We have a fantastic lineup of performances coming up soon...
With a mix of local and visiting groups, if you're a fan of theatre and dance - there's definitely something for you in the lineup.
Islesburgh Drama Group: Kindertransport - A 2 Act Play
'KINDERTRANSPORT' is a two Act Play by Diane Samuels.
It was first performed in the UK by the Soho Theatre Company at the Cockpit Theatre, Marylebone, London on 13th April 1993. Now, Islesburgh Drama Group are performing it at the Garrison Theatre and it will be directed by Morag Mouat who is a member of the group. This is an amateur production by arrangement with Nick Hern Books.
Although fictitious, this is a poignant drama based on many real stories. The 'Kindertransport' was an organised British rescue effort, for children from Nazi controlled territories, which took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.
The play tells the story of Evelyn, a young German Jewish girl who was a 'Kindertransport' child.
Enjoy this adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s iconic Swan Lake, retold through the lens of the Gaelic tale of Eala Shàilein, blending traditional music with the classical score.
The performance features a film of the small-scale folk ballet projected behind three harpists, The Willow Trio, performing a live-synced score. The album to accompany this project was album of the week on The Late Show BBC Radio Ulster, featured on BBC Radio Scotland (Caithream Ciuil and Classics Unwrapped), Blues and Roots Radio and Radio Skye.
The Willow Trio are a Glasgow-based clàrsach trio consisting of Sam MacAdam, Sophie Rocks and Romy Wymer, established in 2020. The trio plays music ranging from classical, to traditional, to their own original contemporary compositions. They have performed at festivals such as Kelburn Garden Party, Glasgow's West End Festival, and Edinburgh Festival Fringe and regularly tour small and rural venues throughout the UK. They're also part of the Live Music Now Scotland scheme.
Saturday 16 November, 7:30pm, Mareel
Shetland Community School of Ballet: Hansel & Gretel and Tribe
Matthew Lawrence is presenting Hansel & Gretel, a fairy tale that could have had a pretty grim ending, or indeed any ending you like. This version of the story stretches the brief a little bit, over a few years, but it remains accurate as the Brothers Grimm intended it to!
Then the school's wee group of tappers are going to do a little number ably assisted by their teacher, well, because he wants to join in actually. There are also two solos danced by some of the Senior girls, one piece of music by Aretha Franklin and the other by Billy Joel.
Then there is Tribe, which the school did in conjunction with the very first BBC Ten pieces performed by the Shetland Community Orchestra. As Matthew points out, this piece is influenced by indigenous peoples from the South Pacific. Their dances, lifestyles and their close connection with their environment and their successful survival, which sadly even today is being challenged by corrupt governments and big corporations.
Friday 22 November, 7:30pm, The Garrison Theatre
Saturday 23 November, 2:30pm, The Garrison Theatre
Open Door Drama: Babes in the Wood Panto
Panto with a disco twist... fun for all the family with everything you would expect from a Panto... Boo... Hiss... Sing... And make sure Herbert the Caretaker picks up all the litter.
Cheer for your favourite band... Is it Robin Hood and His Merrie Men... Or is it Marion and the Marionettes... Hiss at horrible Horatio Hardknutt... And stand well back as Nurse Molly Coddles is transformed into the voluptuous Peaches Melba...
Can the babes hang on to their inheritance? Let's hope so!
Tuesday 3 - Saturday 14 December, The Garrison Theatre
Scottish Opera: How to Stage an Opera
Led by theatre-maker Flora Emily Thomson, this free interactive session will engage you in the process of powerful storytelling through opera, using scenes from Scottish Opera's Opera Highlights tour as inspiration.
Together with a music director and two singers, Emily will explore how music can illustrate dramatic context on stage. In this session, we explore the mechanics of staging and directing scenes from an opera, with your help to influence the direction and staging of the story.
Learn how singers use their voices and stage techniques to generate atmosphere and create mood to develop character, and how basic props can support the time, location and even the weather in which the story is unfolding.
Tuesday 21 February, 6pm, Mareel
Scottish Opera presents Opera Highlights
Opera Highlights is back on the road in 2025, touring to 24 venues across Scotland with a brand new piano-accompanied production.
This season's snappy, playful show by director Rebecca Meltzer and designer Kenneth MacLeod explores and celebrates Scotland's rich landscape. The operatic snapshots, curated for the first time by Fiona MacSherry, Scottish Opera's Head of Music, form scenes taking place at the country's many varied train stations - places of greetings and goodbyes, reunions and setting off on new adventures, where all walks of life can coexist and interact equally.
Singers Robert Forrest and Scottish Opera's 2024/25 Emerging Artists Ross Cumming, Chloe Harris, and Kira Kaplan bring classic operatic excerpts by Beethoven, Bizet, Handel, Donizetti, Tchaikovsky, and more to life under the musical direction of Joseph Beesley.
