Perth Theatre Four stars Casablanca has come on a bit since Morag Fullarton first adapted Michael Curtiz’s classic 1942 movie vehicle for Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman for the stage back in 2010. That was for a matinee slot as part of Oran Mor’s A Play, a Pie and a Pint lunchtime theatre season in Glasgow. Fullarton’s bite size three-actor version stayed faithful to the essence of the film’s Second World War set romance while taking an irreverent approach that was part homage and not quite pastiche, as intrigue and in-jokes sat side by side in a show that travelled the world. Fullarton’s scaled up revival opens out onto design coordinator Martha Steed’s faithfully recreated Rick’s Bar, where we’re greeted by singer Jerry Burns’s French cabaret Chanteuse. Accompanied by pianist Hilary Brooks, Burns sets the tone with a short set of torch song evergreens. This leaves plenty of time for actors to prepare, as Simon Donaldson, Kevin Lennon and Clare Waugh join in as if warming up in
A few weeks ago, artistic directors of Birds of Paradise Theatre Company past and present met up to take stock. It had been thirty years, after all, since the foundation of what has become Scotland’s premiere producers of theatre created and performed by disabled artists. With current company boss Robert Softley Gale gathering alongside his former co-director Garry Robson and their predecessors Morven Gregor and founding director Andrew Dawson on the eve of a tour of Rob Drummond’s dark comedy about the benefits system, Don’t. Make. Tea., this made for quite a summit meeting. Among the many things discussed, Dawson reminded Softley Gale how he had visited Softley Gale’s school to present a workshop on the then freshly founded Birds of Paradise. Keen to get young people involved, Softley Gale was invited to take part, only to tell Dawson he was far too busy. While Softley Gale’s interest in theatre developed while a student at the University of Glasgow studying Computer Science and