Neil Laidlaw and Jason Haigh Ellery are proud to announce additional performances of The Steamie when it returns to the Scottish stage in celebration of its 30th anniversary in 2017.
Opening in Kirkcaldy on Wednesday 6th September, 2017, the show will tour to His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen, Dundee Rep, Ayr Gaiety, Eden Court Inverness, the Macrobert Arts Centre Stirling, King’s Theatre Glasgow and the King’s Theatre Edinburgh.
Due to demand extra performances have now been added in Dundee, Ayr, Stirling and Glasgow.
The Steamie is a Scottish theatrical classic; an ode to the hard working women of the 1950s and to a bygone Glasgow. The young Doreen envisions a new future, while Mrs Culfeathers looks back to the past - the play is a snapshot of a society, of a time and a cross section of strong women, all rolled into Roper’s hilarious comedy. As The Scotsman said in 2012, it is a “wonderful pattern of humour, pathos and laugh-out-loud comic set-pieces.”
On Tuesday 24 October at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow, a special red carpet gala performance will bring together the stars of Scottish theatre and screen in a celebration of this seminal Scottish play.
The producers are delighted to announce that they will partner with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for this special gala performance. A number of tickets will be sold through the RCS to raise funds for the institution in its 170th anniversary year. The Royal Conservatoire has consistently played a key part in creating a rich and successful theatre scene in Scotland over the last two centuries, and the producers are excited to join forces with them for the event to mark this incredible milestone.
Professor Jeffrey Sharkey, Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, said: “For 30 years, The Steamie has enchanted audiences with its homage to Glasgow of years gone by.
“From Tony Roper to Neil Laidlaw, our alumni are involved in all facets of the production, highlighting the versatility and creativity of the students who pursue studies in the performing and production arts at the Royal Conservatoire.
“The Steamie remains a treasured part of Scotland’s theatrical heritage and with so many graduates involved, it’s only right for the Royal Conservatoire to celebrate this historic milestone in the same year our institution marks its 170th anniversary.”
The Royal Conservatoire is ranked number one in Scotland for graduate employability. Established in 1847, the institution is celebrating its 170th anniversary in 2017 and has built on its roots as a national academy of music to become one of Europe’s most multi-disciplinary performing arts higher education centres, offering specialised training across music, drama, dance, production and film.
The writer Tony Roper and producer Neil Laidlaw are both alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Tony Roper is a Scottish actor, comedian, writer, playwright and director who first wrote The Steamie in 1987 and directed the 25th anniversary production in 2012. As an actor his first major role was in Scotch and Rye and he is most recognisable as Jamesie Cotter from Rab C Nesbitt. Tony’s other plays include Paddies Market, a conceptual sequel to The Steamie, and Rikki and Me, a play about the comedy actor Rikki Fulton. He has written two novels based on Rikki Fulton’s character Rev I.M Jolly. His autobiography I’ll No Tell You Again was published in 2014.
Tony says: “In my late forties I sat down with a biro and a jotter and wrote my first ever play. Thirty years have since passed and The Steamie is still there, giving laughter and tears and touching that intangible something in an audience that has made it a favourite night out.”
This is the third time Neil Laidlaw has produced a tour of The Steamie, first in 2009 and then the 25th anniversary tour in 2012. Originally from Burntisland, Neil is now based in London’s West End. Recent successes include co-producing the Olivier Award nominated revival of Show Boat and the Olivier Award winning Gypsy starring Imelda Staunton; co-producing the Young Vic’s production of A Doll’s House starring Hattie Morahan, at the Duke of York’s in the West End and BAM in New York; and the UK tour of Annie which will transfer to the West End later this year staring Miranda Hart.
Neil said: “The Steamie is one of the greatest Scottish plays – I am extremely proud to have had the opportunity to have been associated with it in the past and am now even more excited to be producing this 30th anniversary celebration. I first saw it in a student production at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland while studying there. Dawn Steele played Mrs Culfeathers fabulously!”
