0:00:02 > 0:00:06This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10Established in 1945, in the heart of Glasgow's Gorbals,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13the Citizens is one of Scotland's most iconic theatres,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17and has nurtured some of Britain's finest acting talent.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21People like Pierce Brosnan, Rupert Everett, you know,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23incredible names...
0:00:23 > 0:00:27Then, who were just, you know, beautiful young boys.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30It was full-on theatre.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35The girls would always be naked, the boys would be androgynous,
0:00:35 > 0:00:38lots of eyeshadow.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40I never, ever went to Glasgow
0:00:40 > 0:00:45and didn't have a kind of electrifying time.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48Throughout its history, the Citz has earned a reputation
0:00:48 > 0:00:52for visionary and daring productions, where nothing is off-limits.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Was questioning 20th century sexual morality,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58and blowing it wide open.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01This was a place where anything could happen. We could tell
0:01:01 > 0:01:06really, really dangerous secrets behind the mask of it being a play.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08It was blood and glitter.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11And that, I thought, absolutely summed it up.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14What we could do when we were at our best.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17And with plans afoot for a major restoration,
0:01:17 > 0:01:22this theatre, with the richest of histories, has a very bright future.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27This theatre feels like what I imagined as a kid
0:01:27 > 0:01:31a theatre should be - sort of special, magical, golden.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35It's kind of unique, I think it's a very special space.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39We go behind the scenes of this remarkable institution
0:01:39 > 0:01:42as it celebrates its 70th anniversary
0:01:42 > 0:01:45with a programme of modern Scottish classics...
0:01:45 > 0:01:46- ALL:- Whit?
0:01:46 > 0:01:52..contemporary work, and its most audacious production for a decade.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06Just south of the River Clyde in the Gorbals, the Citizens Theatre
0:02:06 > 0:02:10is a Glasgow institution with an international reputation.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14Since he took over as artistic director three years ago,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17Dominic Hill's award-winning productions
0:02:17 > 0:02:19have set new standards of excellence.
0:02:22 > 0:02:23And for this anniversary year,
0:02:23 > 0:02:26he's planned his most ambitious programme yet.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28Onstage in 15 minutes, thank you.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33What I wanted to do was a year-long programme of work that was
0:02:33 > 0:02:38celebrating our place in Glasgow, in the west coast of Scotland.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41You know, the heritage, the cultural heritage
0:02:41 > 0:02:46that this organisation offers, I think is second to none.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50One of Scotland's flagship producing theatres,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53the Citizens employs almost 40 full-time staff
0:02:53 > 0:02:59and stages an average of eight major shows per year, with everything -
0:02:59 > 0:03:01from the sets to the costumes -
0:03:01 > 0:03:05made in their in-house workshops on Gorbals Street.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11The first big show of the anniversary year is a special one.
0:03:11 > 0:03:18A revival of John Byrne's The Slab Boys, originally performed in 1978.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23- And this is what we call a slab boy. - You say it, "Slab boy."
0:03:23 > 0:03:26Note the keen eye, the firm set of the jaw.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28They are forced up under cucumber frames.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Note too the arse hanging oot the troosers.
0:03:31 > 0:03:32The production reunites writer Byrne
0:03:32 > 0:03:36with the play's original director, David Hayman.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38'When I put the idea to him
0:03:38 > 0:03:41'I said, "Look, I want to do the Slab Boys again,'
0:03:41 > 0:03:44"after 30-odd years, and I'd like you to design it."
0:03:44 > 0:03:46And it was an instant "yes".
0:03:46 > 0:03:49And when you make that first entrance, make it "boom"!
0:03:49 > 0:03:52'One of the highlights of our professional lives,
0:03:52 > 0:03:56'for John and I, was that very first production.'
0:03:56 > 0:03:59He lets me design it, and I let him direct it.
0:03:59 > 0:04:06And we both will have the odd suggestion, and it can be
0:04:06 > 0:04:09turned down and no hard feelings, or it can be accepted and used.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11'It's an exchange.'
0:04:14 > 0:04:18The Slab Boys explores the lives of three young lads trapped
0:04:18 > 0:04:23grinding paint in the slab room of a Paisley carpet factory in 1957.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25It could be set anywhere in the world,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27and it could be set at any time, because there is always
0:04:27 > 0:04:30going to be young working-class guys who are stuck in a dead-end job
0:04:30 > 0:04:33that they hate, but they want to better themselves. I can see you now -
0:04:33 > 0:04:37unemployable, scoffing Indian ink with the down-and-outs.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39Going round the doors with clothes pegs,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41choking weans for their sweetie money.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44So don't go getting any big ideas about asking for a desk, kiddo.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46You're lucky to be in a job.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48As much as it's a comedy and a farce, there is
0:04:48 > 0:04:51a lot of dark elements in the play.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53'Like, there's a lot going on, it's not just complete
0:04:53 > 0:04:56' "come and laugh your head off", really.'
0:04:56 > 0:04:58I know what I'd like to cut into you.
0:04:58 > 0:04:59Steady on, Phil!
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Playwright and artist Byrne has also designed the set.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09But backstage in the workshops, the Citizens' own team of carpenters
0:05:09 > 0:05:13and painters must make John's design reality.
0:05:14 > 0:05:19Scenic artist Neil is attempting to recreate Byrne's distinctive style.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24What I've done is try to get them to a certain stage for him to see.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28He has seen James Dean already, and I think he liked it.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31He was complimentary, anyway. Don't know if he was just being nice.
0:05:33 > 0:05:34No matter how hard I try,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38I'm not really going to reach his standard there, you know.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42So I think he will probably just mess about with bits
0:05:42 > 0:05:44and just make it his.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46# Who do you love? #
0:05:51 > 0:05:53Upstairs, the wardrobe department are scouring
0:05:53 > 0:05:57the Citz's closet for authentic 1950s fashions.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59We managed to source a lot of the costume
0:05:59 > 0:06:02for the male characters of the play,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05but we're also making dustcoats for them because they need to
0:06:05 > 0:06:09be oversized, and we couldn't find dustcoats the appropriate length.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14Actor-director David Hayman will also be treading the boards
0:06:14 > 0:06:19in this production, as the slab boys' militant boss, Willie Curry.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22John's characterisations are so vivid,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24they leap off the page at you.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Beautifully drawn, they're rich, and they're strong,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30and they've got great depth and a great passion to them.
0:06:30 > 0:06:31And they are all different.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33Just get a match for your hair.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36So, moustache-wise, you're thinking just a wee...
0:06:36 > 0:06:37Just a wee, straight one.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40'It's a slice of life, it's a slice of West of Scotland'
0:06:40 > 0:06:43working-class life that John has captured beautifully.
0:06:43 > 0:06:48He has very particular tastes, Mr Byrne. Got to be spot-on.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00It's my story, disguised with laughter.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05I have a dual role of both being the writer
0:07:05 > 0:07:08and the designer of set and costumes as well.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13It just gives you more control over how it looks and how it sounds.
0:07:13 > 0:07:14So it's ideal.
0:07:27 > 0:07:33The layout was exactly as it would have been in the slab room itself.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38And no escape from it, apart from that one door.
0:07:41 > 0:07:47So it wasn't as if you could get out without being seen, really.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49You had to kind of sneak out...
0:07:50 > 0:07:54..if you wanted to have a fag or something.
