At first glance, a quick search of ‘Theatre in Renfrewshire’ will return dozens of responses. Well recognised amateur theatre organisations and emerging community drama groups appear, showing the established presence of performing arts in the area. Yet, until recently, its venues seem to be missing the presence of professional productions larger towns and cities are host to. By comparison, a quick train ride into Glasgow offers theatre goers large scale touring productions, and contemporary writing from Scotland’s own home-grown talent. Yet, with Renfrewshire offering a world class music scene and its art internationally recognised, where is its theatricality?
The answer: right on our doorstep. Proudly the home of many playwrights and theatre makers – John Byrne, Alan Bissett, Eilidh Loan, and Karen Herbison to name just a few – Renfrewshire is also where many youth theatres have established their roots; nurturing the talent of future actors, writers, and directors. It is full of drama. With the recent re-opening of both the Paisley Town Hall and the Paisley Arts Centre following multi-million pound renovations and the ongoing works at PACE’s Exchange Theatre, a theatrical revival has prompted Renfrewshire to ‘raise the curtain’ on welcoming theatre and performance back to its stage!
Across its venues, Renfrewshire is hosting an exciting season of new and returning theatrical works this Autumn – from local talent to well-kent faces. Find out more about upcoming local productions below:
CATAFALQUE – PAISLEY ARTS CENTRE
August 29th – 30th
Fern doesn’t get invited to dinner parties anymore. They used to love her tales of the macabre. But now? The mask is slipping. Catafalque is a one woman eulogy to death through the lens of a civil celebrant. Written and performed by Amy Conway, Catafalque is her debut show in conjunction with Scissor Kick Theatre Company utilising her personal experience as a civil celebrant to interrogate how we grieve the ungrievable.
UP A CLOSE – JOHNSTONE TOWN HALL
September 6th
Up A Close is the story of Joanna and her life growing up in a tenement in Glasgow. When her husband goes missing she starts to relive scenes from her youth and we see the fun times she had. Dancing to the Bay City Rollers, goin’ up the dancin’ with her pal and her wonderful relationship with her Auntie Sandra. Shang-a-lang to the music with young Joanna. The play is full of nostalgia, poignant and funny memories from the past. Following a sell out tour of Glasgow in 2019, the Travelling Theatre Company promises audiences lots of laughter and tears.
September 6th and 8th
Set in 1920’s England, Airswimming is based on the true story of two women (Miss Kitson and Miss Baker), who have been incarcerated in a hospital for the “criminally insane”. We join the women for their first meeting in 1924; but in a beat, it’s a time of Moulinex blenders, Doris Day and the ladies adopted alter-egos Dorph and Porph. Forgotten by their families and not released until the 1970’s, watch as this unlikely duo form the most unbreakable of bonds which unfold from the darkest of circumstances. With clever weaving in and out of eras, audiences will experience their distortions in time, perception, and survival fantasies both simple and bizarre in nature. Brought to Paisley by local theatre company Burn the Cork, Airswimming is the true story of friendship and… well, what would you do to survive fifty years of unjust imprisonment?
THERE’S NO ROOM IN OUR BATHROOM FOR LEWIS CAPALDI – PAISLEY ARTS CENTRE
September 12th-15th
Seventeen year old Gwen has 8 siblings and a long list of daily tasks to get them ready and out the door each morning for school; until one day she doesn’t. The wee kids are all still at home eating cereal and no-one knows where she has gone… Gwen’s disappearance throws the delicately balanced home life of the Capaldi family into disarray, resulting in a road trip, shock revelations and a whole lot of poorly wrapped birthday presents. In association with OneRen and Future Paisley as part of their range of events and investments in Paisley’s culturally significant stories, PACE Youth Theatre presents There’s No Room in Our Bathroom for Lewis Capaldi written by Glasgow-based writer Frances Poet (Fibres, Adam, Still). A fun and heartwarming tale for family, highlighting the people that hold them together, this is sure to be a hit for all ages!
