Rapture Theatre

A Streetcar Named Desire

Experience the excitement of live theatre in Rapture's vibrant production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire.

Join us for a dazzling trip to the whirlwind world of New Orleans with this sultry and sophisticated new production of a timeless American masterpiece. Fading southern belle, Blanche DuBois, seeks solace with her sister, Stella, after her world starts to crumble. But her downward spiral brings her face-to-face with Stella’s husband, the brutal, unforgiving Stanley Kowalski. As temperatures soar and passions rise, Blanche and Stanley battle for Stella’s soul.

Immortalised in the Oscar-winning film starring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, this is a rare opportunity to see this iconic play, thrillingly brought to life by Rapture.

Streetcar follows in the wake of Rapture's popular and critically acclaimed productions of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Democracy.

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Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

“The most important American playwright of his generation!” The New York Times on Edward Albee

A marathon night of drink, debauchery and duplicity develops after Martha and her husband George invite unsuspecting young couple, Nick and Honey, round for a nightcap. Drink flows, spiked with vicious humour, acerbic wit and tempestuous verbal sparring. However, as night turns to morning, searing secrets are exposed.

Putting the ‘fun’ into dysfunctional, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf wryly exposes the dark attraction in relationships and the bitterest ties that bind us all.

Starring Rose Reynolds, Robin Kingsland and Paul Albertson, with Scottish actress Sara Stewart (The Night Manager, Rebus, Batman Begins, Doctor Foster) leading the cast as Martha. Directed by Michael Emans, design by Frances Collier and Lighting by Mark Doubleday.

Following acclaimed productions of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons and Michael Frayn’s Tony award-winning Democracy, Rapture returns with Edward Albee’s thrilling play. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the multi-Oscar winning film (Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor), this is a rare opportunity to experience an iconic American masterpiece.

The most talked about play this season. Unmissable!

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Democracy

Rapture Theatre in association with Macrobert Arts Centre
present
Democracy by Michael Frayn

West Germany, 1969. Charismatic Willy Brandt has been elected Chancellor. When Brandt ‘dares more democracy’, his own party conspires, plots and tries to destroy him. As his enemies tighten the noose around his neck, Brandt believes the only man he can truly trust is Gunter Guillaume, his devoted personal assistant.

But in the world of political intrigue, espionage and betrayal, is anyone to be trusted? Shakespearean in scale but with all the twists and spins of modern politics, Democracy combines the fascination of a John Le Carre thriller (Tinker,Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Night Manager) with the dynamism of The West Wing and House of Cards.

Witty, thought provoking and highly entertaining, Democracy is a compelling and unmissable night at the theatre.

Following an acclaimed West End run, Michael Frayn’s award-winning play premieres in Scotland in an exciting new production from Scotland’s leading touring theatre company: Rapture Theatre.

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Drama

The Last Yankee

Rapture Theatre
Presents
The Last Yankee by Arthur Miller

To celebrate the centenary of Arthur Miller, Rapture Theatre is producing one of the legendary writer’s last great plays. Leroy Hamilton, a descendant of one of America’s founding fathers and “The Last Yankee”, lives a modest life as a carpenter and has eschewed the pursuit of the American Dream. This has estranged him from his wife, Patricia, who is in hospital and suffering from depression. Over the course of one day, Leroy and Patricia try to come to terms with Leroy’s choices and Patricia’s ‘illness’, and they take a tentative step towards reconciliation and a brave new future. The Last Yankee reflects Miller’s themes of the devastating consequences for those who fail to achieve the mythical riches of the American Dream. Rapture Theatre is proud that The Last Yankee will be part of the Scottish Mental Health Film and Theatre Festival 2015. Humorous and ultimately uplifting, The Last Yankee is classic Miller that is not to be missed.

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All My Sons

Rapture Theatre
Presents
All My Sons by Arthur Miller

To honour the centenary of Arthur Miller's birth, Rapture Theatre, with support from Creative Scotland, will produce, in association with The Beacon in Greenock, an Arthur Miller “Season”. This will consist of two classic Miller plays: All My Sons and The Last Yankee.

Set just after the Second World War in the backyard of Joe and Kate Keller, this gripping and passionate drama ranks as one of the classics of our time. The Kellers try to keep alive the memory of their son Larry, who disappeared in the war, by the planting of a tree in his honour. But Larry’s disappearance is not the only part of the family’s past that they can’t put behind them. Not everybody has forgotten the court case that put Joe’s partner in jail or the cracked engine heads Joe’s factory produced, which caused the deaths of twenty-one pilots.

Following a stormy night when Larry’s tree is blown down, the Kellers are threatened by a series of events that could destroy the very foundations of their lives.

With all the tension of a taut thriller, All My Sons is a powerful drama that crackles with emotion and excitement! See the first classic play, from one of the finest playwrights of the twentieth century, in a great production by Scotland’s leading touring theatre.