TOUR DATES – 2017
Week commencing
4 September Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy www.onfife.com/venues/adam-smith-theatre
11 September Her Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/venues/his-majestys-theatre
18 September Dundee Rep Theatre www.dundeerep.co.uk/
25 September Ayr Gaiety http://ayrgaiety.co.uk/
2 October Eden Court, Inverness www.eden-court.co.uk/
9 October Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling http://macrobertartscentre.org/
23 & 30 October King's Theatre, Glasgow www.atgtickets.com/venues/kings-theatre/
6 November Kings Theatre, Edinburgh www.edtheatres.com/kings
About the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is ranked among the world’s top three for performing arts education (QS Rankings 2017) and is ranked number one in Scotland for graduate employability (Higher Education Statistics Agency 2014 / 2015), endorsing its status as a national and international centre of excellence for the performing arts.
In 2017, the Royal Conservatoire is celebrating its 170th anniversary. During its existence, it has built on its roots as a national academy of music to become one of Europe’s most multi-disciplinary performing arts higher education centres, offering specialised teaching across music, drama, dance, production, film and education. The Royal Conservatoire is encouraging trans-disciplinary learning throughout its innovative curriculum and throughout 2017, the institution will host a series of performances and special events recognising its rich history and world class reputation for performing arts education.
Around 1100 students are currently pursuing degrees at the Royal Conservatoire across its specialisms. The Conservatoire works in partnership with the national companies, including the National Theatre of Scotland, Scottish Opera and BBC Scotland, to provide students with the very best learning experiences the Scottish landscape has to offer.
Our award-winning widening access initiative, Transitions 20/40, has shown that applicants applying to our undergraduate programmes via this programme have a 6.8% higher success rate at audition. (2016/17 figs.)
Based in the heart of Glasgow, the Royal Conservatoire is also a busy performing arts venue; it hosts more than 500 public performances each year and issues around 64,000 tickets from its box office annually. Additionally, the Royal Conservatoire teaches more than 3000 part-time learners every year through its Junior Conservatoire and lifelong learning departments.
Neil Laidlaw - Producer
http://www.neillaidlaw.co.uk/
Neil Laidlaw Productions is a commercial Producer and General Manager working across both new work and revivals in the West End and Broadway as well as UK and international touring. NLP will be Producing and General Managing the 30th Anniversary Tour of Tony Roper’s The Steamie in 2017. We also have a range of exciting new projects in development for 2017 and beyond.
NLP was recently one of the co-producers of the West End transfer from the Sheffield Crucible of Daniel Evans’ production of Show Boat. In 2015 the company was also co-producer of Gypsy starring Imelda Staunton which transferred from Chichester Festival Theatre to the Savoy Theatre, London and won four 2016 Olivier awards; for Best Actress (Imelda Staunton), Best Supporting Actress (Lara Pulver), Best Lighting Design (Mark Henderson) and Best Musical Revival. Other recent co-productions include the Young Vic’s A Doll’s House starring Hattie Morahan, at the Duke of York’s in the West End and BAM in New York – as well as the UK tour of Annie starring Craig Revel Horwood, Jodie Prenger and Lesley Joseph. The company also acted as General Manager for Catherine Schreiber Productions on the UK premiere of the Kander and Ebb musical The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic in Autumn 2013.
Other producing credits include Canned Laughter (Scottish Tour); The Steamie by Tony Roper (21st and 25thAnniversary Tours); Jigsy (UK Tour); Side by Side by Sondheim (Leicester Square Theatre, London); Beautiful Thing (Sound Theatre, Leicester Square, London – Evening Standard Best Newcomer award for Andrew Garfield); Hormonal Housewives (Scottish Tour); The Musical of Musicals – The Musical! (Sound Theatre, London and Kings Head Theatre, London) and Notes from Underground (Trafalgar Studios, London).
Tony Roper – Writer and Director
Tony Roper made a living as a miner, shipbuilder and brickie’s labourer before studying at the Glasgow College of Music and Drama. Recently he was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Abertay and had a Lifetime Achievement Award presented at the Great Scot 2010 awards.
