“The brutal complexities of family life” will be the theme of the Tron’s Mayfesto mini-festival, the theatre have announced.
The annual fixture in the theatre’s calendar aims to present provocative new drama, and this year’s focus promises to examine domestic situations where not everything is black and white.
The Tron’s own company are offering up Martin McCormick’s absurdist Ma, Pa and the Little Mouths (3-12 May), produced in association with the National Theatre of Scotland and starring Karen Dunbar and Gerry Mulgrew as the titular parents. The dark play appeared at last year’s Mayfesto as a rehearsed reading and will move on to the Traverse afterwards.
A teaser for psychological thriller Gut, which runs from 16 – 19 May, was released yesterday. Frances Poet’s play will be directed by Zinnie Harris, also as part of NTS’ new writing initiative.
Two plays from the Take Me Somewhere festival, which was set up to continue the Arches’ legacy, are also part of the Mayfesto programme. They are Diamond by David Hoyle (25 & 26 May), a trip through 60 years of LGBT liberation, and a work-in-progress performance of Cora Bissett’s What Girls Are Made Of (25 & 26 May), based on her teenage diaries.
Mental (9-12 May) won the inaugural Mental Health Fringe Award last year. It’s the personal story about Kane Power’s relationship with his mother and her mental health. There’ll also be rehearsed readings of shows from Fire Exit’s Pyromania bursary programme and a finale Song Party, featuring the Tron Community Choir.
Full programme is downloadable here (pdf) and tickets are available from www.tron.co.uk
Mayfesto is @ Tron Theatre, Glasgow, from Thu 3 – Wed 30 May 2018