that the technical crew worked from when creating the set.

We also had lots of fun playing some games, doing some drama and making masks for the Prince's Ball. Everyone got stuck in and it was lovely to see family groups working together on tasks, having a great time.

We'll definitely be doing more of these events, so watch this space for details about the next one...

Ang x

Straight from the crayons of babes!

2009-12-16T18:40:00.005Z

We were chuffed to receive some drawings from Southpark Primary School who watched Museum of Dreams earlier in the year. I love kids drawings so have posted a selection on Flickr.

You can see a slideshow of the rest here.

Hx

A school production...with a difference!

2009-12-10T14:42:00.002Z

Without further ado, here's a glimpse at the production shots for A Christmas Carol.

All photos by Tim Morozzo

Hx

A Christmas Carol preparations

2009-12-10T12:34:00.006Z

As you may know TAG has worked with Dalbeattie High School in Dumfries and Galloway over recent years to produce the school plays and teach students about the jobs that are entailed in theatre-making.

This year Guy Hollands and Elly Goodman directed A Christmas Carol. This opened last night and if you're quick you could grab tickets for tonight and tomorrow's shows (from the school or at Gowans in Dalbeattie).

Here's a wee slideshow to whet your appetite, but also to show you a little of the range of areas the students have been working on:

Hx

Time-lapse of the Darwinascope set-build

2009-11-05T15:36:00.005Z

I have just realised that I didn't post the This View of Life time-lapse on the blog. Given that you've already seen the set model and the great polystyrene vertebrae taking shape, this is the most logical ending to the series. Tomorrow is actually our last day of the tour and our hard-working cast will wend their way home for a well deserved rest (hopefully!).

This time-lapse was captured for us by a great company called Design is Central. It shows Moley Campbell's awesome design transitioning from a pile of components to a fully erected set. You can see the last minute dress rehearsals and finally the arrival of a local school group to see the play.

Well cool.

Hx

"It hits your heart. Your lungs. Everywhere."

2009-10-22T10:54:00.005+01:00

Holla amigos! This is my second blog so please, bear with me. I'm here to tell all you fine people about the Citizens Theatre Young Co.'s latest production, Lend Me Your Ears, and my own personal thoughts on the performances over the course of the three nights we were performing.

In the beginning, I wasn't very confident in the whole concept. We were to be performing Shakespeare's ''Greatest Hits'' and given the few rehearsals each piece had, I was really worried that we would fumble and taint the Bard's works with idiocy and lack of focus. I feel that Shakespeare's works are the most beautiful and powerful pieces of theatre in existence and I didn't think that we were going to be able to do them the justice they deserved. We had so little rehearsal time, my Romeo and Juliet piece only had three rehearsals before the actual performance nights. I realise this was necessary and all, but it didn't help the great frustration I was feeling. My confidence in the performance was lowered still with the improvised scene: ''Lear Luvies''. I honestly thought that this scene was not funny and that the audience wouldn't laugh. All these things gave me great tension and worry before the actual performance nights.

The first night was quite an experience for me. For many reasons. One being that I was to begin the performance out in the main foyer, which in itself isn't very conventional and was quite nerve racking. I wasn't confident that my voice could fill the hall and that the audience would switch off to mine and Rehanna's performance. These thoughts were racing through my head before we suited up in costumes, and were actually making me really worried. I had to do a massive vocal and body warm-up before the performance to calm me down, if that makes any sense. When I started the performance I couldn't have been more nervous, I jumped up on that chair and saw the whole audience staring at me. I spoke and they listened! They were tuned into the dialogue even if I did have to jump over banisters and run past the audience members. After beckoning them upstairs I felt so much better. When performing the ''Lear Luvies'' scene, the audience loved it! They were in hysterics! In that moment all my worries for the performance dissipated and I knew that we had nailed it.

The second night was even better. I started my Romeo scene and the crowd was bigger! This threw me into overdrive and I really enjoyed myself. I felt like I was back in my starting years, back in secondary school, the first time that rush of adrenaline hits the back of your neck. It hits your heart. Your lungs. Everywhere. The audience loved the whole performance. Every piece, at their end, received a round of applause. It really did feel like the ''Greatest Hits'' of Shakespeare.

The third and final night was the big finale. I was a bit laid back. Maybe too calm but when Chris came off-stage, he was absolutely buzzing! His reaction alone spurred me on and the final night felt like the greatest. With my last piece I fed right off the audience and delivered a very solid and energetic performance, well in my eyes at least. It wasn't just me either. All the cast went all-out with their pieces, knowing full well that after tonight there would be no performance. We were louder, stronger, more energised and were having fun. Actually enjoying the role you have and the time you have on stage is one of the most important parts of being an actor, again this is my opinion, and I can't speak for my fellow performers out there...

In the end, it all came together. The less than desired rehearsal times, the worry of not giving the works we had been handed the proper respect they demanded and indeed my own personal stresses, disappeared when we actually performed. Thanks to the huge amount of talent, commitment and dedication within the company, we rocked the Circle Studio! But more importantly we did the pieces justice and honestly?.....I think Shakespeare himself would be proud!

''We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded in a sleep''
Prospero, The Tempest

Scott McKay (Young Co. member)

See more photos on Flickr.
Photos by Helen Black

This View of Life - AudioBoo

2009-09-25T10:38:00.008+01:00

We have recently started recording quick interviews (using AudioBoo) to give you more insight into our work. You can listen to all our "Boos" here.

This morning, I spoke to Peter Arnott, writer of This View of Life, to find out a little more about our project, which looks at the life and work of Charles Darwin.

Listen!

Listen!

Hx

Some birthday present!

2009-09-21T14:17:00.003+01:00

Happy 21st birthday to Young Co. member Chris McCann who is celebrating his birthday in style by taking on his very first part in a professional show at the Citizens Theatre.

Chris has a small part in Guy Hollands's Othello, which commenced rehearsals this morning.

Chris, who is studying acting at Langside College will have a hectic week ahead in the run up to a show at The Arches this weekend and evening rehearsals for Lend me Your Ears. I think he'll have Shakespeare coming out of his ears!!

Good luck Chris and congratulations from all of us!

Hx

One of our dinosaurs...

2009-09-11T18:45:00.004+01:00

It's a strange world we work in. I caught sight of the epic construction of the Darwinascope in the workshops this afternoon. The giant skeleton set for This View of Life is really taking shape. Check out these giant vertebrae:

Hx

The Darwinascope

2009-09-11T11:18:00.004+01:00

Here's a wee snap of Moley Campbell's brilliant set model for This View of Life. A stunning time machine called a Darwinascope. This is a partial set model (which I had to re-build slightly) as some of it is currently in the workshop being re-created life-size! Can't wait to see it come to life...I was going to say "evolve" but thought that was too cheesy!

We'll have some photos of the real thing for you in a couple of weeks.

Hx

Secondary Schools Newsletter Aut 09

2009-09-11T10:53:00.001+01:00

If you're a teacher, you may have already received a hard copy, but in case you didn't get one, you can now check out our flickable Secondary Schools newsletter online at Issuu:

Secondary Schools Newsletter Autumn 2009

Hx

This View of Life

2009-09-10T23:22:00.005+01:00

Just read Claire's blog on The Rosey Project, which I found really interesting. It was a great project for YOUNG CO to take part in and again I was very proud of their performance, I know it was an emotional rollercoaster for them. However they more than rose to the challenge and created an incredibly poigniant and appropriate piece of work that deserved the tremendous response from the delegates at the conference...well done to all concerned!

Now...This View of Life, a performance and workshop focusing on Charles Darwin and his evolutionary theories, that in a couple of weeks time will be performed in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow to primary 6/7 school children, before moving onto Summerlee Heritidge Park and eventually the National Library of Scotland. Myself as director, Peter Arnott as writer and 4 professional actors are at the end of our first week of rehearsals and what a week it has been?! When we met on Monday, we first looked at the set model, which got us all instantly excited...a time machine built of dinosaur bones called the Darwinascope...now that's not something that you see every day at work. We then went on to read the script, everyone had something to say about it and we all felt very challenged, not least of all the writer. However, the actors really brought it to life even in this first read through and it is going to prove a very entertaining piece, that I'm sure will inspire the young audience to look at the world in live in in a different way. It's a short rehearsal period for such a big subject and it is so easy to be side-tracked into deep conversations about Darwins theory but we have to move on, otherwise we might be dependent on the 'time machine' to get us out of a difficult situation come 2 weeks , when the performance has to be ready !

The Rosey Project - Young Co. tackle sexual bullying

2009-09-10T10:32:00.006+01:00

Five members of Young Co. recently devised a performance addressing issues around rape and sexual bullying. This was performed at the Coming of Age schools’ conference at Hampden. Claire Dyer blogged about the project:

"The issues that Rape Crisis and The Rosey Project, as well as all the other organisations supporting and involved in the conference we performed at, deal with, are issues I feel very strongly about - and that's why I was intrigued and excited to hear about the project during the week of (Young Co.) summer school. However, actually working on the project led me to realise that just agreeing with something, or disagreeing with something, isn't much unless you act on it. Acting on it - so to speak - sent us on an emotional roller-coaster. It's a delicate subject, each aspect throwing into conversation things you wouldn't talk about every day. We discovered on the most practical of levels why it's not an every day discussion. Maybe if we did talk, rape and sexual bullying would be minimised.

