Citizens - His Dark Materials

We are quite lucky in the Southside when it comes to contemporary theatrical entertainment. Not only do we have the Tramway and the soon to arrive ballet but we also have the Citizens which has a Europe-wide reputation for top class drama and is where many of our own home grown Scottish theatrical talents first treaded the boards. (Click here for its history)

The building which is plain brick and doesn't look all that exciting from the outside is on Gorbals street on main bus routes and a short wander from nearby Bridge Street Underground. inside the building is a bit more vibrant - mostly painted black with bright pink columns and elephants.

We've been to quite a few shows there over the years, in all of the three halls, the main hall where the main productions are staged and where we have seen more traditional style plays "Importance of Being Earnest" and "Dial M for murder" and the smaller more intimate halls where more unusual and more contemporary shows are held "The cutting room".

The Citizen's production company recently announced their Autumn schedule and there is quite a wide variety of shows on offer - from a new production of Hamlet to an audience with Ken off Coronation Street. The one that has picked our interest is Philip Pulman, "His Dark Materials" trilogy which appears to be being shown split into two plays. The first is this week, with the second next week and I think we'll go along as I'm interested in how they will condense the tight plot and ideas into two short evenings. If you haven't read the books, I highly recommended them - they are often marketed as kids books, but don't let this put you off as once you start them you'll see that they cover topics and discussions on subjects that most kids just won't understand - ie the nature of sin, the existence and role of God. There's some meaty discourse in there and it will be interesting to see how the Citizen's combine that, with what, in essence, is a rollicking good adventure story and how on earth are they going to represent giant battling bears, hot air balloons and icy tundra wastes.

With the first of three films of the books coming out in the winter - starring Daniel "007" Craig, now is a good chance to get in there first before everyone else has read them.



EDIT: We saw the first part on Thursday night - it was good, the acting by the young cast was excellent and they did a fine job of translating the dense text into an entertaining evening. Only probs were it was a bit on the long side for one sitting - especially as I was full of the cold. Despite the first half being two hours long and the second 1hour 45mins, there were of course still gaps in the narrative to allow for condensing the book, these didn't really affect the plot but it did take away from some of the characters. I think it definitely helped to have read the book - especially in the second half when even I was getting a bit confused as to what was happening - and I highly recommend picking up some copies of the trilogy.

My main grumbles of the evening were actually more to do with the original story and the annoying long winded and unpronounceable names all the characters and places have. I remember when reading the book I found they distanced me somewhat from the story. I also didn't like the creatures with wheels for hands and feet which appear in the third book and I'm hoping they get skipped or at least make only a limited appearance tonight.