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Shang A Lang 2014

Rapture Theatre in association with Paisley Town Hall
Presents
Shang-a-Lang

A wonderfully funny and poignant trip back to the 70s!

written by Catherine Johnson - directed by Michael Emans

Take a step back in time to the days of the Bay City Rollers, with loud fashions and laugh-out-loud, adult humour. Shang-a-Lang written by Catherine Johnson (writer of the hit musical Mamma Mia!), follows three flighty forty-something Scottish women on their way to a 70s revival weekend in Butlins, where the Bay City Rollers are playing. They were all Rollerettes back in the day and decide it is time to recapture their youth, chase their unfulfilled dreams and have a ball while they do it. Lauren tries to stay sober, Jackie tries to stay married and Pauline continues to search for her Woody. Shang-a-Lang is the perfect girls’ night out laced with shocking laughs, warm tears and a fabulous soundtrack - a cross between a Scottish Shirley Valentine and Shameless.

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Uncle Varick

Rapture Theatre
Presents
Uncle Varick By John Byrne

Rapture Theatre and Mull Theatre, in association with the Tolbooth, are delighted to present Uncle Varick, John Byrne’s contemporary adaptation of Chekov’s classic Uncle Vanya.

Relocated to 1960’s rural Scotland, Uncle Varick is the moving yet humorous story of what happens when the rock and roll of swinging sixties London collides with the rock and moss of remote Scotland.

It follows Sandy Sheridan, pretentious art critic and self proclaimed cultural icon, who returns from London to his Scottish country pile - with his new, much younger, wife in tow. Waiting for him are his stoical daughter Shona and his acerbic ex-brother in law: Uncle Varick. Add in the handsome local doctor and the not so handsome neighbour and you have a play full of comedy, jealousy, pathos, passion and lust – and not forgetting some very dodgy chain saws.

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Shang A Lang 2013

Shang-a-Lang (2013 Tour)

Rapture Theatre, in association with South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture present Shang-a-Lang.

A feel good play which takes a step back in time to the days of the Bay City Rollers, memorable fashion and unforgettable music.

Written by Catherine Johnson (writer of the hit musical Mamma Mia!), Shang-a-Lang follows three forty-something Scottish women on their way to a 70s revival weekend in Butlins, where the Bay City Rollers are playing. They were all Rollerettes back in the day and decide it is time to recapture their youth, chase their unfulfilled dreams and have a ball while they do it.

The three heroines are sex mad and gallus Lauren (played by River City star Julie Duncanson), dissatisfied and scunnered Jackie (played by TV and film actress Val Gogan (Hamish MacBeth)) and sad-sack and slightly desperate Pauline (played by Rapture’s own Lyn McAndrew).

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The Collection 2013

Rapture Theatre in association with the Beacon Arts Centre
Presents
The Collection By Mike Cullen

'Intense, harrowing and true,' --- Across the Arts

The company behind the smash-hit national tour of The Sash are back with an explosive look at the seedy world of debt collection.

An all-star cast led by Jimmy Chisholm and Tam Dean Burn tour Scotland in Autumn 2013.

Scotland’s Rapture Theatre returns to its stages this Autumn with their brand new production of Mike Cullen’s The Collection.
Directed by Rapture’s Artistic Director Michael Emans, The Collection features a blisteringly powerful script by acclaimed Scottish playwright Mike Cullen (Fringe First Award winner Anna Weiss), bought to life by an all-star cast led by Scottish theatre legend and High Road star Jimmy Chisholm, River City bad boy Tam Dean Burn, star of Young Adam and Goodnight Mister Tom Pauline Turner plus acclaimed theatre actor David Tarkenter (Rapture Theatre Company’s Betrayal and Hamlet).

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The Sash

Rapture Theatre Presents
The Sash by Hector MacMillan

Scotland’s leading contemporary touring theatre company present the 40th anniversary production of Hector MacWilliam’s classic Scottish dark political play about prejudice, sectarianism and ideals

Following its hit sell out 2011 UK tour of Gagarin Way, Rapture Theatre is delighted to announce the 40th anniversary tour of Hector MacWilliam’s classic Glasgow-set The Sash.

The Story
Taking place on the day of the Orange Walk, Bill MacWilliam is determined that his son, Cameron, will join him on the walk. However, prompted by his mother’s recent death, Cameron has started to question his father’s beliefs. Throw in the arrival of the, staunch Irish catholic, spinster from downstairs with her pregnant niece. Father is pitted against son and niece against aunt, as old prejudices are questioned and new ideals sought.

First performed in 1973, this political comedy still resonates strongly in a Scotland where sectarian chants are heard on football terraces and nail bombs are being sent through the post.
Michael Emans and Lyn McAndrew, the critically acclaimed team behind Gagarin Way and a top-notch cast of Scottish performers, will deliver a mix of hard edged Glasgow humour and thought-provoking drama to guarantee a great night out.

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