On the first day of rehearsals, Keren, Chris, James, Emma and I - along with the directors, Elly and Kate - met with Paula and Julie from The Rosey Project, and spent the morning discussing the bearing that the media has on sexual bullying and violence. Paula and Julie had brought with them "media boards" - magazine collages in the following categories: girls between the ages of three and ten; boys between the ages of three and ten; teenage girls (10-16); women's lifestyle magazines; men's lifestyle magazines; and tabloid newspapers. I didn't expect to be shocked by what I saw that morning, but nonetheless, I was. The categories displayed a very sinister agenda, and I found the media boards displayed around the room with us all in the middle to be a powerful statement in itself. We split into pairs and discussed the boards one by one, which is the set up of the work shops that Paula and Julie take into schools.

We wrapped up in the early afternoon so that we could all go away and think, which is exactly what I did, to the point where the next day I realised what I'd got myself into with the project and just how demanding, challenging, and difficult it was going to be. We had decided to devise the piece we would ultimately take to the Coming Of Age conference, and so on the first day, we were asked to try and come up with some ideas in writing. I write every day, but this time, I drew a blank - especially after reading the informative leaflets we had been given by Paula and Julie.

The project was a real challenge, in ways I didn't think of to begin with. There were other thoughts and suggestions to dilute the discomfort the following morning, however. James's ideas, in particular, were very intricate and powerful. We went round the circle and discussed our feelings, opinions and questions about the project before starting, and then almost immediately started the devising process.

The piece starts innocent, light and entertaining, and slowly builds and darkens towards its empowering and proactive conclusion. This is almost exactly how the devising process went; we were eased into this play just as much as the audience at the conference - and it's just as well! On the third day of rehearsals, the darkness really began to come into play, via the altogether comical scene, "Slabber", which features us all being stereotypical men, including the girls. Loud, crass, neddy, and armed with men's mags - this scene led straight into the first full confrontal of sexual assault where I had the privilege of delivering the line that would echo all the way through the play: "If I was your mother, or your sister, or your girlfriend, would you treat me with the same contempt? Well? Would you?"

At the end of that rehearsal, we sat round in a circle and we discussed the next steps in the structure of the play, with a view to adding in a bit of melodrama, and even - keeping with the commencement of rehearsals for Lend Me Your Ears - a bit of Shakespeare, in the form of an extract from The Rape of Lucrece, which Keren brought to the table. The following Monday, we moved from the circle rehearsal room to the stalls studio, which became a comfort zone for us, and we worked our way to the end of the play. From then on in, it was a case of running through, tidying up, adding in and taking out. Costumes were decided on - skirts for the girls, and hats for when we're acting as boys - and so were props, and set designs.

The day before the conference, we spent the whole morning taking notes, stopping and starting and running through, after three nerve wracking days of no rehearsals, and then in the afternoon we did a full performance for a group of our friends at the Citz. We were also lucky enough to have Paula and Julie joining us for this performance. It went well, was met with an encouraging response from all, and at the end we felt we had come on miles and put the final piece in the jigsaw.

Performing at Hampden was an experience all on its own. We were given a room to leave our stuff and rehearse in, which concealed behind the curtain a director's box overlooking the stadium. When we arrived we did a sound check, and topped and tailed the entire piece in the venue, before rehearsing in the room, warming up, and heading on in at just after eleven. Even with the new staging - after being so used to the stalls studio at the Citz - the performance ran really smoothly and we got incredible feedback from the audience. After an afternoon of chatting with others from schools and organisations and taking part in workshops, we left on an absolute high, agreeing that the day had been an amazing success and could not have gone any better. And the fact that we made an impact and communicated a vitally important message is all that matters.

Claire Dyer"

Drama Classes - new downloads available

2009-08-28T12:40:00.003+01:00

Our Kids @ Citz and Teenagers @ Citz Drama Classes recommence on 5 September 2009. We have just added new downloadable files to our website.

You can now download the full Parents' Info Pack and a Pin-up Term Date Sheet - that you could pin to the fridge to remind you of season dates and more importantly weeks off!

You can download these from our Weekly Drama Classes page.

Hx

Young Co. Summer School

2009-08-17T12:34:00.003+01:00

Last week Young Co. had their annual week-long summer school. This week of drama workshops is designed not only to improve skills and strengthen relationships, but also to start the build up to the autumn's production, which this year is Lend Me Your Ears - a night of the best bits from Shakespeare.

OK, we know it's impossible to choose the best bits, but there'll be loads of great stuff. Young Co. worked mostly with Neil and Louise throughout the week, but had a visit from a firm Citz favourite Paddy Cuneen (I can say that, cause I was lucky enough to work with him once in Nightschool).

Paddy worked with the group to write a song that will feature in Lend me Your Ears. I'm hoping to get a video clip of this from Rea, if we can figure out how to get our phones talking to each other.

I didn't have a huge amount of time, but managed to grab some snaps of Young Co. on Friday afternoon.

Hx

...the living is easy

2009-07-31T12:43:00.004+01:00

Crikey, I've just realised how long its been since we've posted on the TAG blog.

With our second ever Summer Academy just finished, everyone is breathing a collective sigh of relief and satisfaction at another successful programme of workshops.

We had 8 courses, and I think the general consensus was that all went very smoothly. We even managed to squeeze in a quick photoshoot for the teenagers, so that we now have a brilliant collection of photos for all age groups in our drama classes.

I also managed to pop into the Arts and Crafts club one day to snap some photos. I've posted a wee slideshow below.

We have the Young Co. Summer School starting shortly and for the rest of the summer we are building up to loads of Autumn projects, including This View of Life and Lend Me Your Ears.

...plus in the next few weeks we'll be able to tell you about a wee project where we'll need your help!

Hx

And the winner is...

2009-06-19T11:41:00.007+01:00

The last couple of days have seen the theatre foyer filled with excited groups of secondary pupils from schools across the city, who were competing in the Citizens Theatre Society's 2009 15 Minute Shakespeare Competition.

A judging panel of Directors and theatre professionals from the Citizens and TAG, were joined by two very special guests from Chicago, visiting artists, Meade Palidofsky and Khanisha Foster.

Back L-R: Roddy Macpherson (Citz Chair), Neil Packham (Community Drama Director), Louise Brown (Drama Project Worker). Front L-R: Kathleen Hamilton (Citizens Theatre Society), Meade Palidofsky (Visiting Artist), Jeremy Raison (Joint Artistic Director) and Khanisha Foster (Visiting Artist).

On Wednesday we welcomed students from S1-3 from the following schools:

Bannerman High School - Scenes from Macbeth
Hillhead High School – 3 scenes from A Midsummer Nights Dream
Jordanhill High School - Act 2 Scene 3 & Act 3 Scene 1 from Much Ado About Nothing
Saint Paul’s High School - Edited scenes from Act 2, scene 1, scene 2 and Act 3, scene 1 from A Midsummer Nights Dream

Lower Secondary Competitors

The prize was awarded to Bannerman High School. This is the second year running that Bannerman have won in this age group.

Bannerman High School collect their award

On Thursday we welcomed students from S4-6 from the following schools:

Knightswood Secondary School - Act 5, scene 1 from A Midsummer Nights Dream
Saint Margaret Mary’s Secondary School - Act 1, scene 2 from King Lear
Saint Paul’s High School – Edited scenes from Act 1 scene 1 and Act 3 scenes 4, 6, 7 from King Lear
Shawlands Academy - Act 1, scene 3 and Act 4, scene 1 from The Merchant of Venice

Upper Secondary Competitors with Baillie Liz Cameron

Judging was particularly difficult in this section, with the panel requiring extra time to debate the decision. The award was finally presented to St Margaret Mary's Secondary School.

St. Margaret Mary's - Upper Secondary Competition winners

A special guest Baillie Liz Cameron appeared for the Thursday competition and offered words of encouragement to all.

The standard of entries was excellent this year and we'd like to say a massive well done to all student and teachers involved.

Great work. We look forward to seeing you next year!

Hx

15 Minute Shakespeare Competition

2009-06-16T14:33:00.006+01:00

Each year the Citizens Theatre Society run an annual secondary schools' competition called 15 Minute Shakespeare, where, guess what...each school performs any 15 minutes of any Shakepeare play they wish, either in one complete section or a number of scenes.

The winning schools in two age groups will be presented with a Quaich of Words. Both of last year's winners Bannerman High School and Knightswood Secondary School are back with a vengeance to compete again.

The final preparations will be well under way in each of this year's competing groups:

Wednesday - Lower Secondary School
(1st to 3rd Year)

Bannerman High School
Hillhead High School
Jordanhill High School
Saint Paul’s High School

Thursday - Upper Secondary School
(4th to 6th Year)

Knightswood Secondary School
Saint Margaret Mary’s Secondary School
Saint Paul’s Secondary School
Shawlands Academy

Good luck to all schools involved!
I'll post info about this year's entries later in the week.

Hx

Liar wins CATS award.

2009-06-14T20:05:00.002+01:00

TAG's production of Davey Anderson's Liar, won the award for Best Show for Children and Young People 2009, at today's CATS awards in Edinburgh. This co-production with Sounds of Progress was well represented with lots of the team present.

Well done to everyone involved in Liar, and to all the other nominees from the Citizens Theatre.

Brilliant!

Hx

Museum of Dreams workshop photos

2009-05-27T17:02:00.005+01:00

To accompany our production of Museum of Dreams we have had teams out in Primary Schools delivering lovely workshops about the show. The lucky students even got to make puppets. I think I'm going to have to go and find the puppet template to make it myself.