0:08:00 > 0:08:01A week before opening night,
0:08:01 > 0:08:06and the Citizens have organised their customary 50p ticket sale.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16In the 1970s, the theatre's revolutionary policy of offering
0:08:16 > 0:08:20all seats for just 50p won the hearts and minds of local audiences.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24Since 2012, they have made it company policy to offer 50p tickets
0:08:24 > 0:08:26once again.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33Seems like it's always the coldest weekend of the year that's chosen
0:08:33 > 0:08:35for 50p tickets, but hopefully it'll be worth it.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38There are only 100 50p tickets for any show,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41and one hour-long window to snap them up.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43I got up about 6:30 this morning.
0:08:43 > 0:08:48- 7:15, maybe.- About that, but we brought breakfast.- We're prepared.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50We've come prepared.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54My granddaughter is doing The Slab Boys for higher English,
0:08:54 > 0:08:58so Gran and Grandpa were given the job of coming
0:08:58 > 0:09:01and waiting for the tickets for her and her friends.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03She'll pay for it, she'll have to make me cups of tea
0:09:03 > 0:09:08for the rest of her life for doing this on this freezing cold morning!
0:09:09 > 0:09:13It's not just the 50p tickets that are selling like hot cakes.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16The Slab Boys has already nearly sold out
0:09:16 > 0:09:18for the first week of the run.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20That's lovely, thank you so much.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23Yes!
0:09:24 > 0:09:29The Citizens has built a loyal audience over its 70 years.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33But the building itself has been a theatre for even longer,
0:09:33 > 0:09:35and first opened its doors in 1878.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41I almost think of this as a bit of a pearl in a shell.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44you have this original Victorian theatre,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47so the auditorium, the stage and the paint frame
0:09:47 > 0:09:52are all the original Victorian fixtures and fittings.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56If you think of everything else that is round that pearl,
0:09:56 > 0:10:01we've got the shell, and that shell has been burnt down, knocked down,
0:10:01 > 0:10:05rebuilt, over the last 100 years.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07And at the time of the theatre opening,
0:10:07 > 0:10:11the Gorbals was one of the most socially deprived areas
0:10:11 > 0:10:14in western Europe, but it could still get 2,000 people
0:10:14 > 0:10:16into a theatre like this.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21The Royal Princess's Theatre was famous for its pantos
0:10:21 > 0:10:25that ran for an incredible nine months of the year.
0:10:25 > 0:10:30But on 11 September 1945, Scotland's first permanent repertory group,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33the Citizens Company, moved in.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Led by playwright James Bridie,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39the renamed Citizens Theatre was an immediate success,
0:10:39 > 0:10:43and from the start nurtured native talent.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Well, I was there for 3½ years,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50but while I was there they were going to stage a pantomime.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52We called it The Tintock Cup.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56James Bridie wrote a lot of it, I took over the whole thing.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58I threw out all of Bridie's work,
0:10:58 > 0:11:01got hold of all sorts of other writers,
0:11:01 > 0:11:05and The Tintock Cup went into orbit, it just was unbelievable.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Just took Glasgow by storm.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13Stanley's time at the theatre set him firmly on the road to stardom.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16And while it kept up its pantomime tradition,
0:11:16 > 0:11:20by the 1960s the Citizens was also becoming known
0:11:20 > 0:11:22for its increasingly challenging choice of plays.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28A young English teacher took a gang of us to see
0:11:28 > 0:11:33A Man For All Seasons, I think about 1961.
0:11:33 > 0:11:34And I was completely transfixed.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38I adored the building. I'd been in quite a few theatres
0:11:38 > 0:11:41up until then - I came from a background of people
0:11:41 > 0:11:44who liked to go and see variety and all the shows,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47but I'd never sat through a straight play.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51And suddenly this astonishing event, with a common man,
0:11:51 > 0:11:55the character, a great Scottish actor called John Grieve,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58who told the story directly to us.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02That kind of Brechtian...pretend the fourth wall doesn't exist.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05And I thought, "Well, this is it."
0:12:05 > 0:12:07From The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui
0:12:07 > 0:12:09to A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg,
0:12:09 > 0:12:13in the 1960s, the theatre's contemporary repertoire
0:12:13 > 0:12:16attracted promising young talent,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20with Leonard Rossiter and Albert Finney just two of the great actors
0:12:20 > 0:12:23to make their name on this stage.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30The Citizens is still a hothouse
0:12:30 > 0:12:32for new performers, and the theatre
0:12:32 > 0:12:36runs regular night school classes for budding wannabe actors.
0:12:36 > 0:12:41This term they are also working on scenes from The Slab Boys.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45Hi, Lucille. Replenishing the old "jooga di aqua" I see.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47"You trying to be filthy?"
0:12:47 > 0:12:48It's Italian.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50Return, please, driver.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Tonight, George Irving is one of 25 nonprofessional actors to be
0:12:56 > 0:12:58put through his paces at the Citz.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00Take the energy right through to the end of the line.
0:13:00 > 0:13:06So this is a good example, a small little run of interesting tension.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09George and Liz are running a scene between slab boy Spanky
0:13:09 > 0:13:11and love interest Lucille.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15Wondered if I fancied going with...who?
0:13:15 > 0:13:19- Not you?- Yeah! What's up with me?
0:13:19 > 0:13:22- I know you aren't booked. - Oh, do you?
0:13:25 > 0:13:30But George first encountered the Citizens acting classes last year,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33while he was an inmate in HMP Barlinnie.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36He's one of 140 prisoners the Citizens' learning team
0:13:36 > 0:13:40have worked with there since 2012.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44It's quite funny just to see all the guys again in that show.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48There was a scene where I played a woman,
0:13:48 > 0:13:53I played a woman called Destiny, so... She was kind of sassy.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57I done drama as a standard grade at school, aye.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Once I'd done all my exams I left school.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03I intended to go back,
0:14:03 > 0:14:08but things just took a nasty turn.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12With the Citz, aye, I'm going to carry on with the Citz.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16Hopefully one day, be in a play or something. That would be good.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22Back with the professionals,
0:14:22 > 0:14:24it's time for The Slab Boys dress rehearsal.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26Whit?
0:14:26 > 0:14:29I think it's a kid-on. What do you say, Spanks, the big KO?
0:14:29 > 0:14:31Tell us, Hector! Please? Please!
0:14:31 > 0:14:34- We're begging you! - Put us out our misery!
0:14:34 > 0:14:37- Stop acting the goat, will you? If you must know it's...- Yes, yes?
0:14:37 > 0:14:39- It's Lucille Bentley.- Whit?!
0:14:39 > 0:14:44Actor-director David Hayman is no stranger to this stage.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47He's been treading the boards here for 45 years now.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50Feel it. Go on, feel that.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55Like bloody roughcast. Who ground these sheets?
0:14:55 > 0:14:57Or should I say, who DIDN'T grind them?
0:14:57 > 0:15:01In the 1970s, Hayman was a member of the Citizens Company,
0:15:01 > 0:15:03and from Al Capone to Lady Macbeth,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06he's probably played more roles here than anyone else.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08It's a bloody disgrace, that's what it is.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Mr Barton has just blown his top out there.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12What do you lot get up to in here?
