2007 (pt2)
| 07 Dec 2007
I thought Peer Gynt was an absolutely fantastic production of what's considered to be a difficult play. It just shows what we can do: Dominic Hill wanted to do it and we were delighted to be able to give him the opportunity. It was also fantastic to see new work by James Kelman at The Arches with Davy MacKay and Andy Arnold doing what they do so well.
Vicky Featherstone, Artistic Director, National Theatre of Scotland
"2007 has been a great year for Arches Theatre, particularly for new plays – Megan Barker's Pit at the Traverse in August and our two James Kelman plays; Herbal Remedies and They Make These Noises. Never look back though – it's now on to The Water Babies for Christmas. My favourite other shows - the Russian company Akhe at the Arches Spring Festival and The Arab and the Jew in Edinburgh this summer."
Andy Arnold, Artistic Director, The Arches
"A personal highlight was my own production of Heartfelt, a stage adaptation of Aidan Smith's bestselling novel about a diehard Hibs fan who spends a year as a Hearts fan during this year's Leith Festival, with outstanding performances by Tom Freeman, Sean Hay and Chris Young. We're hoping to revive it in 2008. I was also thrilled by the success of Code Butterfly, at The Out of the Blue Drill Hall. The professionally-led cast of young people from Leith turned in some wonderful performances in a spectacular venue."
John Paul McGroarty, Artistic Director, Leith Festival
"My top theatre events this year were Vanishing Point's Subway and Tim Crouch's England. I thought Subway was a genuinely thrilling piece of theatre, beautifully performed and in which the music and the drama were perfectly integrated. England was a really thought-provoking experience, and interesting in that initially I found the piece infuriating but then I had to revisit my feelings after the utterly brilliant second half. Personally, I guess directing Peer Gynt was the major event. A massive, impossible piece which I was never sure would come together. Thankfully it did and the audience response was fantastic."
Dominic Hill, Artistic Director, Traverse
"Just home from Calcutta Film Festival minutes ago. As always I love the Edinburgh Book Festival, but this year two singers, Meow Meow and Isabelle Georges, stole my heart. The Festival, as always, was full of delightful surprises. I have attended 51 and plan to attend another 51. Stay festive!"
Jim Haynes, founder of the Traverse Theatre, Arts Lab etc
"It's been quite a weird year for me – I've got quite a skewed view. I've been in New York most of the time as part of an NTS residency with a young theatre company called TEAM or Theatre of the Emerging American Moment - they had a show, Particularly at the Heartland, at The Arches. Seeing Wallace Shawn's one-man show , The Fever, at The Acorn theatre in New York was a highpoint. He begins by inviting the audience to share a glass of champagne and some canapés with him before launching into an intense, incisive condemnation of consumer society. It's an hour and a half monologue which I'd normally hate but this was brilliant. I also met Scottish playwright David Harrower on Broadway – just bumped into him in a city of eight million – and went to see a new production of his play Blackbird which I really enjoyed."
Davey Anderson, playwright/director
Vicky Featherstone, Artistic Director, National Theatre of Scotland
"2007 has been a great year for Arches Theatre, particularly for new plays – Megan Barker's Pit at the Traverse in August and our two James Kelman plays; Herbal Remedies and They Make These Noises. Never look back though – it's now on to The Water Babies for Christmas. My favourite other shows - the Russian company Akhe at the Arches Spring Festival and The Arab and the Jew in Edinburgh this summer."
Andy Arnold, Artistic Director, The Arches
"A personal highlight was my own production of Heartfelt, a stage adaptation of Aidan Smith's bestselling novel about a diehard Hibs fan who spends a year as a Hearts fan during this year's Leith Festival, with outstanding performances by Tom Freeman, Sean Hay and Chris Young. We're hoping to revive it in 2008. I was also thrilled by the success of Code Butterfly, at The Out of the Blue Drill Hall. The professionally-led cast of young people from Leith turned in some wonderful performances in a spectacular venue."
John Paul McGroarty, Artistic Director, Leith Festival
"My top theatre events this year were Vanishing Point's Subway and Tim Crouch's England. I thought Subway was a genuinely thrilling piece of theatre, beautifully performed and in which the music and the drama were perfectly integrated. England was a really thought-provoking experience, and interesting in that initially I found the piece infuriating but then I had to revisit my feelings after the utterly brilliant second half. Personally, I guess directing Peer Gynt was the major event. A massive, impossible piece which I was never sure would come together. Thankfully it did and the audience response was fantastic."
Dominic Hill, Artistic Director, Traverse
"Just home from Calcutta Film Festival minutes ago. As always I love the Edinburgh Book Festival, but this year two singers, Meow Meow and Isabelle Georges, stole my heart. The Festival, as always, was full of delightful surprises. I have attended 51 and plan to attend another 51. Stay festive!"
Jim Haynes, founder of the Traverse Theatre, Arts Lab etc
"It's been quite a weird year for me – I've got quite a skewed view. I've been in New York most of the time as part of an NTS residency with a young theatre company called TEAM or Theatre of the Emerging American Moment - they had a show, Particularly at the Heartland, at The Arches. Seeing Wallace Shawn's one-man show , The Fever, at The Acorn theatre in New York was a highpoint. He begins by inviting the audience to share a glass of champagne and some canapés with him before launching into an intense, incisive condemnation of consumer society. It's an hour and a half monologue which I'd normally hate but this was brilliant. I also met Scottish playwright David Harrower on Broadway – just bumped into him in a city of eight million – and went to see a new production of his play Blackbird which I really enjoyed."
Davey Anderson, playwright/director