Hx

4 stars for Museum of Dreams

2009-05-21T10:46:00.004+01:00

Joyce McMillan from The Scotsman has given our new show 4 stars in today's Scotsman:

"MUSEUM OF DREAMS

True love certainly conquers all, though, in TAG's new children's show Museum Of Dreams, presented in a gorgeous little hexagonal space specially created in the main rehearsal room of the Citizens' Theatre. A curtain opens, and an excited audience of around 20 children are welcomed by a middle-aged caretaker (Keith Macpherson) who shows off his five exhibits, displayed in glowing old-fashioned glass cases around the walls. There's a chair, a violin and banjo, a pair of tap shoes, an old-fashioned gramophone, and a mysterious box; and after the keeper nods off to sleep, a puppet girl in a yellow dress emerges from the box, and dreams and reality – puppet world and real world – begin to merge in ever more exciting and magical ways.

Somewhere at the heart of this lovely show, there's a metaphor about friends or lovers finding one another despite coming from very different worlds. But whatever you make of the slightly sentimental happy ending, Ailie Cohen and Guy Hollands's production is an absolutely enchanting magic toybox of a show, a child's dream come true; and it makes a brilliant curtain-raiser to next week's Imaginate children's festival in Edinburgh, where it plays at the Brunton as part of the usual thrilling international programme for audiences under 16."

Photos by Eamonn McGoldrick

Read the full review which also features 4 stars for Ghosts (Citizens Theatre) here. Info about Museum of Dreams here.

Hx

Award Nominations

2009-05-19T14:32:00.005+01:00

Liar, our co-production with Sounds of Progress, written by Davey Anderson has been nominated for the Best Show for Children and Young People at this year's CATS Awards (Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland).

Photos by Eamonn McGoldrick

The Citizens Theatre is also up for the following:

Sub Rosa
Best New Play
Best Production
Best Director
Best Technical Presentation

The Sound of My Voice
Best Actor (Male) – Billy Mack
Best Design – Jason Southgate & Graham Sutherland

You can read full details of nominations here. Well done to all nominees.

Hx

Fixed

2009-05-18T12:20:00.002+01:00

Our web designers/hosts assure us that all problems with our website have now been fully resolved.

If you are still seeing any warnings it's just because Google haven't yet re-trawled our site. This should right itself shortly.

All's well, that ends well.

Hx

Web problems

2009-05-15T14:57:00.003+01:00

Some of you may be experiencing problems with the main TAG website. Our web designers are currently working on an issue with the server.

In the meantime, you can still find out about our work here on the blog, see photos on Flickr, read our Tweets or check out the Citizens Theatre website for info on:

Museum of Dreams
The Red Shoes
Weekly Drama Classes
Summer Academy

We hope to have this sorted as soon as possible, but in the meantime, thank heaven for these wonderful alternate avenues of communication. Ahh, the joys of modern living!

TAG's new show premieres next week...

2009-05-15T11:55:00.003+01:00

Everyone here has been crazily busy with two big shows opening within a week. Ghosts opens tonight on the main stage, whilst TAG have been working hard to completely transform the main rehearsal room for Museum of Dreams, which has it's first performance on Tuesday next week.

This stunning new show created by TAG with friend and collaborator Ailie Cohen (pictured) is entirely wordless. Using beautiful imagery and sounds the young audience will be taken into the magical world of a lonely museum attendant.

With gorgeous puppets made by Ailie Cohen and Design by Francis Gallop, the audience are brought into a totally transformed room to see live performance, puppetry and projection.

From the very early days of a work-in-progress showing at Peebles, it's very exciting to have finally reached the premiere. We hope you'll be able to join us in Glasgow, but if not then we'll be at the Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival, in Edinburgh from 28 May.

The capacity for this show is very small, so you'll need to be quick to grab the last few seats. One final word of warning which is really just for the adults. This show involves sitting on the floor, so best to wear comfy clothes!

Hx

Young Co. on Radio 4.

2009-04-23T16:16:00.004+01:00

Young Co. member Scott McKay, has sent me blog entry about his recent rather cool acting opportunity:

"Hiya!

This is my very first blog so please, bear with me. I would like to tell you fine people about a bit of work I've recently finished. I'll start from the beginning: mid-way through performing “Citizen Y-Nighthawks”, on the Thursday night if I remember correctly, Neil Packham called me and said that a woman called Pauline Harris was asking for a young Glaswegian actor, and that she was going to call me and audition me over the phone. It was at this point that I was told it was an audition for a radio play. This worried me slightly because Neil said she would call at ten to seven-half an hour before Citizen Y was due to be performed! Nevertheless I agreed anyway, can't turn down work in this business. So anyway the pre-show group voice and body warm-ups had been done-no call, we got into costume-no call and I really started to worry because I didn't want to deny myself this opportunity by switching off my phone but I didn't want my phone going off mid-show either.

Photo by Helen Black

Pauline did eventually phone me but twenty minutes before we had to start the show, so I'm sitting in the stalls theatre technical room, in full costume auditioning for a radio drama. I do my first over-the-phone audition and everything is going great,she says she can hear my character coming through really strong but I get a punch to the gut when Pauline says the director/writer is really leaning toward giving the part to a young guy he's worked with in the past. To be honest I pretty much gave up hope for the part at that point, she said I'd done well and that she'd contact me on Wednesday about whether or not I'd got the part. The audition was over, I was gutted by her remark I thought: “God I've no chance if the director is favouring another actor” but I put it at the back of my mind and went into Kevin mode ( that's my Citizen Y character by the way :] ).

A week past, Citizen Y was finished and I was considering doing some studying for my exams - but came to my senses before I did anything rash. Massive amounts of sleep and boredom started to take their toll on me, I was waking up with terrible headaches. Real bad ones. Wednesday was the worst, I was trying to survive on paracetamol and lemsips when I get the call from Pauline. I had genuinely forgotten about this and was surprised to hear her voice again. She said seven words: “We'd like to offer you the part”, those seven words instantly made my headache disappear and made my day a very happy one.

Photo by Tim Morozzo

She gave me the run-down on the plan: two days recording. I know it's not Hollywood but it's work and actors/actresses alike should know that satisfied feeling when a job pulls through, that appreciating sensation of like “Yes! Work! Finally!” or that just me? Anyway we would be recording in a hotel and in different places of the Mount Florida area. I just kept saying “uh huh...yep...thanks again”. I was in shock a little bit, I really didn't think I would get the part. It still hadn't sunk in yet even when Pauline and Andrew, her assistant, sent me the script: BBC Radio 4's “Flesh and Blood” by Gilles McKinnon. I looked at the cast list - two names stuck out to me: Gary Lewis and David Hayman. Two very well established Scottish actors who I've watched millions of times on television and film. I told my parents this and they were dancing and singing. I just sat and smiled, still in shock. I think they were more excited about the recording than me!

Day one of recording: I got to the hotel for the read-through pretty early and met Pauline, face-to-face, as well as meeting Kenny Blyth another cast member. We later moved on into the conference room where more actors/actresses started to arrive. I don't know what I was expecting but what I met were ordinary, decent people. Not one stuck up person, nobody looking down on anybody, just a band of rampant Glaswegian actors having a laugh. Even the crew, who were from Manchester, were laughing at the Scottish banter. I looked at my schedule and saw I wasn't being recorded till the end of the day, nine hours away. This is where the waiting game started. The idleness was the only negative thing about the recordings. Honestly I just slept most of the time, until needed of course then I was up like a shot that or when food was out!

Day two of recording: The feeling of idleness wasn't apparent due to me doing some scenes early in the morning. Their were problems of course, like when starting a scene outdoors someone would start up a lawnmower, ruining the mike's sound levels in the process meaning we had to keep re-locating. Although I enjoyed the recording, the actual work side of the experience, I probably enjoyed just casually talking to the actors/actresses while not recording the most. Meeting these experienced professionals has made me realise that not everybody's perfect, it's the fact that everybody's flawed in some way that makes us great characters. When I hear an actor like David Hayman being directed it makes me more confident and helps relax me in a way breathing exercises could never do.

Photo by Tim Morozzo

All in all I've had a great time, met exceptional characters and gained some reputation with the television and film-making community in Scotland so here's hoping more work arrives! This is all thanks to Neil, Pauline, Andrew, Gilles - everyone who helped me thanks again. Adios amigos!!!"

Hx

Easter Academy Photos

2009-04-23T12:12:00.003+01:00

Here are some shots of the last week's Easter Academy. You can also see them on Flickr.

Photos by Eamonn McGoldrick

Hx

Citizen Y

2009-04-17T15:11:00.002+01:00

Here's some of the feedback we received for Citizen Y last week:

“A fine portrayal of everyday young life, where some are fine with joining the revellers and getting drunk while others search for the deeper meaning. It was well choreographed and it made me think about life and materialism”

“Tonight, we seen Nighthawks – Citizen Y. We think Chris McCann is amazing!!!!”

“Fabulous show. 10/10. Well done Young Co! Great to see talent in Glasgow!”

“Amazing. Best show ever. Girls were so hot!!!”

“Absolutely brilliant. The acting was good and funny. And for me, young Chris McCann shone like the true future star he is. Well done all.”

“Well done. Enjoyed watching all these young people, some of whom are very talented, but just so refreshing/interesting to have a group of teenagers doing something worthwhile. Loved the music throughout!”

There were two reviews, The Scotsman and View From the Stalls

Hx

Citizen Y opens

2009-04-09T11:59:00.006+01:00

Young Co. premièred their brand new show Citizen Y: Nighthawks last night in a busy Circle Studio. The show which was partly devised by the company was scripted by Scottish playwright Peter Arnott.

A sharp script and some fine performances had us laughing lots. Chris McCann's particularly crazy (and insightful) Wittgenstein was inspired, athough I think were too many great performances to mention.

Photos by Tim Morozzo

The show is on until Saturday. Check it out here.

Hx

P.S. This is our 200th post! Cool.

