Rapture Theatre

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.

Published in Past Productions

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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.

Published in Past Productions

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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).

Published in Past Productions

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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).

Published in Past Productions

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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.

Published in Past Productions

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Gagarin Way

Rapture Theatre and Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline
Presents
Gagarin Way by Gregory Burke

About the Play

Scotland’s foremost touring theatre company Rapture celebrate their tenth anniversary with an unmissable tour of Gregory Burke’s modern classic.

A pair of Fife factory workers kidnap their visiting boss to make a point... but what exactly is their point? And do they all have the same agenda? The jokes come thick and fast in this politically charged satirical thriller about a human heist that goes wrong. Very wrong.

Published in Past Productions

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Blue Orange

Rapture Theatre in association with Paisley Arts Centre
Presents
Blue/Orange

Blue/Orange received its world premiere at the National Theatre in 2000. The critics were unanimous in their praise. Rapture specialises in bringing new work to Scotland which has won acclaim elsewhere. Michael Emans strongly believes in ‘theatre for all’ – ensuring that even very small communities in Scotland can access quality theatre productions.
In 2000, Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange received Best New Play awards from the London Evening Standard and the Critics’ Circle. In 2001 it received an Olivier Award for Best New play.

About the Play

The stage is set for a battle of wills between two doctors looking after a patient who believes himself to be the son of infamous dictator Idi Amin. As the drama unfolds, his story becomes unnervingly plausible. Combining drama with moments of comedy, this thriller reaches an exciting climax as the doctors’ clash becomes more personal.

Published in Past Productions

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Frozen

Rapture Theatre
Presents
Frozen by Bryony Lavery

Starring Gerda Stevenson, John Kazek, Joanna Tope and Duncan R Edwards. Frozen received its world premiere at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1998 and was subsequently revised and revived at the National Theatre in England in 2002.

About the Play

This is the play that no mother will want to miss, and one, audiences will remember for a long time afterwards.

A tender and humane story about the disappearance of a ten-year-old girl and the effects on those around her. When Rhona goes missing, her mother Nancy retires into a state of frozen hope. As the years go by, the reality of Rhona's disappearance and the effect on Nancy leads to a thrilling conclusion as Nancy finally confronts the man who abducted her daughter.
A tense thriller of a play that will have you glued to your seats, and your heart in your mouth.

Published in Past Productions

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Shining City

Rapture Theatre in association with The Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh
Presents
Shining City by Conor McPherson

Rapture Theatre is delighted to announce its latest touring production, the Scottish Premiere of Shining City, by Irish playwright Conor McPherson.

About The Play

The Emerald Isle meets The Sixth Sense in this riveting and chilling urban ghost story from the multi-award winning author of The Weir, Dublin Carol and The Seafarer.
After leaving the priesthood, Ian sets himself up as a therapist in Dublin. One of his first clients is John who, following the tragic death of his wife in a car accident, has repeatedly seen her ghostly figure. But surely it must be his imagination?!!!!!

Through taut and witty Irish banter, hidden demons begin to surface as Ian starts to realise that his life parallels John’s in many ways, and that the "ghosts" of his past may yet come back to haunt him too.

Published in Past Productions

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Damages

Rapture Theatre in association with Paisley Arts Centre
Presents
Damages by Steve Thompson

About the Play

Combining the wit and one-liners of those favourite screwball comedies of the 1940's such as His Girl Friday and The Front Page, with a modern perspective, this satirical laugh-fest will give audiences one of their best nights out.

Three journalists desperate for the big headlines have a scoop involving salacious shots of a Children's TV presenter!! However, they haven't counted on the sassy legal eagle, ex-girlfriend, of one of the hacks, who has her own headlines to make. As the clock ticks against them, the pace heats up, the temperature rises and the race is on to print the red-hot sexy story or.... decide that just because it may interest the public... is it really in the public interest??

Published in Past Productions

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