LOVE THE SINNER – PAISLEY ARTS CENTRE
September 20th
The seven deadly sins are alive and kicking in contemporary Scotland. We meet seven extraordinary characters as they struggle to comprehend their place in a world bladed with criticism and obsessed with self-betterment. They seek solace, or something else, in a pulsing, brimming Scottish city, as the water rises and the banks of the river threaten to burst. Love The Sinner is a fusion of performance, poetry, visual theatre, and live electronic music written and performed by performance poet Imogen Stirling, with live music from electronic artist Sonia Killmann. Following its 2023 run at the Tron Theatre and Traverse Theatre, this collaboration with Vanishing Point was a huge hit with audiences and critics, receiving reviews such as, ‘an epic contemporary reimagining of biblical mythology… a full blown theatrical assault’ and ‘unforgettable… a 70-minute ecstasy of words, sounds, light and brilliant design’. Don’t miss your chance to catch this one!
September 22nd
The odds of perishing in a commercial plane accident are 29.4 million to one. Reassuring. Except if you’re the one. As emergency masks plummet, engines squeal and hand baggage flies from the overhead bins, two strangers hold hands. Scared and breathless, their lives flash past as they face their final moments together. Up explores themes of luck and choice, fate and coincidence and above all what it means to connect with someone. It is a huge theatrical story told with everyday tiny things. This thrilling production, created by one of Scotland’s leading production companies Visible Fictions, is a fantasy table-top exploration using object theatre where time is turned upside down and all the things that matter start to make sense.
SINGIN’ I’M NO A BILLY, HE’S A TIM – JOHNSTONE TOWN HALL
October 19th
Des Dillon’s iconic show has been performed at Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival and toured internationally, and now it’s coming to Johnstone! What happens when, on the day of the Old Firm Match, you lock up a Celtic and Rangers fan in a cell together? Fireworks! And a weird kind of unity. Exploring bigotry and ethnic identity, Singin’ I’m No A Billy, He’s A Tim is a phenomenon in Scotland where it has sold out countless nationwide tours. Directed by Stephen Cafferty and starring Scott Kyle (Outlander, Angels Share, Kajaki and Winner of Stage Award for Acting Excellence), Colin Little (River City, Fried, Gasping, The Secret Agent) and James Miller, join the cast and crew as they celebrate the show’s 20th anniversary.
GODFATHER DEATH: A GRIMM’S NEW MUSICAL – PAISLEY ARTS CENTRE
November 1st
Winner of the Offies OffFest Musicals & Circus Award 2023 at the Edinburgh Fringe, and receiving five stars from Broadway Baby, Godfather Death is based upon a little-known Grimm’s fairytale, bringing to Paisley a gleefully macabre new musical exploring mortality, healthcare and class. When, in pure desperation, a mother seeks a Godfather for her 13th child, Death takes her boy under their blackened wing and offers him a gift far greater than money – the power to tell whether someone will live or die. Eager to keep those he loves alive but tempted by the accompanying fame and fortune, Godfather Death: A Grimm’s Musical follows the boy’s encounters with the ill, the dying and death itself. Welcome to this darkly comic and gleefully macabre world – there are no Disney endings here… haunting the Arts Centre this November!
MEN DON’T TALK – PAISLEY ARTS CENTRE
November 14th
Three men find banter, bird boxes and biscuits in a fictional men’s shed, which celebrates companionship, camaraderie … and custard creams. Written following cups of tea, cake and spirited conversations with real ‘shedders’, Men Don’t Talk welcomes audiences into a friendly fictional shed, inspired by real mens’ stories. Produced by Genesis Theatre Productions and part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival; Clare Prenton’s poignant, hilarious, moving and thought-provoking play, Men Don’t Talk, explores the myth that ‘men don’t talk’. Presented in conjunction with the Scottish Men’s Shed Association, the play has also been praised in the Scottish Parliament for promoting the benefits of this growing mental health and wellbeing movement.
So, what are you waiting for? Godot? With a variety of important subject matters, genres spanning comedy to tragedy, and contemporary writing from established and emerging playwrights – there’s something for everyone. Now, more than ever, support your local theatre institutions in Renfrewshire and experience the power of live performance within walking distance!
Written by Creative Renfrewshire’s Community Engagement Intern, Linsey Vipond.
July, 2024.