This Christmas Tony is appearing along with Gregor Fisher as the Ugly Sisters in Cinderella at the King’s Theatre Glasgow.
Acting credits include: everything from Ayckbourn to Shakespeare onstage and on television, numerous plays and comedy series, including Scotch and Wry, Naked Video, Only An Excuse and as Jamesie Cotter in BBC’s Rab C Nesbitt. Tony was last seen onstage in two sell out tours of Rikki and Me in which he played the iconic Rikki Fulton. This was subsequently released on DVD, produced by The Comedy Unit.
Writing: A request to write a play resulted in The Steamie originally produced by Wildcat Stage Productions which since its original six month run in 1987 is now Scotland’s most popular play and has been seen in various countries including England, Northern Ireland, USA, Finland, Newfoundland and Canada. The play won the Glasgow Mayfest Award and a Scottish Bafta for the Channel Four adaptation. Tony went on to write Paddie’s Market for the Tron Theatre, which resulted in two sellout tours of Scotland’s major theatres; Being Dead Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry (Tron One Acts); Babes in the Wood - pantomime (Motherwell Civic Centre)and Rikki and Me co-written with Phillip Differ (Touring Scotland).
Television includes: The Steamie (Channel Four) - Scottish Bafta winner.
Radio includes: The Conversation Seat (BBC Short Stories).
Books include: Ricky Fulton’s Rev I.M. Jolly Journal in two volumes: Rev I.M. Jolly Volume 1: How I found God and Why He Was Hiding from Me and Rev I.M. Jolly Volume 2: One Deity at a Time Sweet Jesus (Black and White Publishing) and also The Steamie a Novel.
Jason Haigh Ellery – Co Producer
Jason founded Big Finish Productions in 1998 and the company has grown to be the largest independent producer of Audio Drama in the world, providing actors with over 9,000 roles and working regularly with media corporations such as the BBC, MGM and ABC on Doctor Who, Torchwood, Stargate, Judge Dredd, and on original series such as Graceless and The Confessions of Dorian Grey. In 2013, Big Finish won the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Drama for Doctor Who.
In 2011, Jason founded animation house Planet 55 Studios in Sydney, Australia, working first with the BBC on two animated versions of Doctor Who. Planet 55 Studios have recently delivered the original 26 part drama Prisoner Zero for ABC – a series created by Jason. Four other shows are in development for Disney, Toon Goggles and ABC.
In television, Big Finish Entertainment has produced two reality shows – Nadia Goes to Hollywood and Nadia: Chasing the Dream for TV3 and been involved with reality shows Strictly Dance Fever (BBC) and Fame – the Musical (RTE).
A new teen television drama called Every Saturday Night has been created by Jason and developed with David Devjak (Home and Away). The pilot is being shot on the Central Coast for an Australian broadcaster in September 2016.
Theatrical Producing credits on Tour include Henry V, As You Like It, Days of Hope, Tomorrow Morning, Spring Awakening, By Jeeves, Snoopy the Musical, Love Shack, High Society, Fly me to the Moon, Debbie Does Dallas – the Musical, Teenage Kicks, The Steamie, Guess How much I love You?, The Wedding Singer, West End Men, Fame – the Musical (Eire), Yes Prime Minister, Marilyn and Sinatra, The Ladykillers, Never Forget and Footloose – the Musical
In the West End, Jason has produced Life Coach, Wolfboy, Footloose – the Musical, Shout!, A Christmas Carol, Third Floor, Shoshana Bean at the Ambassadors Theatre, Idina Menzel at the Royal Albert Hall, The Whatsonstage Theatregoer Awards (since 2007), Never Forget –The Take That Musical, West End Men, Yes Prime Minister (Theatregoer Award – Best New Comedy), The Ladykillers (4 Olivier nominations), The Donkey Show and the sell-out West End debut of Nicholas Hoult in New Boy.