0:15:12 > 0:15:16I mean, that stage, I performed six nights a week,
0:15:16 > 0:15:18ten months a year for ten years.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21That's an extraordinary commitment to one particular stage,
0:15:21 > 0:15:25so I know that stage so well, and I know this auditorium so well.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28So for me to come on stage again, it's like putting on
0:15:28 > 0:15:33a well-worn overcoat that I love and feel comfortable and secure in.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36It's got a great warmth, it envelops you, this theatre,
0:15:36 > 0:15:40and you feel safe and you feel safe enough to be courageous
0:15:40 > 0:15:42and to be dynamic and to be bold.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49Hayman worked under the reign of a new artistic director who arrived
0:15:49 > 0:15:54at the Citizens in 1969 and remained at the helm for the next 33 years.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57You've just taken over at the Citizens.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01What is your first plan of attack in your campaign?
0:16:01 > 0:16:05Well, I think first of all it's a very long campaign.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09I think one's got to get the public in Glasgow to understand
0:16:09 > 0:16:13and appreciate... Sorry, can I start again? Start again, start again!
0:16:13 > 0:16:18Giles Havergal had come from running Watford Palace Theatre,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21and the dynamic 31-year-old was determined to bring
0:16:21 > 0:16:23his passion for drama to the Gorbals.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26It isn't just the actors on the stage, it is the actors
0:16:26 > 0:16:29and the audience fusing together to make something which is
0:16:29 > 0:16:31palpable and quite different.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35It was the fact it was Glasgow... was a terrific challenge,
0:16:35 > 0:16:40the theatre had had some sort of bad times before we came,
0:16:40 > 0:16:46and it was interesting to see if we could reconnect with the community
0:16:46 > 0:16:52and with young people here and make the theatre meaningful.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56I mean, it should be "burn the place down, throw that man out"
0:16:56 > 0:16:59or "let's all go and see it anyway."
0:16:59 > 0:17:03Havergal recruited a group of young actors fresh from drama school
0:17:03 > 0:17:05for a radical new Hamlet,
0:17:05 > 0:17:10casting local lad Hayman - in blond curls - for the lead role.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14"Hamlet depicted as a gibbering oaf."
0:17:14 > 0:17:18- HE LAUGHS - "Tasteless in the extreme, Bailie says."
0:17:18 > 0:17:21"Oh, Hamlet..." What was great was,
0:17:21 > 0:17:26when they discovered I played the final scenes in a jockstrap,
0:17:26 > 0:17:27enough just to cover my privates,
0:17:27 > 0:17:33and the headlines in the papers was "a naked Hamlet," so all the schools
0:17:33 > 0:17:37who had booked their schoolkids to come and see it cancelled!
0:17:37 > 0:17:40It was really exciting on the first night, one of the most exciting
0:17:40 > 0:17:42things you can feel in the theatre,
0:17:42 > 0:17:45where half the people cheer and half the people boo.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48And there were terrible notices.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52And what happened was the schoolkids decided this was too exciting
0:17:52 > 0:17:55to miss, so they came along on their own.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57Every night we had queues round the block.
0:17:57 > 0:18:02It was a big scandal, and members of the administrative staff left,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06and actually my job was on the line.
0:18:06 > 0:18:12And by the end, schools were rebooking. And we survived it.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15And it said to the world, it said to this city and to Scotland,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18we're doing things differently, we're not going to take
0:18:18 > 0:18:20normal classics and dust them down like museum pieces,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23we're going to reinvent them, we're going to reinvigorate them,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26we're going to look at them from a different perspective
0:18:26 > 0:18:28and try and unearth aspects of the play
0:18:28 > 0:18:30that you may not have been aware of before,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32and that was genuinely exciting.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37The Citizens' bold and dangerous reputation
0:18:37 > 0:18:40soon lured talent from across the UK.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Well, it was the place to be. Everyone wanted to be at the Citz.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51The auditions for the Citizens Theatre were a cattle call,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53and there would be literally
0:18:53 > 0:18:55hundreds of actors waiting to get in.
0:18:55 > 0:19:02It was that kind of jungle drums things that run within the theatre.
0:19:02 > 0:19:09It had a reputation that had spread far beyond the boundaries
0:19:09 > 0:19:11of Glasgow, indeed Scotland.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15I mean, they were an internationally renowned company.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19This one is The Vortex, where I play Nicky Lancaster,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22a young drug-addicted pianist.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25I think, yes, for me it was the only place
0:19:25 > 0:19:31really in my career where the reality lived up to the expectation.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33I never, ever went to Glasgow
0:19:33 > 0:19:37and didn't have a kind of electrifying time.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Giles Havergal also brought his most talented collaborators
0:19:44 > 0:19:47to the Gorbals, including writer and translator
0:19:47 > 0:19:50Robert David MacDonald and designer Philip Prowse.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55Everybody said to me in London,
0:19:55 > 0:20:00"What on earth are you going there for? A ghastly place to go."
0:20:00 > 0:20:02And it was a very difficult question to answer.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05Giles got me to go up to Glasgow and have a look at the theatre,
0:20:05 > 0:20:09and it was beautiful. I mean, it was absolutely beautiful.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11It really was and is
0:20:11 > 0:20:15the most beautiful acting theatre in the country, I think.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18And so I fell for it.
0:20:18 > 0:20:24And, you know, stayed there for 34 years, nearly, I think.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29Philip Prowse was a designer whose sumptuous sets
0:20:29 > 0:20:33and exacting costumes were feats of the imagination.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36The silhouette is only arrived at by an immense amount of
0:20:36 > 0:20:40kind of engineering work going on underneath the frock.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44The essential thing is to create a world in its own terms
0:20:44 > 0:20:47on the stage in three dimensions,
0:20:47 > 0:20:51which those people in those costumes become the natural inhabitants of.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Prowse soon began directing as well as designing plays,
0:21:02 > 0:21:07including a flamboyant production of Noel Coward's Semi-Monde.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10It was Coward's view of a society which already had
0:21:10 > 0:21:12the seeds of disintegration in it,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16so he couldn't have known that, but which was going to disintegrate.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20That was what was, to me, moving and interesting.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25Among the 30-strong cast was a young Pierce Brosnan.
0:21:25 > 0:21:31For me it was just bedazzling. All his sets were just sumptuous.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36As an actor, just fed you the performance, fed you the life
0:21:36 > 0:21:40and the space and the time that you were supposed to be in,
0:21:40 > 0:21:42because of his design.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46- I'm afraid you're rather a naughty boy, aren't you?- In what way?
0:21:46 > 0:21:48The usual ways.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54Prowse turned his radical vision to everything from Oscar Wilde
0:21:54 > 0:21:57to Jacobean revenge tragedies.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03There was an irreverence as well to it.
0:22:03 > 0:22:04Someone might say to him,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07"You can't do that with Shakespeare."
0:22:07 > 0:22:09And Philip would just say,
0:22:09 > 0:22:11"Oh, darling, fuck 'em."
0:22:11 > 0:22:17Hieronymus Bosch meets Dada, meets surrealism, meets Noel Coward.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23But Philip's thing was
0:22:23 > 0:22:27to make us look as wonderful as possible,
0:22:27 > 0:22:32in the right way, so that the focus was on you when it was your turn.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Philip always directed like a film director, really.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39So the audience always knew where to look, at who and when.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44Playwright and translator Robert David MacDonald
0:22:44 > 0:22:47was the third man in Havergal's triumvirate.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52When he died in 2004, it was after dedicating
0:22:52 > 0:22:56the largest part of his working life to the Citizens.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00Well, I think if, in a theatre, you can't pretend,
0:23:00 > 0:23:02you can't pretend anywhere else.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05I mean, I've got several regular current obsessions.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07Of course, like anybody else,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10I'm concerned with the three things I'm told you're not allowed
0:23:10 > 0:23:14to mention in English conversation - sex, politics and religion.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17By the time it comes down to writing a play,
0:23:17 > 0:23:20they are the only three things I want to write about.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27An intellectual who translated in six different languages,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29MacDonald had wide cultural horizons.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31He was mad about Goldoni
0:23:31 > 0:23:34and its Venetian dialect.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Now, he could do that and he could translate it.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39So that was a wonderful thing to have on the premises -
0:23:39 > 0:23:44very, very extraordinary privilege to have.
