Home Nations Festival @ Tron

As the Commonwealth Games draw ever nearer, the Tron theatre kicks off celebrations with its very own Home Nations Festival. This involves various events, including performances, workshops and masterclasses, with each nation represented by a poet or writer. It all starts on July 17 with Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, directed by Gareth Nicholls. Originally a radio drama (1954) which then became a stage play, Under Milk Wood follows a day in the life of fictional seaside town Llareggub.

"At first glance it might seem that Under Milk Wood is culturally very specific to Wales – the people, the place, the language – yet it quickly becomes clear that the ideas it deals with – life, death, love and lust – are universal, striking at the heart of what it means to be human," Nicholls states. The play runs until 20 Jul. 

A week after the launch of Thomas' play comes Liz Lochhead's Edwin Morgan's Dreams and other nightmares (24 Jul - 2 Aug).  Directed by Andy Arnold, the play plunges into Morgan's darkest nightmares, deepest fears and desires at the age of 87. It was originally commissioned by Glasgay! and performed at the Tron in 2011 to showcase his lifestyle as a gay man. Lochhead,  the current Makar of Scotland, is also the star of an evening of performance poetry.

The programme then leaps from nightmares to monsters, as the Tron tackles Seamus Heaney's adaptation of Beowulf as a dramatic reading (24 Jul - 2 Aug), directed by Lynne Parker of Rough Magic Theatre. Beowulf is the fearless hero who tackles monster Grendel and Grendel's mother, and survives. But what are the consequences of surviving such a violent encounter? 

Preceded by the colonisation theme of this year's Mayfesto, the Tron literally brings the subject matter closer to home with its Culture 2014 programming. What's more, there's a closing party, with live music in the Vic bar until the early hours. [Eric Karoulla]