Outspoken tour comes to an end

2009-04-03T16:52:00.004+01:00

The cast of Outspoken, William Ruane, Mary Gapinski and Steven Rae performed for the last time today in Davey Anderson's brilliant play about stammering. Here are some photos taken by Tim Morozzo.

You can see the rest here.
..or read more about the project here.

Hx

Thanks to our project partners British Stammering Association Scotland and our sponsors ScottishPower.

Time ticks by...

2009-03-27T15:50:00.003Z

I can't believe that it's nearly April. A quarter of the year already gone. It seems like seconds ago we were celebrating Christmas.

I just wanted to post quickly to keep you up-to-date with all our news.

The Yellow Moon tour winds up this weekend in The Hague. I'm looking forward to hearing all the tour stories from the team when they get back. Outspoken has just finished its second week of touring and will visit schools in South Lanarkshire next week.

Louise and Elly made it back from Chicago safely, full of stories, new knowledge and methodologies that they are excited to put into practice. Theatre practitioners from Chicago will join us in Glasgow before the summer for a similar exchange.

Finally, I thought I'd let you know that one of the reasons we've been a wee bit quiet of late (on the blog), is that we are busy working with our fantastic web designers at Mark Boulton Design on a brand new website for both TAG and the Citizens together. We hope to launch this before the summer, so keep your eyes peeled for updates on progress. It's gonna be great!

Have a fun weekend!

Hx

Yellow Moon on tour, 2009

2009-03-12T17:35:00.013Z

We're in our second week of touring Yellow Moon to schools and public venues in the Highlands, North Ayrshire and Glasgow. I've been really enjoying rehearsing the show with the new cast (I'm the only original cast member doing it this time). They've done a fantastic job rehearsing it in two weeks, taking on board what we did with the piece last time, and adding a whole lot of new ideas. So the show continues to evolve, and, as ever, it's been going down very well with audiences.

Our dates up north and in Ayrshire have taken us to Glencoe, Arran and Inverary, through some stunning snow-covered landscapes. So I thought I'd post some photos from our tour.

Then off to Frankfurt and The Hague! Must dig out a German phrase book...

David Livingstone Primary - Literacy Project

2009-02-25T15:11:00.004Z

For the past few weeks Kate and Elly have been working with P5 pupils at David Livingstone Memorial Primary School in Blantyre. This literacy project echoes the Glenlee Writing Project from 2008 and is looking at the young people's hopes and aspirations for the future. Just as Glenlee, we plan to produce a book to commemorate this project. Below are some photos from yesterday's workshop, which included a sensory session to use smells to inspire words.

Photos by Helen Black

Hx

Small Change Launch photos

2009-02-11T19:07:00.005Z

I've just received some photos of the Small Change launch event. I've posted a few below, but you can check out the rest on Flickr.

Photos by Tom Finnie

Hx

Museum of Dreams at the Imaginate Festival

2009-02-03T11:46:00.003Z

Museum of Dreams will appear at the Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival in Edimburgh in May. Booking has opened for school groups. Check out the Imaginate website for more details.

Hx

Small Change Launch

2009-01-30T17:27:00.004Z

Yesterday saw the launch of Small Change at the Citizens Theatre. Small Change is a brand new educational resource created by Learning & Teaching Scotland in association with TAG.

Our drama workers met with young people from Bannerman High School last year to devise and rehearse scenes looking at financial dilemmas in everyday life. These scenes were filmed and incorporated into a DVD which accompanies the resource which will be used by teachers throughout Scotland.

We have uploaded the scenes to YouTube. Click the picture below to watch the videos.

Thanks to everyone who took part in yesterday's launch, thanks to our sponsors Clydesdale Bank and well done to all the students who performed on the prestigious stage of the Citizens Theatre to the invited audience.

Even the BBC are blogging about it - Scottish Learning News

Hx

Learning and Teaching Scotland

One-Act Plays in Dalbeattie

2009-01-12T17:39:00.003Z

Better late than never, here are some photos (from Allan Devlin) from the One-Act Plays in Dalbeattie at the end of November.

See more on Flickr.

Hx

Pillar to post

2009-01-12T17:03:00.004Z

Just before Christmas Angela (Education Officer) and Gavin popped by to show off their gorgeous new baby boy - Aidan. To say that he was passed from pillar to post is an understatement. Half the building turned up to get a cuddle. Below are just some of the many photos.

Neil commented that Aidan probably felt quite at home having spent around 8 months in our office - and as such should be familiar with the sounds.

Anyway, everyone here sends their best to the Smiths!

Another proud new Dad (Davey) takes his turn with Anna alongside

Louise with Neil and Toto

Elly

Helen (me) and Alison

Neil

The gang (...actually only a few, there were too many to get in the photo!)

Hx

Weekly drama classes recommence this weekend

2009-01-07T11:18:00.007Z

Our Kids @ Citz and Teenagers @ Citz drama classes for 4-15 year olds recommence this weekend. During term time the theatre buzzes with nearly 300 children and young people along with their families.

If you haven't re-booked yet, now's the time to do it. There are still spaces available in a number of our 16 different classes. We always welcome new faces, so if you've not been before and fancy some weekly drama fun call the box office on 0141 429 0022.

Parents are welcome to chill out in the foyer, whilst waiting for their offspring. Our car park is free and with coffee, tea, weekend papers and wifi all availble, it's the perfect spot to relax.

Hx

A fresh start

2009-01-05T17:33:00.004Z

With the festive season over, we are looking forward to a really busy year. There are lots of TAG shows on offer in 2009:

In March we are re-touring with our award-winning production of David Greig's play YELLOW MOON about a couple of teenage runaways. As well as performing in Frankfurt and The Hague (thanks to the British Council), we will also be in the UK. Click here for more details.

Photo by Tim Morozzo

In March and April we are also offering a brand new play by Davey Anderson along with a follow up workshop exploring issues of tolerance, bullying, citizenship and respect. This project, called OUTSPOKEN is being offered Free to S1 and S2 students.

In May MUSEUM OF DREAMS, a brand new work by Ailie Cohen and Guy Hollands will open at the Citizens Theatre and tour to the Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival in Edinburgh. More details here.

Finally, in September, we hope to re-tour another Davey Anderson play that premiered at the Citz last year. LIAR, a co-production with Sounds of Progress may be available for touring (budgets permitting) from 7-26 September.

Photo by Eamonn McGoldrick

Along with loads of other education projects we are looking forward to a productive new year.

Hx

Blackout - documentary exclusive

2008-12-09T16:17:00.004Z

In July 2008, a group of young actors from Citizens Young Co. took a brand new play by Davey Anderson (Snuff, Liar) to the Royal National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre in London.

Film-maker Ania Winiarska (Oval Studio) documented this trip. This fantastic short documentary shows the young people travelling to London (many for the first time) with Davey to work with the Royal National Theatre.

Following hot on the heels of the recent Blackout re-tour, we are delighted to finally make this film public.

This production was part of the Theatre of Debate series (which is part of the New Connections Programme).

Hx

Aidan Arrives!

2008-12-08T10:56:00.005Z

Well, what a week it's been for the Smith family! Our new bundle of joy arrived in a suitably dramatic fashion on Saturday 29th November. He was 6lb 15oz and took it all in his stride.

After much thought we've decided to name him Aidan Campbell Smith.

We think he's the cutest baby in the world - but we're probably a bit biased! Have a look and see for yourself.

Ang x

P.S. (We already have his place in kids@citz reserved for 4 years time!)

Kids @ Citz in starring roles

2008-12-04T16:29:00.004Z

They have exceedingly stiff competition, but my favourite costumes from The Wizard of Oz - the Citizens Theatre Christmas Show - this year, are definitely the Munchkins.

You may not know this, but the 3 teams of Munchkins were cast largely (although not entirely) from TAG's Kids @ Citz drama classes. Clearly the classes have done some good!

Three teams of Munchkins (only one of which is pictured below) are taking to the main stage at the Citizens throughout December and early January for a staggering 59 performances.

L-R: Rosie, Fraser, Julie, Charlotte, Lauren and Rosemary

The Munchkins with Glinda the Good Witch played by Pauline Knowles.

To catch a performance of the Wizard of Oz you can call 0141 429 0022 or look online here.

Hx

P.S. You can go to the Citz blog to vote for your favourite Wizard of Oz character!

Thanks Denis!

2008-12-03T17:23:00.006Z

I want to say a huge thank you to Denis, who apart from being a stalwart here at the Citz is our master carpenter. In the marketing department we have a set of display boards that have only been part usable since we lost one of the poles.

In flash of inspiration, I ventured round to the workshops mid-show, taking care to not get in the way of the Oz cast on my way past the back of the stage. In my opinion this is the coolest part of the theatre, but not a place I get to hang out very often.

Anyway on presenting Denis with my problem, he promptly fashioned me a new pole. Which I have now coloured-in with a black marker. You'd never know!! My 3 Blue Peter badges finally come in handy.

If only all our problems were solved this easily.

Thanks Denis - you're a star!

Hx

Kids@citz

2008-12-03T16:05:00.003Z

Kids@citz 'sharings' were brilliant!! The theatre was taken over by kids of all ages. The foyer was a hub of activity. On a Saturday and Sunday ownership of this building is well and truly that of the 4 - 15 yr old and quite right! Best news is that all classes for next term are all selling fast, - that's proof of the pudding!! KB

A new arrival

2008-12-01T12:22:00.002Z

We've just heard the good news that our colleague Angela (Education Officer) had a wee baby boy on Saturday. Congratulations Angela and Gavin!

Cant wait to see you all.

Hx

"Stammering is no joke"

2008-11-27T16:29:00.009Z

Jan at BSA Scotland has just given me a heads up about an interesting campaign on YouTube.

