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I was fortunate to be invited to The Citizens’ Theatre on Friday morning for a ‘behind the scenes’ look around. My company has recently signed up as a ‘cast’ level corporate supporter. As I think I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I endeavour to put some of my own company profits into ‘good causes’ of various sorts. Having enjoyed various plays at The Citizens’ theatre since moving up here, thought it would be a great recipient, not only for helping with their productions, but with their education and outreach programmes.

Frances came along too, and we were able to have a look around the empty main stage, had a detailed history of the various statues (including my favourite: The pink elephants) that feature in the foyer (They are hoping to raise donations through sponsorship/naming of them). Best of all was going backstage to look at where the props are stored, where the backdrops are painted, and even under the stage, where the ‘genie trap‘ and various mechanisms are situated.

Apparently The Citizens’ is the largest producer of props and stage items in Scotland, and also has many of the oldest original stage components. Many of the original mechanisms, frames and supports are from the original theatre, upgraded where safety concerns exist. The main part of the Theatre itself is one of the oldest parts of the Gorbals, which were extensively cleared of the old tenements.

As far as the few plays I’ve seen there, my personal preference are for the smaller, more intimate and immediate plays in the Studio or Stalls stages. Most recently we saw Tom Fool, which we thoroughly enjoyed. That said, the main stage of the Citizens’ isn’t a big affair so ensures everybody is closer to the stage (The theatre has a capcity of 600 or so, presuming they’re using the top level, which is really only for their very popular productions). It’s certainly a great venue.

All said it was a fascinating tour, not least for the history of the Citizens’, but also for the behind-the-scenes sneak peak at the work they do, and even some of the sets that were being worked on for up-coming shows. I’m also delighted to have learnt more about how the small piece of corporate support is not only helping support it’s excellent productions, but also the various social and regeneration programmes they are involved in: Giving opportunities for local people in difficult situations to constructively turn their lives around and build on their experiences. There is more to be found here, on their outreach and education programmes.

There’s much more ahead too, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing more productions, as well as I’m sure, hearing more about the good work the Theatre does.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 9th, 2007 at 11:38 am and is filed under Art, Glasgow, Media, Personal, Scotland, UK. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.