0:23:44 > 0:23:50He was the cleverest, funniest, gentlest, generous man I'd ever met.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52He changed my life, actually.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57Macdonald's mastery of languages meant that the Citizens could
0:23:57 > 0:24:01take on virtually any play in the European repertoire.
0:24:01 > 0:24:07And in his time at the Citz, he would produce 60 original translations
0:24:07 > 0:24:09and write 12 new works for the company.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15Together the trio would ensure the theatre's phenomenal success
0:24:15 > 0:24:17over 3½ decades.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32The Citizens has continued the commitment to original work,
0:24:32 > 0:24:34and for its spring production,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Dominic Hill is directing a brand-new play.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40- Morning.- Morning, Dominic. - Morning, Jason.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Since he started as artistic director, Hill has made it
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Citizens policy to put on Scottish plays that will resonate with
0:24:50 > 0:24:55a local audience, from Glasgow Girls to The Slab Boys...
0:24:55 > 0:25:00- All right, cheers. - ..and now, Fever Dream: Southside.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03Fever Dream is about a couple in their thirties
0:25:03 > 0:25:06and they've just had a child
0:25:06 > 0:25:09and dealing with childhood and dealing with bringing up
0:25:09 > 0:25:16a child in a city is absolutely at the heart of the piece.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18Fever Dream is a surreal comic thriller
0:25:18 > 0:25:20by local playwright Douglas Maxwell,
0:25:20 > 0:25:24set in the streets around the theatre in Glasgow's south side.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28It's our first completely new play written for us,
0:25:28 > 0:25:29while I've been here,
0:25:29 > 0:25:33so just for having that kind of a sense of
0:25:33 > 0:25:36a play for and about its community, which is I think
0:25:36 > 0:25:39partly what we're about, it seemed perfect for us.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42Back in the rehearsal room,
0:25:42 > 0:25:46they're starting with a full read-through of the play.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49Please, PLEASE, ssh.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54Mummy needs to... Oh, God, Mummy needs to LIVE. What is it?!
0:25:54 > 0:25:59And mourn, in lamentation deep, how life and love are all a dream.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05- Know what I mean? By the way. - LAUGHTER
0:26:05 > 0:26:08The job is the same whether it's a new play or an old play.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10This play is a huge challenge.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12I used to joke to Douglas that it actually
0:26:12 > 0:26:14was an impossible play to put on.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17I've never written it in stage directions, but Terry's roar,
0:26:17 > 0:26:19I've always heard morphing...
0:26:19 > 0:26:21HE ROARS
0:26:21 > 0:26:22..into...
0:26:22 > 0:26:25# We-eh-eh-eh-ll...
0:26:25 > 0:26:27# You know you make me wanna... #
0:26:27 > 0:26:29# Shout Look, my hands jumping... #
0:26:29 > 0:26:33in 2011, Dominic Hill came from Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre
0:26:33 > 0:26:35to run the Citizens.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38From King Lear and Hamlet to Pinter, Beckett
0:26:38 > 0:26:41and a dramatisation of Crime and Punishment,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44in the last four years he has directed classic plays
0:26:44 > 0:26:47that draw on the theatre's rich repertory tradition.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50But this is the first time he will direct
0:26:50 > 0:26:52a brand-new work at the Citz.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57The identity of the work in relation to the building is really important.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00I want people to think that that's a Citz show,
0:27:00 > 0:27:03and whether that's because of the way
0:27:03 > 0:27:06it's been created or the subject matter,
0:27:06 > 0:27:08or whether it's just about the bravery
0:27:08 > 0:27:11and ambition of the production style,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14and I think that just comes back to the idea of giving
0:27:14 > 0:27:18the audience a really exciting, interesting time.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20Head of stage Jamie and deputy Jason
0:27:20 > 0:27:23are in charge of the metalwork for the production.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26In their hands, around 300 rods of steel
0:27:26 > 0:27:30will be transformed into Fever Dream's hyperreal locations,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33and today, they are working on a giant set of park gates.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39All of this frame flies out about six-and-a-half metres
0:27:39 > 0:27:40in the air above people,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42so got to be pretty substantial,
0:27:42 > 0:27:44more than your normal garden gates.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46The director just told us
0:27:46 > 0:27:48that he wants them to magically open,
0:27:48 > 0:27:52with no-one operating them. So...
0:27:52 > 0:27:57We'll just have to have a good think about it and see how we go about it.
0:27:57 > 0:27:58Don't worry.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Meanwhile, upstairs, Dominic is busy rehearsing his actors,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04with only two weeks to opening night.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08..rematerialise down at the baths and make yourself useful.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10I go where the wind blows me.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16Dominic pulls you in for two hours and maybe work on one or two scenes
0:28:16 > 0:28:19and really takes it just back to basics.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Just read the scene, listen to each other and then you do it
0:28:23 > 0:28:25so many different ways.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Now we're going to do one more time, there is a bed,
0:28:28 > 0:28:30so play it exactly as you played it before.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34- Mm-hmm. - It just happens to be that...
0:28:34 > 0:28:38- we can't see the bed.- OK. - You can, but we can't.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43- Oh, she just walked straight through it.- Your head is actually working.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47You're not coming in going, "I've got this part, I've nailed it."
0:28:47 > 0:28:49You're going, "No matter what I do here, I'm going
0:28:49 > 0:28:51"to be trying so much different stuff,"
0:28:51 > 0:28:53and you leave so inspired that you're like,
0:28:53 > 0:28:57"I'm going to stay in for another four hours and keep doing work."
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Dominic wants the best performance from everyone,
0:29:02 > 0:29:05including a surprise addition to the cast.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11In the script, it says Terry is a seven-foot pterodactyl.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14I was a little bit concerned!
0:29:14 > 0:29:15A dinosaur? OK.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20Terry is meant to arrive, smashing through the roof, landing,
0:29:20 > 0:29:24and he's meant to disappear by flying up back through
0:29:24 > 0:29:26the hole he has made in the roof.
0:29:26 > 0:29:27Can you walk a little bit?
0:29:27 > 0:29:31'Without millions of pounds, that's very hard to do on stage.'
0:29:31 > 0:29:36With limited funds, there is only one way to breathe life into Terry,
0:29:36 > 0:29:38and the Fever Dream actors
0:29:38 > 0:29:41must quickly learn to become skilled puppeteers.
0:29:41 > 0:29:47Now's the day! Now's the hour! See the front o' battle lour.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51A lot of my dialogue at the start is actually Burns poetry.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54So it's very old Scots language.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57Then mixed with modern-day broad Glaswegian.
0:29:57 > 0:30:04Fuckin' yas! Fuckin' hing me!
0:30:04 > 0:30:09It's fit-up week, and the technical crew have just three more days
0:30:09 > 0:30:12to hang, build and paint the set on stage.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18CREW MEMBERS SING
0:30:21 > 0:30:23Sound effect.