The campaign, which is called 'Stammering is no joke', exists as YouTube has featured clips of people stammering under 'comedy'. There is a video by one of BSA's UK’s Trustees below. Whatever you think of YouTube’s policy on content, this is a really interesting debate and one that’s close to our hearts because of Outspoken.

Hx

NB. Outspoken is supported by ScottishPower.

Herald Society Awards

2008-11-27T11:54:00.003Z

Out fantastic storytelling and story acting project, Make Believe in East Renfrewshire (which is also known as Dragonfly in other local authorities), just missed out on an award at the inaugural Herald Society Awards.

Louise donned her glad rags and joined the team from East Renfrewshire Council at the ceremony in the Radisson Hotel last night.

We are delighted to have been on the shortlist and offer congratulations to all the excellent projects that won. More info here.

Hx

Congratulations!

2008-11-21T17:37:00.004Z

I am running out the door just now, so will blog about this properly next week, but I just wanted to say well done to the whole Blackout team who completed a hectic week's tour this afternoon at Shawlands Academy...in front of a massive crowd of well over 200. I was chuffed to squeeze a place in the tour van to join them for this final performance.

It's an incredible piece, performed impeccably by all 5. Well done!!

Hx

Photos by Helen Black

BLACKOUT - WEAPONS ARE FOR THE WEAK

2008-11-20T23:09:00.017Z

Blackout has got to be one of.......probably the most.. (for now) challenging pieces i have taken part in. Blackout is a strong piece with a strong message. It relates to all our everyday lives in a ''positive'' or ''negative'' way. Blackout has been in places big and small, but to send it to schools is probably one of its biggest achievements to date, it's something i underestimated.

When i started the tour i knew it would be good and that it might reach out to some, but i wasn't expecting it to be so powerful. Now i know what we are taking part in, this is a chance for many today to see what could be their future. The problem is, it doesn't always turn out the way it does in Blackout, sometimes it turns out for the worst. Anyone that sees it can evaluate what might happen... ''think ahead'' something that isn't always easy to do when you're young.

The subject of the play is a common thing, which is wrong and no matter how it sounds, if the message is delivered right, then it could aid in helping the change of it all. Everyone that is taking part in the project will in some way feel they are helping people, to me that's part of what acting is about. I'm sure too a lot of us feel we could do more, show people that there is '' nuttin tae dae'' when your sitting mad wae it waiting for it to come to you, the opposite of that is finding something to do, going after something, aim to do something...once you achieve it... aim higher.

We are proud to be part of this and i hope although i am sure it isn't the end of Blackout. More than any of us ever expected, is coming from this in a small way (for now) it's making a difference. All of us involved have something to take with us, knowing that we have done something a lot of people today have stopped doing '' TRYING''!

Blackout Rocks

J

Blackout tour day three

2008-11-19T18:04:00.009Z

We were panicking this morning coz at 9:28 we had everyone except Fraser, but he turned up just in the nick of time and we were off. When we got to Drumchapel we had time to set up and warm up, and they gave us coffee and biscuits which was so nice - got to have a wee cup of tea before the performance. Drumchapel was ace. The head of drama came through to say hi and it turns out she was my examiner in our Higher drama acting piece. Small world! We took the stamps out coz the floor had the same quality to it as as the street area at Lochend, but unlike Lochend, the teachers at Drumchapel were a lot more vocal.

One of the drama teachers commented that James's teacher in the play was Not helpful at all, and another came up to us at the end and told us that most of the boys who had answered our first few questions were all in a gang together, and were all up on charges relating to the issues of the play.

Before the performance today we discussed new questions to ask or statements we could include, and the suggestion of us taking a question or a statement each. A lot of pupils - including one today - said they only drink because there's nothing else to do. We wanted to challenge that by asking "If there was something to do, would you stop drinking?" and if there was something to do, what would it be? We had a question today which really changed things, when a boy asked James how he got his scar and James told him his own story. In the words of James, that shut them up!

Everyone did shut up and listen after that, it was like the barrier had just been broken down, and they were able to see that we weren't on some sort of platform, or on the level above, and that we could relate to them because we did drink underage and we did mess about and we all did stupid things and we knew what went on with knives and street fights. And I think even the staging gives way for a little bit of that - a wee bit of empathy - and that may be part of why we didn't completely get through to them at Whitehill on Monday.

After Drumchapel it was back to the Citz for a bit of lunch and then this afternoon we nicked a rehearsal room to go over tomorrow morning's reading. That should be cool, obviously won't be the same without James, but it's something a wee bit different and it'll be interesting to see just how we get on without our leading man ! The rehearsal went well, I think we're all set to go, just hope the reading fuels as much of a debate in the discussion as the play has on a good day so far.

We're halfway there (livin' on a prayer - sorry, couldn't resist!) and it's just been a great week, we all get on great as a cast, we've got a fantastic play to perform and an incredible story to tell, we get to hear the points of view of hundreds of other teenagers, we've got this big F-off van, get great skies all the way across Glasgow... it's been amazing.

Bis Morgen,

In the Blackout van

2008-11-19T15:27:00.006Z

Today we performed Blackout to the third years in Drumchapel High and had a great discussion after the play. This is us in the van moments later...

Wizard of Oz workshop

2008-11-19T14:03:00.005Z

In preparation for the Citizens Christmas Show 2008, the TAG team are going out into Glasgow schools to deliver a fun Wizard of Oz workshop. I got to go to St Francis Primary School in the Gorbals and take some snaps. I had such a great morning.

I know it's still November but it totally put me in the mood for Christmas. It was one of those mornings that just makes you smile. If only every day could include a Wizard of Oz workshop!

Hx

Photos by Helen Black

2nd time round!

2008-11-18T20:36:00.006Z

Best reaction today so far I reckon! Well, I suppose it IS only the second day of the tour but really buzzed off of the feedback this time round."Do you think we should have pubs for under-agers?" always seems to hit a nerve.... Two totally different schools where the discussion afterwards couldn't have been more different each time, but thinking on it now...everyone is essentially trying to tell us the same thing: LISTEN TO US! Which coincides with a comment I read from one of the questionnaires we recieved back from a pupil at Hillpark today......something along the lines of.... "great to be part of a discussion about things that Britain tries to hide..."

This tour is causing severe sleep deprivation, points like that are keeping me awake at night......

*Keira*

Day two: just as eventful but not up as early!

2008-11-18T17:27:00.007Z

James and I were sat in the canteen til twenty past nine with everyone outside the stage door waiting and completely lost track of the time, but that was us after that, quite apprehensive about the schools we were visiting today, like I was yesterday but in a different way. Had all these nightmares last night, delayed like - coz most of us had bad dreams the day before yesterday. I'm a day behind!

James was playing his harmonica in the van this morning on our way to Hillpark, our third school of the tour. Hillpark was awesome. The venue was ideal, the audience was brilliant and the discussion was easily the best so far. Neil came along to join us there this morning, and we had time for a warm up in the acting area before the pupils arrived. This morning had to be one of our best performances yet I think. "Pure thug" didn't get a laugh today, although the very start of the play did, when James is about to deliver the first line - everyone seems to find that really funny. (Why??) Like I said the discussion afterwards was great; the pupils just opened right up to us and were totally genuine, and the teachers got involved without us even asking them the teacher question.

When we did ask that, although they were reluctant to answer it, one of them offered a new solution: counselling. Which could mean many things. For instance, the teacher could have counselled James herself in a way, without passing him straight on to guidance or whatever. Even just having a counsellor available to talk to may have made a huge difference to him. You never know.

After our performance at Hillpark a good few pupils approached us to tell us how much they'd enjoyed it which was lovely - then it was a quick turn around and on to Govan High, which was obviously a bit of a contrast. We were all actually so worried about it, but it turned out fine in the end, the audience weren't the greatest we've ever had but theatre's like that! On a positive note, during the discussion we came across a point no one's made before - if you can have kids at sixteen, why do you need to be eighteen to drink?

That pretty much covers today, we've only got one performance tomorrow so we'll let you know how that goes. Looking forward to it as ever - luvin' this week so far!

Claire

Blackout on the road (2)

2008-11-18T16:17:00.014Z

Here's us at Hillpark Secondary, where we

were joined by the lovely Mr Neil Packham

Achieving our full potential at Govan High

Then arriving back at the Citz

Rock 'n' roll!

Blackout tour - day one

2008-11-17T22:48:00.009Z

I never write freestyle but here we go - only have a few notes scribbled down from today, which was eventful, and also day one of five! Keira, James, Fraser, Scott and I all met at eight fifteen and then headed round to the Gorbals leisure centre where Davey picked us up in the mini van (luv it) and then we set off for Whitehill Secondary, stopping for bottles of water en route but still arriving early. So we did a quick line run in the van and counted up to ten but not at the same time as a focussing exercise, and then we headed in. Really loved the venue we had at Whitehill but it didn't completely work for us and although we adapted to the staging, we weren't a hundred per cent about it and it would go on to throw us slightly when we went back to our usual set up this afternoon - but we'll get to that!

The second years were a tough audience but it's good to know how it feels - I just remembered when I was in second year my year weren't the most supportive of plays that came to our school, one in particular performed by just the one actor - this morning was rough at the time but gave us the opportunity to adjust which was good, whereas if we'd had a really good first show the second one might have been a disaster because we might have been so confident we wouldn't have known how to deal with it. But that's all worst case scenario - the main problem we seemed to have at Whitehill was that we lost pretty much all the dialogue in the fight scene, because of the laughter. Actually we got a lot of laughs this morning but maybe not for all the right reasons. We had mixed reactions to the discussion afterwards - some of the kids had valid points to offer but they almost seemed restrained by the teachers which was interesting, and even more so was the way they performed their answers to their peers, as though they didn't care what they were saying as long as it sounded cool. I guess that's just second years, and don't get me wrong, they weren't all like that.

