Sorry Rupe, the ‘witch' Sturgeon and SNP did not ruin Scottish arts

The Herald Scotland

5 hours ago

Speaking to The Herald ahead of his appearance at the Boswell Book Festival where he was promoting his new(-ish) book of short stories, Everett zeroed in on his time in Glasgow in the late 1980s and in particular a spell at the Citizens Theatre, where the quality of the work bowled him over, the drive of the people running the place and the intellectual expansiveness of what was staged there.
My words, by the way, not his. What he said is this: 'It was a European theatre in the same vein as Peter Stein, Pina Bausch. It was a national European theatre. And unlike those theatres, it never ran at a loss. It presented an uncompromising array of work to people that it never patronised… It's how I imagine the relationship with the audience must have been in the Restoration, in a way. It was a collaborative thing between the audience. A very vocal audience. It was literally like going into Aladdin's cave, going into the Citizens.'
Then along came 'the witch' – this is a quarter of a century after he graced the Dear Green Place, remember – and suddenly 'everything changed in Scottish arts… everything had to be about being Scottish.'
Read more:
'Misogynistic and abhorrent': Forbes hits out at Everett over Sturgeon 'witch' slur
Now I used to go to the Citz as a schoolboy in the period Everett was acting there, and maybe even saw him in a production or two. And yes, he's right that the theatre presented innovative works by playwrights from across Europe and beyond, and from across the centuries too.
That said, there was always a strong Scottish focus. There had to be. Glance at the list of the productions at the Citz at the time and you can see it in black and white. James Bridie's Glasgow-set Dr Angelus opened there on June 10, 1988. A year later it staged Douglas, John Home's blank verse tragedy from 1756, which is set in the Grampian Mountains and inspired by the folk ballad Child Maurice, later popularized by Ewan McColl. I could go on.
Track backwards and forwards from those points and, if you know anything about Scottish theatre and how it fits into and converses with issues in Scottish culture and society, you'll know that the productions which have best defined it over the last 50 or so years are works which are, well, Scottish. Such as The Cheviot, The Stag And The Black, Black Oil, first staged by the mighty Scottish company 7:84 in 1973.
Productions such as The Cheviot, The Stag And The Black, Black Oil have best defined Scottish theatre over the last half-century (Image: National Theatre of Scotland) Here's three more: David Greig's Caledonia Dreaming from 1999, Stephen Greenhorn's 1997 play Passing Places, and Harry Gibson's seismic 1995 adaptation of Trainspotting. Or how about Gregory Burke's electrifying, quadruple Olivier Award-winning Black Watch, commissioned by the fledgling National Theatre of Scotland in 2006 and premiered at that year's Edinburgh Festival?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but not one of those productions was staged when the SNP was in power at Holyrood. So is Rupert Everett right – or is he, as I'm sure some readers are currently now thinking, talking nonsense? Afraid I'm in the second camp, Rupe.
PS: You were great in Inspector Gadget.
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It's only rock'n'roll, officer
The Herald's Russell Leadbetter writes as authoritatively as ever about rock music in his appreciation of the Sex Pistols, looking in particular at the furore they caused up and down the country in the mid-1970s. It all seems a little tame and old fashioned now. Nostalgic, almost. What was all the fuss about?
Given current events, however, one story stands out in Russell's piece: the cancelling by Glasgow City Council's licensing committee of a gig the band was due to play at the storied Apollo. Fast forward half a century and suddenly it doesn't seem so old-fashioned. Witness the current war of words between Oasis and City of Edinburgh Council, which has allegedly described Oasis fans as 'drunk', 'lairy', 'fat' and 'old' in privately-circulated briefing documents which were leaked to the press.
Read more Barry Didcock:
The band's frontman Liam Gallagher was quick to take to social media to offer his tuppence-worth. 'To the Edinburgh council I've heard what you said about Oasis fans and quite frankly your attitude f****** stinks,' he wrote. 'I'd leave town that day if I was any of you lot.'
Not quite Lydon-esque but not far from it, and doubtless delivered with an appropriate sneer.
And of course we've also had the Kneecap debacle. They were pulled from next month's TRNSMT line-up but have at least have been able to re-schedule a gig in Glasgow.
So, the Pistols in the 1970s, Oasis and Kneecap today. Bad boy bands still giving the authorities a headache. Plus ça change, as they probably don't say in Manchester or Belfast.
And finally
The Herald's theatre critic Neil Cooper is sharpening his pencils before the start of the Edinburgh Festival but headed for Glasgow this week to take in the latest show in Òran Mór's A Play, A Pie And A Pint season – this was JD Stewart's hymn to a group of Scottish Beyoncé fans – as well as to the Theatre Royal where he watched Picture You Dead, a touring production of Peter James's Detective Roy Grace novels.
Elsewhere music critic Keith Bruce was at Kelvingrove Art Gallery for the Scottish Ensemble's Concerts For A Summer's Night programme, currently touring visual arts venues. He was wowed by guest solo soprano Heloise Werner performing a programme which included work by Italian baroque composer Barbara Strozzi and 18th century Frenchwoman Julie Pinel among others.