0:30:23 > 0:30:24PTERODACTYL ROARS
0:30:25 > 0:30:30For this play, Guy has to plot 79 sound cues around
0:30:30 > 0:30:34the musical score to create Fever Dream's distorted version of reality.
0:30:34 > 0:30:35Sound effect.
0:30:35 > 0:30:37PTERODACTYL ROARS
0:30:40 > 0:30:43Quite a modern soundscape, but we are trying to be surreal
0:30:43 > 0:30:46at the same time, so we've got babies crying...
0:30:46 > 0:30:48Sound effect.
0:30:48 > 0:30:49BABY CRIES
0:30:49 > 0:30:53Helicopters, I've got fly-bys, helicopters hovering,
0:30:53 > 0:30:55electricity for the gates.
0:30:55 > 0:30:56ELECTRICITY BUZZES
0:30:56 > 0:30:59Bzz. Yeah. I don't want to spoil anything.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01# You know you make me wanna
0:31:01 > 0:31:03- # Shout - Look, my hands jumping
0:31:03 > 0:31:05- # Shout - Throw my hands up and
0:31:05 > 0:31:07- # Shout - Throw my hair back and
0:31:07 > 0:31:09- # Shout - Come on now
0:31:09 > 0:31:12- # Shout - Don't forget to say you will... #
0:31:12 > 0:31:16It's Friday night, and the Fever Dream actors are about to go on.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19Stand by one and two.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26HELICOPTER BLADES WHIR
0:31:28 > 0:31:30No-one can sleep with that bloody thing
0:31:30 > 0:31:31buzzing away all the time like a...
0:31:31 > 0:31:34It's a sad day when your baby monitor
0:31:34 > 0:31:37is drowned out by the sounds of a police helicopter at...
0:31:37 > 0:31:40What time is it? Nine in the morning.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42I don't know, it's just quite true to how Govanhill is.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45And the helicopters outside your window.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Which is something I learned about when I lived on the south side,
0:31:48 > 0:31:50when I first moved here, it was like,
0:31:50 > 0:31:51"Oh, my God, what is going on?"
0:31:51 > 0:31:54I didn't quite know where it was going to start with, and then
0:31:54 > 0:31:58it all came together at the end and the characters were fantastic.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01I thought it was very well done, I really enjoyed it.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03Lulu's story is made from bone fragments,
0:32:03 > 0:32:06moments of connection between strangers.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08How the fuck is that Lulu's story?
0:32:08 > 0:32:10Different Lulu!
0:32:10 > 0:32:12Who was my favourite character?
0:32:12 > 0:32:14Terry-dactyl.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16Just fell for his red eyes.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18PTERODACTYL ROARS
0:32:20 > 0:32:24A lot of people said, "Oh, God, it's bonkers."
0:32:24 > 0:32:26And there's been a really nice sense of presenting
0:32:26 > 0:32:30something for an audience which is completely surprising,
0:32:30 > 0:32:34which is something many of them won't have seen before.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38Hopefully they're laughing at this and having a good time,
0:32:38 > 0:32:42and the show that will be on in two weeks is really different
0:32:42 > 0:32:46and thought-provoking, and important in a very, very different way.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52The Citizens has always been part of local life in Glasgow.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54But as well as bringing people to the theatre,
0:32:54 > 0:32:58it's been on a mission to take theatre to the people.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02In 1967, they created TAG, or "Theatre About Glasgow,"
0:33:02 > 0:33:07one of the first touring and learning companies in the UK.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10And the Citizens outreach programme remains an important part
0:33:10 > 0:33:15of their work, with classes both inside and outside the building.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20Today, the stage is a school assembly hall, and the actors,
0:33:20 > 0:33:2440 primary seven pupils drawn from two schools in North Lanarkshire.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27THEY SING
0:33:27 > 0:33:29We rehearse in one school
0:33:29 > 0:33:33while the set is being built in the other school.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36And it's kind of like the circus has come to town.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39This massive structure arrives
0:33:39 > 0:33:43and just transforms the school hall into a theatre.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45For the last three years,
0:33:45 > 0:33:48the Citizens have produced their dramatised version
0:33:48 > 0:33:51of Theresa Breslin's children's book Divided City
0:33:51 > 0:33:54in over 70 schools across central Scotland.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58Divided City, it's about sectarianism and bigotry,
0:33:58 > 0:34:01and these two boys called Graham and Joe.
0:34:01 > 0:34:06Graham is a Rangers supporter and Joe is a Celtic supporter.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09We always work with two schools that are within walking distance
0:34:09 > 0:34:13of each other, a Catholic school and a nondenominational school.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15Once we've got those two groups together,
0:34:15 > 0:34:18then we mix up the casting.
0:34:18 > 0:34:23My granda is in the Orange Lodge and we're not really Celtic fans,
0:34:23 > 0:34:25we're more Rangers fans.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29# You're not very good You're not very good... #
0:34:29 > 0:34:35Since 2012, over 3,000 young people have taken part in Divided City
0:34:35 > 0:34:39and experienced its message of friendship and tolerance.
0:34:41 > 0:34:42# Celtic!
0:34:45 > 0:34:46# Rangers! #
0:34:46 > 0:34:48I thought it was absolutely amazing.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51I was kind of a bit worried about it at the beginning
0:34:51 > 0:34:55when we first heard he was playing the opposite side to what he would
0:34:55 > 0:34:59normally be, but I think that has opened up everybody's eyes as well.
0:35:01 > 0:35:03And with funding confirmed for next year,
0:35:03 > 0:35:07this schools theatre project looks set to run and run.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09APPLAUSE
0:35:13 > 0:35:17The Citizens has always reached out to connect with Glasgow.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21When Giles Havergal and co arrived in the Gorbals, they soon realised
0:35:21 > 0:35:25that at the heart of a theatre's success must be its audience.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29Not matter when you came to the Citz, Giles would be
0:35:29 > 0:35:33standing at the foyer, inside, waiting for you.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36- Come on, ladies, in you go. Hope you enjoy it.- Thank you.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38Waiting for everyone and making them feel
0:35:38 > 0:35:41the most important person that had walked through that door.
0:35:41 > 0:35:47I mean, the audience lets us know very quickly if they don't like it.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49They just stay away, they don't come.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51Nothing is more important than the audience,
0:35:51 > 0:35:53except possibly the actors.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55You need actors and you need an audience -
0:35:55 > 0:35:57the rest of us can go hang.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00First of all, we reduced the seat price to 50p.
0:36:00 > 0:36:05If you were unemployed or old or young, you didn't pay at all.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08And the first performance of every production was free,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11completely, didn't matter who you were.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14Because if they don't come on that basis,
0:36:14 > 0:36:16they're never going to come, we'd give up.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19There was a time when theatre was thought of
0:36:19 > 0:36:21as a middle-class pursuit.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23But here you are in the Gorbals,
0:36:23 > 0:36:26one of the strongest working-class areas in Glasgow at the time,
0:36:26 > 0:36:30and they're putting on plays by Goethe and Schiller, Beaumarchais...
0:36:30 > 0:36:33De Musset, as well as Shaw and Shakespeare and Brecht
0:36:33 > 0:36:37and O'Casey, and they're offering it up to anyone who wants to come in,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40and it's a formidable conceit when I think of it.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42At the time, you didn't.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44You just went, "This is kind of mad."