We had a chance to discuss the performance for ourselves once all the kids had left, and again over a bite of lunch at The Bridge. Then it was on to Lochend Community High School, where we received a very warm welcome from pupils and staff alike - the atmosphere was definitely more relaxed, as was the venue itself. We performed to third and fourth years, but not only did other pupils and members of staff watch from the balcony, but loads of other pupils approached us as we set up to ask what we were doing and if they could watch our play too! So all in all the response we got from Lochend was better, although the acoustics weren't that good, in that the 'stamps' weren't clearly audible and even when we projected I'm not convinced they heard everything we said, although they probably did as they seemed to get the play ok which we heard during the discussion - also good. It was interesting at that point to also note how none of the teachers wanted to answer when we asked them for their opinions, and when one teacher finally did answer, he immediately passed the buck to guidance! My one big crisis during this afternoon's performance - apart from my voice breaking up (projection's a bit shabby, really ;]) - was that my belt snapped, and I was trying to fix it discreetly while trying to stay focussed and make sure no one noticed. I suppose a big part of theatre is having to deal with whatever's thrown at you and there's no better way to discover that than by doing a schools tour. It's really interesting , comparing schools and year groups as we go, and we'll obviously have plenty of opportunity for that this week - we're spoiled for choice. "He looks at you like you're a pure thug or something" has got a laugh both times so far, and I don't understand why ! It'll be great to see how much longer that goes on for - as for tomorrow, bring it on.

I will have more news from the tour very soon.

C x

Blackout pics

2008-11-17T19:32:00.006Z

From today:

Here's us arriving at Whitehill Secondary school, getting set up for the performance and finding a TAG poster in Lochend Community High School...

Blackout Rehearsal Week

2008-11-14T23:41:00.004Z

I will update this after (probably during) the tour, but for the time being here is the rehearsal week blog of the Blackout schools tour 2008 ! It's very exciting to be part of this tour, for many reasons, not least of all that this is my first tour (ever) and also the fact that it's such an exciting play. We do cram a lot into twenty minutes, and I've never been involved in such an intense production before, in that all five of us have to be on it for the whole twenty minutes, so as we don't miss our cues not just for lines but for choreography and scene setting, set striking, etc... It has been a challenge, but a hundred and twenty per cent worth it - I have to say I'm completely in love with this play. I've learned loads this week too, and it's been great working with Davey and the other cast members.

Just for a bit of background info, Blackout is based on a true story, and was performed earlier this year at the Royal National Theatre in London. We've got two of the original cast members for this tour - but the other three of us are new. I first saw Blackout at the Citz during the summer and was of course very impressed ,and so being given the chance to do the schools tour is a fantastic opportunity. Naturally after the last night of Reflections we were all gutted it was over, which is why the following Monday it was amazing to get the call regarding Blackout and now that the rehearsals are all done and dusted I can't believe it's all happening.

Right, I'll get to it! When we arrived on Monday we did a quick read-through of the play, some changes have been made and as we took a scene each we were able to rediscover the play on a new level. One of the positives about the new casting is that we can recreate the story and make it our own and I have to say I'm sooo pleased I'm not the only newbie! The lines hadn't been assigned on our first day, which made the process even more interesting, and also quite scary! So the first day was mostly improvisations, some to build our characterization skills and others - fascinatingly - to discover and explore the many individual characters we portray throughout the play. What we also did was to read the first few scenes, experimenting with different forms of staging and a wee bit of choreography (we've now decided to have the audience on three sides). The great thing is that us actors could contribute ideas, while Davey gave us suggestions and thoughts to inspire the characters we'd already started to create even by day one. I tend to find improvisations really scary and the first one we did on Monday definitely was, but after that the fear just subsided and we all made it work. I definitely think it's easier to improvise as a character you know or have met rather than one you've just been given and know nothing about. Davey has quite a knack of making up a specific character there and then that it would be good to see in the play, and then he'll say "Try this..." and you'll find yourself pulling it off. I'm sure Davey being a successful playwright must come into that! I think it's really important to see a wide range of characters in this play because there is so much narration, and I'm loving the fact that there's almost a character for every line, or another side to a character you meet. Once the lines were assigned it was a bit of a panic, worrying about learning them all in under a week - especially coz it wasn't fully decided yet - but James and Fraser had both told me how easy it is to pick it up and they were right. With it having such a great rhythm, in a way it's been like learning a dance - but it's so much more than that. We got through a lot on Tuesday, the lines were given out and we began to work the play on its feet. I was struggling with scene five which was how far we'd got that morning, simply because we hadn't decided whether my scene five character (one of many ! =]) should be pally with the main character James, or sarcastic and bitchy, and I was finding it really hard to be so sugary. (Found it easier to be nasty !) But eventually we decided on a bit of both, which was perfect, because I do like a challenge - and apart from that, it works a lot better. It provides a contrast between narration and characterisation.

I was away on Wednesday at a family funeral, but it was great to be back into the swing of things on Thursday. I was so worried about missing important stuff - on the upside though, the ferry there and back (at four in the morning the first time) gave me plenty opportunity for a bit of line-learning! Thursday was a very productive day, thankfully, and by then I'd just about caught up on all the missed sleep so tiredness wasn't a factor. We ran through the first two quarters and it went well, with the exception of a few missed cues and my completely random addition of "Dead to the world" after the "lying on the ground curled up into a wee ball" bit. That's never happened before. The only explanation I can think of is that the lines are really easy to pick up because of the pace of the play, and it's just a case of remembering - and retelling - the next part of the story, and "dead to the world" just seemed like the right thing to say, for some reason. It just came into my head at that moment - totally out the blue - but now every time I do that scene, I hesitate before "You'd remember that" because I always want to say "Dead to the world" even though it makes no sense whatsoever. The other thing I do is say "black converses" instead of "black combats". I've done that twice now. These are my two biggest sections of narration and these mistakes both near the end of each one, so I reckon it's a nervous thing. Just hope I don't do that "on the night" as it were. I found I was at an advantage coming in a day behind because the scenes had already been set up and the guys kept me right, so I picked it up easy enough. And as for this morning, we did our first full run through just after nine, and have done two since. They all went well - different obviously - and I really feel like we've come on leaps and bounds even just from this morning. We've also set up the structure of the discussion for after each performance and I think we're more or less ready. Sorry, let's try that again, we are as ready as we will ever be and as for next week - Bring It On.

See you next week. Should have some pictures from the tour as well. Can't actually wait !

Claire xx

Blackout rehearsals

2008-11-14T22:41:00.004Z

I've just finished rehearsing today with 5 brilliant young actors from the Citizens Young Co.

Rea, Kat, Martin, I miss you all.

But it's also been great working with Keira, Claire and Scott - who join James and Fraser from the original cast - on this new version of Blackout.

Next week we take the play to 9 different schools, all across Glasgow. So it will be seen by pure hunners of young folk. And we'll get them all discussing the issues raised by the play.

I can't wait.

The story is about a 15-year-old boy called James who wakes up one day in a jail cell and discovers that he's getting charged with attempted murder. Then he tries to figure out how he got there.

It's based on the real life experiences of a young guy who was being mentored by Barnardo's in Glasgow when the National Theatre phoned them up and said they were looking for people to get involved in a project called Theatre of Debate. They wanted to create some short plays about the most serious challenges facing young people today. Things like teenager pregnancy, homelessness, unemployment and violent crime.

So they asked me to go and interview this young man. And when I met him, I was shocked by how eloquently he spoke about what had happened to him and what he thought about it now. It made me really want his voice to be heard. So I wrote this play based mostly on his own words.

Then I got in touch with Citizens Learning and TAG to ask them if I could work with some of their young actors...

A few weeks later they were on the Lyttelton stage at the National Theatre in London!

That was the easy bit.

Now we are showing it to a bunch of school kids (and their teachers) very close to where the play is set.

I have to admit, I'm slightly nervous.

Make Believe award hopes

2008-11-13T17:40:00.007Z

Our fantastic storytelling (and story acting) project for early years has been shortlisted for a Herald Society Award. Specifically Make Believe, our collaboration with East Renfrewshire Council will be honoured. This project which is called Dragonfly in other local authorities uses techniques developed by award winning and hugely inspirational kindergarten teacher, Vivian Paley.

Hx

Reflecting on Reflections

2008-11-03T15:03:00.006Z

Eleanor Capaldi is a member of the Citizens Young Co. and one one of the writers from the company's most recent performance piece "Reflections on the River". Eleanor has reflected on her experiences in the build up to the production...and the post show glow!...

"The Reflections journey began almost a year ago when the Citizens Young Co. conducted writing workshops with Peter Arnott of the Playwright's Studio. A basic insight into writing for the stage followed, but the project for me didn't fully get under way until next spring. In the middle of rehearsals for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? I happened to mention to Neil Packham that I had written a script for the Young Co. project, but hadn't really done anything with it since. In his usual encouraging and enthusiastic way Neil said to submit it, go for it, get involved. I did. And almost a year since the first writing workshops began, I was sitting in the audience watching five new plays performed in a beautiful set to a paying public.

As soon as They Shoot Horses was over, Reflections picked up apace. We were due to stage rehearsed readings in June, as an exercise for the writers to see their work in a new light, with a view to further edits before the full show in October. Around this time the writers - Mike Burns, Claire Dyer, James Harkness, Rea Karnowski, Eddison McKenna and myself - met up with Peter at various intervals to edit our plays. This was a great opportunity to sit down with an experienced playwright, see my work crafted into shape, and learn more about writing along the way. Additionally, I was invited to sit in on rehearsals, and found myself in discussion with the director over the characters and the nature of the play. I was surprised to see my work being taken seriously. This shouldn't have been in question, but this play was originally written in a flurry of energy and expression one night on my laptop. Here were actors reading it aloud and a director analysing it. I was also lucky enough to be cast in another of the short plays, so as performance time approached I wasn't so much apprehensive over the performance of my own work, but concerned with hitting my cues for the play I was in.

As a rehearsed reading we performed script in hand, sans costume, in the stalls theatre. The plays were split over two nights. The night I watched my play performed, I held myself in a state of total tension and fear. This was it. My mind being acted out in front of me, and several strangers. Would it work? It seemed to. I could tell a few things that needed to be changed, but for a first go it went okay. Seeing everyone's plays together over the two nights was interesting in itself, to see how differently each play was staged. Also to see how some of the plays had changed, plays I hadn't heard or read since our earliest meetings some months before.

Buoyed by this experience, the summer (such as it was!) involved a few more meetings on my part with Peter, as I'm sure others did too. The difference in experience, and the confidence that brings, showed. I could feel in my gut when a passage or a sequence of dialogue did not fit, or was flat. However even though I might know deep down it would have to go, I couldn't quite bring myself to hit the delete button. Even if I could, how would I join up the flailing parts of the play that preceded and followed the newly found gap? Peter could hit that delete button with ease, and he'd know how to coalesce what was left. I was learning all the time. Very quickly the rehearsal time was upon us for the full performances in October. At this juncture we lost one of our writers to the bright lights of London. Rea's play disappeared off the roster as she headed down south to study. This left us with five plays in total, which would each play every night, with an interval. A proper showcase of the Young Co.'s work.

Change was in the air as the casts changed and directors shifted around. On the Trainee Director's Scheme at the Citz, Leann O'Kasi was assigned to my play. We were able to have quite in depth discussions, and as I faced such considered questions regarding my play, I once again realised with such professionalism the project was being taken. I became concerned I might not be able to answer everything asked of me. Why did a character do this or that or the other? I don't know, he just does! A lot of which spilled out on the page was unconscious on my part, but I was seeing how important it is to know those details, at least for the ease of the actors who then have to work with my writing! Not acting this time round I came to the performances as the writer in the audience, nothing else. This afforded me a different experience. Three out of four nights I went to see the plays that the Young Co. had written and were performing. The first night I stepped into the Circle and immediately noticed with excitement the set. As an actor, in the day to day process, after the initial discovery of something like set, or costumes, it's easy to take it for granted. It just becomes part of the job essentially. But here I was seeing the set for the very first time, taking it all in as quickly as I could before the lights went down. Seeing actors in different roles, the ways in which they variously mastered their characters, the music, the direction, even the scene changes - it was all for the taking, and I was so proud of everyone involved and what they were achieving.

As my play came near, that first night, the nerves invaded. "This Way, That" is unapologetically upfront, and it's young and it's raw. I surveyed the crowd. The first night relatives were in. Would they walk out? Would someone proclaim this was a terrible smite against the fine playwriting tradition of the Citizens Theatre? Could the grannies take it?! They did. Worst nightmares were not realised. Each night it got easier, and I was so pleased with how the actors performed and how the play turned out. By the Saturday I was thinking "Gee, I could do this every night now. Come along, see the plays, go out for a drink". Could be a nice life.

Speaking to professional writers and directors post-performance, I would hear them say again and again, "This is only your first play?" incredulous that on the first go we got our work performed in the Circle Studio at the Citz, with everything in tow which is attended to plays taken on at the theatre. Not only that, we young writers even got our names on the giant billboards that grace the outside of the theatre. That doesn't happen very often, if at all, for a group of young people having a first go. What the Citz gives us is beyond anything, I'm sure, any other theatre would. They trust us, and they celebrate us. I didn't even think twice about the content of my play being queried until someone commented on whether I'd been asked to change anything, to effectively water it down. It honestly never crossed my mind. The Citz has given all of us a platform to showcase our work, but also a chance to do something with it. For some it might just have been a good experience, for others it could seriously be opening the doors on future careers. It's whether we choose to pursue those chances, and keep going, as to whether that might happen for us. You never know, one day it might be our names on that billboard representing our full length works, staged in their own right. It could happen. That's what the Citz also gives us, the hope.

Eleanor Capaldi"

You can see more photos of "Reflections on the River" (by Iain G Farrell) on Flickr.

Hx

Twittertastic

2008-10-30T17:45:00.005Z

The most observant of you may have noticed our Twitter widget at the side of our blog. We are finally tweeting to our hearts content. If you tweet yourself, why not follow us to get a heads up about TAG life.

http://twitter.com/tagtheatre

It made me smirk, when I got the email to say that Bjork was following our tweets!...yes I followed her first, but still!

Hx

P.S. You can also follow the Citz Twitter http://twitter.com/citizenstheatre

Dalbeattie Design Visit

2008-10-30T15:11:00.002Z

Sorry this has taken me a wee while to post. A few weeks back, the girls who are taking part in our Theatre Design Course (run by Anna Cocciadiferro) at Dalbeattie High School got the chance to come and visit the Citizens Theatre.

As well as getting to see a performance of Don Juan, they got well and truly behind the scenes and were allowed to rummage around in our fantastic costume store...a privilege reserved for very special people! Elaine, from wardrobe gave the group a brilliant talk and tour from concept drawings and production to the actual dressing rooms for Don Juan, where the costumes are finally in use.

Here's a quick video of some of the photos from the day.

Hx

Tullochan and Oz

2008-10-29T15:10:00.005Z

I was dead pleased with the Tullochan Trust workshops we did recently down in Balloch. The weans were brilliant, really positive and like wee sponges. The drive down was great and the week ended with over 50 people coming along to see their performances which is apparently a really rare turn out. So good week had by all.

Just heard a good story! The lassies (Elly and Louise) just came back from a Wizard of Oz school workshop. One of the pupils didn't want to leave the workshop so Elly and Louise took an arm each, stuck on the c.d. (off to see the Wizard) and danced their way out of the room, leaving the young guy to dance his way along the corridor.
KB

Sending out an SOS!

2008-10-27T11:54:00.003Z

I have just finished a brilliant project with Mrs Skinner's P7 class at St Francis of Assisi Primary School in Baillieston.

I worked with the class for 5 sessions and we explored the issue of Sectarianism. The young people were so enthusiastic and willing to give everything a go which made the project great fun.

We created characters, did role-play exercises, devised scenes and finally we filmed a news report to round the project off.

The project was funded by Sense Over Sectarianism. You can find out more about SOS by clicking here.

I've had a great time!

Ang x

One in a million

2008-10-24T14:51:00.005+01:00

Some people just make you smile. I definitely think Liam McCabe is one of those people. Liam (from Cardinal Newman High School), who has been on placement with us this week has written a blog entry and...wait for it...a poem about his time in the theatre:

"My week at the Citizens Theatre (in the Citizens Learning and TAG department) was an incredible experience. Not only has it changed my mind about the career I want to pursue, but it has given me an insight into the world of work. I have enjoyed the culture, the people, the theatre and the positivity of it all. I was looking forward to this week and it is what I expected and much, much more than I could ever imagine. I discovered being busy is a great thing and it can be fun as well. I’ve written up hand written scripts and written my own on the Thursday. I’ve laminated things, photocopied things and lots and lots of other work jobs which I found good to learn. I have seen the original foundations of the Victorian stage which showed me history and drama, two of my favourite subjects rolled into one. The tour was fascinating as knowing all about the theatre, its history, its present and hearing about their bold ideas for the future of there establishment. Everything about my work experience was exciting, educational and fun. There was so much to take in and do and I was almost always busy and doing something to keep myself active and working all the time. Overall, my experience was incredible. I feel sorry for those who did not enjoy their placement as mine was incredibly fun and exciting. My favourite part of the overall experience was the fact that I had the opportunity to not only write my own script but generally contribute to the theatre and its production. For my last day of this experience I wrote up a poem for the people I’ve worked closest with. Remember it was only a 20 minute job so, if it is terrible don't be surprised!

The Citizens Theatre is the place to be,
People to meet, people to see.
Tragedy, Comedy!
Everything’s there!
The audience watch, the actors share.
My time here has been great for me,
It’s shown me a place where I could be.

The people here are really great,
It’s shame I am here till a set-in-stone-date.
Martin, my mentor,
My hats off to you.
You have helped me with everything I had to do.
You showed me work, and the Citizens pride,
You put me under your wing and kept me at your side.

Angela, Angela, you are with child.
Your antics inspiring, though often wild.
Always glowing with happiness, day by day,
And I know your baby will be great by the way.

Neil, is the one always on the phone,
So many calls, yet never he moans.
Your brain always active, ideas pop on lights.
And you always found the time to treat me right.

Louise, you are rather smart and silly,
And always there for some laughter.
Never staying still, always busy,
Buy you can sit and have some toffee after.

Though not all mentioned, I thank everyone,
For being here to make me feel so great.
Although, it’s true we've rarely seen sun,
I would love to stay till a later date.

But sadly that cannot be done,
And returning to school must happen.
I do not regret having begun,
And my memories will never be dampened."

By Liam McCabe.

Hx

Outspoken photos

2008-10-15T17:40:00.006+01:00

I was lucky enough to escape from my desk for a brief while today, to grab some snaps of the Outspoken team who are in all this week working with playwright Davey Anderson and drama/stammering expert (and all round cool guy) Taro Alexander, from New York.