0:36:44 > 0:36:48The Citizens kept their tickets at 50p for as long as they could.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51By 1980, they were still only 90p.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56They were so clever, the Citz, in saying,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59"We want to have the freedom to really present you
0:36:59 > 0:37:03"things you've never seen before and will be very unusual,
0:37:03 > 0:37:06"so in return we're not going to charge you that much."
0:37:07 > 0:37:09That's just brilliant.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13The cheap tickets encouraged their audience to
0:37:13 > 0:37:16take a risk on the more unusual European fare.
0:37:17 > 0:37:22They would do some obscure play that they'd found by
0:37:22 > 0:37:25some sort of Norwegian, there would be a Shakespeare,
0:37:25 > 0:37:28there would be an Oscar Wilde and there would be a modern play.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31And it was like an ongoing conversation,
0:37:31 > 0:37:35you'd try something, a play by Goldoni, for instance,
0:37:35 > 0:37:38we put up one, we thought, "Will this work?",
0:37:38 > 0:37:41it went very well, so we put up another one.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44It was an education,
0:37:44 > 0:37:47it was a university of...
0:37:47 > 0:37:51intention and derring-do.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54But behind the bold play choices
0:37:54 > 0:37:58and the cheap seats, Giles Havergal was running a very tight ship.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02It seems to me extremely important that
0:38:02 > 0:38:07if you're lucky enough to be an organisation that is
0:38:07 > 0:38:11in receipt of public funds, you simply cannot spend more than that.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14And we fought really, really hard to keep -
0:38:14 > 0:38:19and it was sometimes absolutely a white-knuckle ride -
0:38:19 > 0:38:22but we did manage it, we never went into deficit.
0:38:22 > 0:38:27You really just have to live from one year to the next, you know,
0:38:27 > 0:38:32and if you manage to build from one to the other, it's rather a bonus.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37Everyone should find out from Giles Havergal, "How did you do that?"
0:38:37 > 0:38:41I don't think anyone's ever done it as well as the Citizens Theatre.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44That's just the management of it,
0:38:44 > 0:38:49that's not the fantastic design and the fantastic literary choices,
0:38:49 > 0:38:53or the wonderful actors. The management is remarkable,
0:38:53 > 0:38:55and unmatched, I think.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59I don't know of any other theatre that has managed to charge so little
0:38:59 > 0:39:01for such rare fare.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09In tribute to the European outlook of Giles Havergal's triumvirate,
0:39:09 > 0:39:12this anniversary year, Dominic Hill has programmed
0:39:12 > 0:39:15a revival of one of Robert David MacDonald's
0:39:15 > 0:39:16most powerful adaptations.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21I wanted to do a show that was perhaps different
0:39:21 > 0:39:24from those others, that wasn't
0:39:24 > 0:39:27necessarily just entertaining
0:39:27 > 0:39:30and celebratory, but actually had...
0:39:30 > 0:39:36that was a nod to the more serious, darker side of our repertoire.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41And I was very aware of course, as everybody was, that while
0:39:41 > 0:39:44we were celebrating our 70th birthday, there was another
0:39:44 > 0:39:4870th anniversary going on, which is the end of the Second World War.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59Based on Gitta Sereny's book,
0:39:59 > 0:40:03Into That Darkness is a dramatised series
0:40:03 > 0:40:06of intense interviews between the journalist
0:40:06 > 0:40:10and Nazi extermination camp leader Franz Stangl.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13I have been listening to you for two-and-a-half hours now.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18And I think it is best if I explain what I want.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21I don't want to know what you did or didn't do.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25I want to know how you see yourself as a human being.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Do you understand me?
0:40:28 > 0:40:31I thought I knew about this period of history, but I didn't.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33So that's been really, really important for me,
0:40:33 > 0:40:36to actually start to engage with this period of history.
0:40:36 > 0:40:37Why the freight cars?
0:40:37 > 0:40:40The nakedness, the public undressing,
0:40:40 > 0:40:43the obscene examinations for valuables
0:40:43 > 0:40:46and the final, naked run under the lash of whips to the gas?
0:40:46 > 0:40:48What was that all for?
0:40:48 > 0:40:52To condition those who had to carry out the operation!
0:40:52 > 0:40:58To harden them! To make it possible for them to do what they did.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01They could never have stood it without that hate.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03You were part of this - did you hate?
0:41:03 > 0:41:07I would never let anyone dictate to me who to hate.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09The only people I would hate
0:41:09 > 0:41:11would be those who are out to destroy me.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15What struck me about the play was Gitta's...
0:41:15 > 0:41:19She's fascinated with not boxing up people like Franz Stangl,
0:41:19 > 0:41:24criminal minds, she's not interested in going, "They're monsters."
0:41:24 > 0:41:27I shall be back in three hours, you can give me your answer then.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32She's much more interested in how we find out
0:41:32 > 0:41:34why these people did what they did.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46As well as a busy year of productions,
0:41:46 > 0:41:50the Citizens management team has another monumental task ahead.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53Although the foyer was rebuilt in 1990,
0:41:53 > 0:41:58parts of the building are now nearly 140 years old,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01and massive restoration work is urgently required.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06Last year, the Citz announced plans for a redesign,
0:42:06 > 0:42:11which it's now estimated will cost £20.5 million.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13If they can find the money, it will be
0:42:13 > 0:42:17the most comprehensive renovation since the theatre was built.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23Dominic has summoned an all-staff meeting
0:42:23 > 0:42:25for an update on the architectural plans.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28The pieces that we are taking away are basically
0:42:28 > 0:42:30the foyer space at the front,
0:42:30 > 0:42:32the buildings down the side
0:42:32 > 0:42:35and the kind of lean-to pieces that are the offices.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41We had lots of comments from a number of you, about 400.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45I think a lot of that has been fed in and incorporated
0:42:45 > 0:42:48in this next revision.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51As artistic director, part of Dominic's mission is to ensure
0:42:51 > 0:42:55a bright future for the second-oldest operational theatre in the UK.
0:42:56 > 0:43:01It's not a vanity project, it's not something we just fancy doing,
0:43:01 > 0:43:04we've got to do something to save the Citz, so this is it.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08And at the same time, it's a brilliant opportunity for us
0:43:08 > 0:43:12to expand and extend the kind of work we are doing at the moment.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15Make the building more accessible,
0:43:15 > 0:43:19make it more a focal point for the community and for Glasgow.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23They've already raised over half of the funds, but there's still
0:43:23 > 0:43:28£8.5 million to find before building work can start in spring 2017.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32It has to happen, we have to do it.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36The building is desperately in need of repair,
0:43:36 > 0:43:40and if we don't do it, our future is in jeopardy.
0:43:44 > 0:43:46But for now, the show must go on,
0:43:46 > 0:43:48and the Citizens are gearing up for
0:43:48 > 0:43:51the most ambitious show of their anniversary year,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54in partnership with the Edinburgh International Festival.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58Their summer blockbuster will be a new adaptation
0:43:58 > 0:44:01of Alasdair Gray's epic novel Lanark.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05So if we do work out a way of suspending him mid-stage,
0:44:05 > 0:44:10those two things will open out, therefore revealing an empty space.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14Before production starts, director Graham Eatough
0:44:14 > 0:44:18and designer Laura Hopkins are detailing their vision for the show
0:44:18 > 0:44:21to the Citizens technical staff.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25And then he's left suspended mid-stage as those two track out.
0:44:25 > 0:44:29Lanark enters through the slit in the clock.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33With multiple scene changes over the nearly four-hour-long play,
0:44:33 > 0:44:35it's a gargantuan task.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37It's going to be tough.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39But it might be that we need to set up the stage so that we can
0:44:39 > 0:44:43actually do the final bit of welding and fabrication on stage.
0:44:43 > 0:44:44Let me look into it.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47So this is the sort of moment that the set builds towards,
0:44:47 > 0:44:50I suppose, which is when we are
0:44:50 > 0:44:52supposed to be in the interior of Alasdair Gray's head.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57So all this makes sense as a shape of a skull.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59We're all in Alasdair's head.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04Alasdair Gray spent 25 years writing and illustrating
0:45:04 > 0:45:08his 1982 novel Lanark, now considered
0:45:08 > 0:45:12one of the most important Scottish novels of the 20th century.
0:45:13 > 0:45:18When somebody asks you to describe your book Lanark,
0:45:18 > 0:45:19what do you say to them?
0:45:19 > 0:45:24I say it is a Scottish, petit bourgeois model of the universe.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27Just like that?
0:45:27 > 0:45:30Yes, I've rehearsed it and honed it down to as few words as possible.
0:45:31 > 0:45:36Part heavily disguised autobiography, part dystopian nightmare,
0:45:36 > 0:45:39in Grey's 560-page tome,
0:45:39 > 0:45:43the action moves from a more naturalistic post-war Glasgow
0:45:43 > 0:45:46to the magic, realist world of Unthank
0:45:46 > 0:45:48inhabited by main character Lanark.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54Prologue: A man plunges into water.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56Darkness, cold and shock.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59Holds his breath, fights.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01Holds, fights. Holds.
0:46:01 > 0:46:02Then lets go.
0:46:02 > 0:46:08For me, it acted as some kind of strange guidebook to the city.
0:46:08 > 0:46:13So it seemed entirely accurate in its descriptions
0:46:13 > 0:46:17of this slightly gloomy city with a lack of daylight,
0:46:17 > 0:46:22where they'd forgotten what the word for "dawn" was.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26I think it gave a lot of artists licence to think about their work
0:46:26 > 0:46:28and their work's relationship with Glasgow
0:46:28 > 0:46:31in a completely different way.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36It seemed very much the kind of thing we should be doing,
0:46:36 > 0:46:38particularly in our 70th year.
0:46:38 > 0:46:44You know, it's a Glasgow story, it's absolutely a contemporary classic.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47Playwright David Greig had the near-impossible task
0:46:47 > 0:46:50of adapting Alistair's book for the stage.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53The nature of it is, it's three parts.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55Each part is about an hour long.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58That's nearly a full-length play these days.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01So poor Graham has to try and put together
0:47:01 > 0:47:04and stage a full-length play every week.
0:47:04 > 0:47:09I knew that Graham and David would create it in a way
0:47:09 > 0:47:13that would be exciting and accessible
0:47:13 > 0:47:18and unusual and thrilling and a theatrical event.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22Two weeks in and the team are working out the sinister scenes
0:47:22 > 0:47:25in the nightmarish underworld of "the Institute."
0:47:25 > 0:47:28You've eaten enigma de filets congales.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30What on earth did you think it is?
0:47:32 > 0:47:34It's processed human meat.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37Did nobody tell you what we do with the softs?
0:47:37 > 0:47:38Ugh, I didn't know.
0:47:38 > 0:47:43Let me be sweet... Let me be sweet with you now.
0:47:43 > 0:47:44Lift!
0:47:46 > 0:47:49But there's one person missing from the rehearsal process.
0:47:49 > 0:47:51Just before production started, Alasdair Gray
0:47:51 > 0:47:56was admitted to hospital after breaking his back in a serious fall.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00We were really lucky, actually, to be able to work with him
0:48:00 > 0:48:04before the rehearsals started, and he was really supportive
0:48:04 > 0:48:08and very generous with his ideas throughout that period,
0:48:08 > 0:48:13so we are constantly hoping for his speedy recovery and hoping that
0:48:13 > 0:48:18he'll be recovered enough in time to come along and see the opening.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24With the opening just two weeks away, the carpentry workshop
0:48:24 > 0:48:28had to come up with solutions to some unusual set requests.
0:48:29 > 0:48:34Head of workshop Denis has been working under this roof for 32 years.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38Some of the designs designers come out with,
0:48:38 > 0:48:41they have no idea how it's going to be made.
0:48:41 > 0:48:43You've got to sit down and think about it.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46Sometimes, actually, I wake up during the night
0:48:46 > 0:48:48realising I know how to build it now.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52Quickly write it down on a pad before you go back to sleep.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55Over the years, I've realised nothing is impossible.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58If somebody wants something, we'll figure a way to do it.
0:48:58 > 0:49:03So, we're just strengthening it up just now because at the back end
0:49:03 > 0:49:05here we're going to have projection screens nailed down.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08The first large spectacles I've ever made!
0:49:13 > 0:49:17Everyone is working flat-out to get Lanark ready for its opening.
0:49:17 > 0:49:21But no matter how busy they are, the staff still find time
0:49:21 > 0:49:24to honour an important Citizens tradition.
0:49:24 > 0:49:25Friday tea.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29We're stage management and we are the best at Friday tea.
0:49:29 > 0:49:30BOTH: Yeah.
0:49:30 > 0:49:35I think the worst department is probably the stage boys
0:49:35 > 0:49:37with their Rich Tea biscuits.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40That was a pretty easy one to beat.
0:49:41 > 0:49:46We just set up and then at four o'clock everybody piles up...
0:49:46 > 0:49:48..and demolishes it.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52Always workshop first, isn't it?!
0:49:52 > 0:49:53LAUGHTER
0:49:53 > 0:49:57From wardrobe to box office, marketing to the stage boys,
0:49:57 > 0:50:01each week it falls to a different team to provide Friday tea
0:50:01 > 0:50:03for the rest of the theatre.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07We all enjoy it until it's our turn to be baking, up till midnight.
0:50:07 > 0:50:08Um... But it is,
0:50:08 > 0:50:12it's a chance for us all to get together as a company.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15There's an unwritten rule that, whatever you do,
0:50:15 > 0:50:17at four o'clock you should break.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20Generally, we try to make sure that it's sociable
0:50:20 > 0:50:23and that we're not talking about work here.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27But it's soon back to the grindstone.
0:50:27 > 0:50:31It's the last week of July and just seven days before Lanark opens.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33Playing eponymous hero Lanark
0:50:33 > 0:50:36Sandy Grierson is in every single scene of the play
0:50:36 > 0:50:40and is under pressure to learn a superhuman amount of material.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43I've certainly never done a four-hour show.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47There is no situation with this that's arisen that
0:50:47 > 0:50:50I haven't been in before, other than the sheer scale of it, I suppose.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53And that's the constant sort of thing that,
0:50:53 > 0:50:57in your moments of weakness, gets the better of you.
0:50:57 > 0:50:58You think, "Oh, my God!
0:50:58 > 0:51:01This is never going to come together in time."
0:51:01 > 0:51:04How the fuck am I going to climb this fucking scaffolding?
0:51:04 > 0:51:06Happiness!
0:51:07 > 0:51:11Lanark keeps saying "this is hell." That's what it is.
0:51:11 > 0:51:12It's like the levels of hell.
0:51:12 > 0:51:18In the beginning, Unthank is a sort of nightmare landscape and world.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20There were moments where I thought I WAS in a nightmare,
0:51:20 > 0:51:23but again, that's the creative process.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26I've been there before in shows.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29Just about any show you do that is going to be worthwhile, you need...