Hx

P.S. Davey...you're cool too!

Emerging Playwrights Opportunity

2008-10-10T10:27:00.003+01:00

Click to enlarge

Free drama for young people who stammer

2008-10-08T11:35:00.003+01:00

OUTSPOKEN

Since August we have been working with young people aged 16-30 who stammer on a FREE weekly drama project called Outspoken. During the October week this group (and any others who wish to join us) will be taking part in a week-long course working with Taro Alexander, an actor, director (and himself a person who stammers) from New York. Email Louise Brown if you’d like to join us for this week.

OUR TIME - new for 10-15 year olds

As part of the October week, Taro will be running a special FREE drama session for 10-15 year olds. If you’d like to come along, the session will run from 10am-4pm on Tues 14 October at the Citizens Theatre. Parents are invited to take part for the last hour of the workshop. Contact Jan Anderson, British Stammering Association Scotland for more info: 08453 303 800 or click Jan to email.

Hx

Test mobile post

2008-10-03T11:10:00.001+01:00

Ok, I'm sick in bed...but that's the perfect time to test my new
iPhone to see if I can remotely post to this blog. I'll have more
exciting news for you when I'm feeling better! Hx
Sent from my iPhone

Autumn 2008 - Schools' Newsletter

2008-09-24T15:51:00.005+01:00

If you're a teacher, you may have recently received a brief schools' newsletter in the post (only to selected local authorities near Glasgow). I am delighted now to upload a fuller document with more information, which can now be accessed and flicked through online:

Get your own - Open publication

Feel free to give us a call if you find any of these projects appealing. Contact details for each project and included. Happy reading!

Hx

P.S. I know you don't have bionic eyes, just click on the small preview to view the large scale version!

Animal Farm videos online

2008-09-04T16:01:00.004+01:00

To coincide with the special screening of the Animal Farm animation and our documentary in Dumfries, we have been able to upload the documentary in three parts to YouTube.

To see this in it's full uninterrupted and high resolution glory, go to the Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre in Dumfries on 23 September 2008. If you can't make it along that night, here's a quick look at part 1:

You can views parts 2 and 3 on TAG's YouTube Channel. Let us know what you think, especially if you were one of the many Dalbeattie High School students who took part!

If you fancy joining acting or play writing classes in Dalbeattie, check out this post.

Hx

Animal Farm screening

2008-09-02T17:43:00.005+01:00

On Tuesday 23 September, CREATE will host a special Animal Farm themed evening at the Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre in Dumfries. The classic 1954 animated film, will be preceded by a special screening of a short documentary about our staged production at Dalbeattie High School in December 2007. The evening will also feature a discussion about this production.

ANIMAL FARM (u) A celebrated animation based on the classic satirical novel ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell. The film is a political fable, telling the story of Farmer Jones’ animals who wage a revolution, overthrow their brutal master and take over the farm, only to discover their idealism betrayed by power and corruption.

Tuesday 23 September at 6.30pm
Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre
Mill Road, Dumfries
www.rbcft.co.uk / RBCFT Booking, Information & Ticket Line - 01387 264808

Hx

New classes added - Weekly Drama Classes

2008-08-27T18:13:00.006+01:00

The autumn season of weekend drama classes for children and young people start at the Citizens Theatre on 13 September 2008. We are offering a massive 17 classes to choose from. Two extra classes have just been added to cope with demand. These are for 6-8s and 9-12s.

Our 4-5s have only 1 space left (you gotta be quick!), but we still have spaces left for all other age groups: 6-8s, 9-12s and 13-15s. Check out our website to see which classes are waiting list only and which are still available.

Hx

Reflections on the River

2008-08-25T18:00:00.003+01:00

In the build up to Young Co's autumn production - Reflections On The River - writers from the company worked with professional playwright Peter Arnott to hone and develop their work. Claire has written a bit about her experiences of play writing:

"Just this morning I got an email from Peter with the polished version of our play attached following our final meeting - last Monday - to add the finishing touches to the plays we've been working on for just over six months or so now. It's very rewarding to have it all written and completed, and I'm sure we - the writers - are all anticipating with excitement the beginning of rehearsals and the show in October. It is an immense privelege to have been given such a fantastic opportunity in writing a section of Reflections On The River. I first heard about the project in October last year - pretty much a year to the day of the upcoming show's opening night - and immediately emailed Neil to enquire further. I wasn't involved with the Young Co at this point but that was soon to change, and it's just been such an incredible experience, as two of the things I love most in life are writing and theatre, and this was a chance to combine the two.

My first night at Young Co was a chance to meet everyone there, and we looked at the fantastic 'Road' by Jim Cartwright, but two weeks later the project really began when we met Peter, who gave us the basics about playwrighting, which was fascinating and educationally beneficial. The actual process started on the ninth of February when we all got together with Peter for the first meeting where we discussed initial ideas and possible storylines. Thinking back to this it's amazing to see how far these plays have developed since. Some of us had a definite idea of what we were going to write about, and some of us even had a storyline all worked out, just waiting to be written. I had, simply, an idea about an unconventional friendship between a slightly unbalanced teenager and an adult; a few specific locations for the setting in mind; and one or two pieces of dialogue that had just come to me in the weeks between joining the Young Co and starting the writing process. Each of us in turn discussed our ideas - specific and vague alike - with Peter, while another one wrote the main points on a large board, and then we were given the piece of paper off the board to help us to start writing. Whenever we suggested something, Peter would ask questions which developed that idea further and prompted other ideas. Then we were asked to take some time out and just write, and I scribbled down a very rough first scene, some of which now features in the "official" first scene. Before long I had a summary of events, though it couldn't at this stage be called a structure.

I had more of a structure, if it was slightly over-inclusive, by the eighteenth of February, and by then the characters also had names, as they had previously been known as A and B. We were told to expand on as much as we possibly could, and follow every line, even if it wouldn't go into the final script. And, more often than not in my personal writing process, this felt a bit like going off on a tangent which resulted in the odd weird look from those participating in the read-through and so on - all part of the fun I suppose!

photo by Iain G Farrell

At the beginning of March I hadn't come up with anything new other than various different ways of re-writing what I'd already written, but the scenes were starting to come together and we were taught that everything we wrote - however insignificant it seemed - would contribute to certain unsaid thoughts implied throughout the play. Another valuable thing we were taught by Peter was that the play happens in the minds of the audience. And all through the process we corresponded with Peter through emails, and had one-to-one meetings to challenge and change certain things. Before long rehearsals for the readings in June were under way, and the readings gave us the opportunity to decide what worked and what didn't. This, in turn, meant that a lot of significant changes could be made. One of the things I found about the readings was that I could take on board ideas of the director's that I liked which I then wrote into the script. Similarly, the way the characters were portrayed by the actors was also a helpful guideline for cutting certain lines out, or changing them, or enhancing them - or in some cases adding in a wee stage direction so that the way in which this line was delivered at the rehearsed readings was kept in for the actual production.

I really took my cue, on the character of Keyra in particular, from Cheryl who played her - or read her, I should say. There have been several elements which have influenced my characters and - as I'm sure the other writers would agree - at the very beginning, the storyline was hazy although it was there, and the characters were all very flat. One of the aspects of the project was being able to resuscitate these characters, and a lot of things have influenced that process. Obviously Peter's input was vital, as were the comments from the other writers at the read-through a few months prior to the rehearsed readings, the way in which Cara, who directed my script for the rehearsed reading, responded to it, and the actors' creative responses to the script. You start to feel very protective of your play, I think is the case for most, but I found it increasingly important to let go and to trust Peter - who obviously knows a lot more about it - to cut certain things out of it or add other elements in. I have really enjoyed working with Peter as I've learned a lot about playwrighting and his take on my script in every stage of the process has been fascinating and has helped to really broaded my mind, perhaps for future pieces of writing. It was incredible to be able to discover the world of possibilities that you have with theatre, in terms of creative writing, there are no limits.

With rehearsals starting this month, Reflections On The River will be on in October, and I'm sure you're going to love it - we've all had a great time working on it. See you in October !

Claire".

You can book now to see Reflections on the River.

Hx

Renata's blog - stammering project

2008-08-21T16:33:00.005+01:00

Continuing our series of blogs by participants of Outspoken, here’s what Renata Uznanska had to say about the project for young people who stammer:

"I found out about the project through BSA, directly from Jan Anderson.

Outspoken drama sounds very interesting within itself. It was a hunger for new challenges, new experiences and new people, that brought me to Glasgow Citizens.

I wanted to broaden my imagination, teach myself from new situations, generally challenge myself. I did enjoy all the activities apart form Romeo and Juliet (I must admit politely). I would be happy to try the mime which I missed.

The social side was very, very positive and inspiring at the same time. I am expanding my wings of confidence in stammering very slowly. After another session I know I’ll progress much more strongly.

I hope to have the chance to join you all in August!"

Find out more about how to get involved here.

Hx

Acting and Play Writing Classes in Dalbeattie

2008-08-20T17:22:00.006+01:00

If you hail from Dalbeattie or the surrounding regions in Dumfries & Galloway TAG will be arriving shortly to deliver lots of exciting drama activity. With funding from CREATE, TAG will be presenting a wide range of projects throughout Autumn 2008 until Spring 2009. Following on from our collaborations for The Visit and Animal Farm, some of this will be specifically for pupils of Dalbeattie High School, whilst some activities, like those below are open to the wider community.

Below are posters for our Acting Classes and Play Writing Classes due to start shortly. Click on the posters to view large versions. If you're in the area and fancy this, check out the details and call CREATE to secure your place!

Hx