0:51:29 > 0:51:33It needs to not follow a kind of form that you know what's happening.
0:51:33 > 0:51:37You need to try and push yourselves, and be pushed to go somewhere
0:51:37 > 0:51:40that might not be the most comfortable place to go.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42Get out the road, or I'll spoil your picture.
0:51:44 > 0:51:45OK.
0:51:45 > 0:51:46Oof!
0:51:48 > 0:51:52The show's final stage design features a richly textured web
0:51:52 > 0:51:56of technical elements with video projections that will help
0:51:56 > 0:51:58bring Lanark's story to life.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02It's a combination of a lot of Alasdair's original drawings
0:52:02 > 0:52:04that have been reanimated
0:52:04 > 0:52:06and then a load of other material.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09There's a lot of different projection screens,
0:52:09 > 0:52:10projection surfaces.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13Probably more than we originally intended.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17We're waiting to film Sandy.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21That will be Sandy moving around going "Aah!"
0:52:21 > 0:52:23Slow-motion flailing or fast flailing?
0:52:23 > 0:52:25No, that's good. Underwater flailing.
0:52:25 > 0:52:26HE GASPS
0:52:33 > 0:52:35It's August, and, ready or not,
0:52:35 > 0:52:38it's time for Lanark to take to the stage.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41And the team have moved their ambitious show
0:52:41 > 0:52:45from the Citizens to the Lyceum Theatre for its world premiere
0:52:45 > 0:52:47at the Edinburgh International Festival.
0:52:47 > 0:52:52My first production ever. My professional debut.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55Terrifying, that is!
0:52:59 > 0:53:01I haven't even had time to...
0:53:01 > 0:53:04Normally, you have time to do something with the dressing room,
0:53:04 > 0:53:07but there's not even been any time for that. It's...
0:53:07 > 0:53:09It looks like a teenager's bedroom.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17TANNOY: Ladies and gentlemen, this is your quarter-hour call.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19You have 15 minutes. You have 15 minutes.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21Including panic!
0:53:27 > 0:53:29Delighted. Splendid. Overjoyed!
0:53:29 > 0:53:33- Take us to the specialist departments.- Rise.
0:53:33 > 0:53:34I really like the staging.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37The thing with the projection works incredibly well.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40But the dialogue is very clever. It's just a fantastic adaptation.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43It's retained the humour of what I know of the book,
0:53:43 > 0:53:46even though most of that is in the narrative in the book,
0:53:46 > 0:53:49a lot of it has managed to work its way into the dialogue.
0:53:50 > 0:53:55- ALL: Our name is Duncan Thaw. - We are an odd child.- Clever but...
0:53:55 > 0:53:57- Sick. Sick with asthma. - Sick with eczema.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01And sick with a peculiar determination to get our own way.
0:54:01 > 0:54:02No!
0:54:02 > 0:54:05ALL: We are not very good at being happy.
0:54:05 > 0:54:09I think the spirit of Alasdair Gray shone through very much.
0:54:09 > 0:54:10I think...it was great fun.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13I think it's done incredibly well.
0:54:13 > 0:54:17Like, the dialogue... Everything is so sharp and fantastic.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22Sadly, Alasdair Gray couldn't make it here in person.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25But Lanark's creative team have made sure
0:54:25 > 0:54:27he is very much part of the play.
0:54:27 > 0:54:28Alasdair Gray?
0:54:32 > 0:54:33I'm Lanark.
0:54:34 > 0:54:38It was really weird at the end, looking through Alasdair Gray's eyes
0:54:38 > 0:54:42especially when he's in hospital just now, you know?
0:54:42 > 0:54:46That was really, really...a bit close to the bone, as it were.
0:54:49 > 0:54:50Goodbye.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57APPLAUSE
0:54:57 > 0:54:59It is a very proud moment.
0:54:59 > 0:55:04I just think the fact that we managed to pull it off, really.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08It was a really risky undertaking, I think, for everybody involved
0:55:08 > 0:55:12and took a real lot of belief, not just from the creative team,
0:55:12 > 0:55:14really from everybody who's been involved with the show.
0:55:14 > 0:55:19Dominic at the Citizens really believed in us all the way through
0:55:19 > 0:55:23and never kind of wavered in that belief, even when we were worried.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25I'm not sure it's sunk in yet, to be honest.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27I think I'm still kind of really
0:55:27 > 0:55:30understanding what we've all been through.
0:55:35 > 0:55:40The Citizens Theatre has been staging bold and challenging productions
0:55:40 > 0:55:41for seven decades now,
0:55:41 > 0:55:45and tonight they're holding their 70th birthday party.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48Stars of stage and screen from around the world
0:55:48 > 0:55:51have come back to help them celebrate.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57- We were all in my first job together.- That's right.- Yes.
0:55:57 > 0:56:01- I love the walking up and the dancing.- Yes.- Let's walk up again.
0:56:01 > 0:56:03In, three, four...
0:56:05 > 0:56:06And then back.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11Throughout its history, the theatre has been thrilling audiences
0:56:11 > 0:56:13and launching careers...
0:56:15 > 0:56:20The boldness, the daring, the opportunities that it gave me
0:56:20 > 0:56:21as a young actor...
0:56:21 > 0:56:24It gave me the most amazing opportunities.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28I wouldn't be standing here today, or have the career I have today
0:56:28 > 0:56:29if it wasn't for the Citz.
0:56:29 > 0:56:32With latest show Lanark a resounding success,
0:56:32 > 0:56:36both in Edinburgh and back home in Glasgow,
0:56:36 > 0:56:40the Citizens is still nurturing the next generation of talent.
0:56:40 > 0:56:45To have finished a play like Lanark, which was such an epic,
0:56:45 > 0:56:48long journey and a big thing for all of us involved,
0:56:48 > 0:56:51and yet to be topping it off with this is...
0:56:51 > 0:56:52It's amazing.
0:56:52 > 0:56:53I felt so honoured
0:56:53 > 0:56:56and privileged to be here tonight
0:56:56 > 0:57:00and be a part of this Citizens family because it's just the best.
0:57:00 > 0:57:05And the theatre remains at the pinnacle of Scottish cultural life
0:57:05 > 0:57:07here in the heart of Glasgow.
0:57:09 > 0:57:11So the work was important,
0:57:11 > 0:57:14but it was more the community that the theatre had.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16And I think Dominic has brought that back
0:57:16 > 0:57:18and I really feel it here again.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21I mean, you can hear what it's like.
0:57:21 > 0:57:23It's just absolutely amazing. Every one of these people here
0:57:23 > 0:57:26are here to celebrate the Citizens Theatre
0:57:26 > 0:57:28that we've all loved for however long.
0:57:28 > 0:57:31The place is, as they say, full of love.
0:57:33 > 0:57:35It's been an amazing year.
0:57:35 > 0:57:38It's been a sort of wonderful mixture of the old and the new.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41There's a real sense of the history of the place,
0:57:41 > 0:57:44but also the huge capital project.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46What are the next 70 years going to be?
0:57:46 > 0:57:50You can't let it fall down. You can't.
0:57:50 > 0:57:52We've all got to help.
0:57:52 > 0:57:55And all the people who've ever worked here will.
0:57:55 > 0:57:58And all the people who have ever been in the audience
0:57:58 > 0:58:01I'm sure will, because it's magical.