Culture
In recent years, Glasgow’s rediscovered exuberance has been
expressed by a wave of new Scottish writers, an energetic music
scene and the flourishing of contemporary art and design.
Tickets to cultural events are available from the venues or from
Ticketmaster
(telephone: (020) 7316 4709). The main guide to cultural events
is The List.
Music
Glasgow has a popular and independent music scene. High culture
is also well represented, September to April, by two symphony orchestras
and Scotland’s national opera company.
Scottish
Opera (telephone: (0141) 248 4567; fax: (0141) 221 8812), is
the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland, performing
at the Theatre
Royal, 282 Hope Street (telephone: (0141) 332 9000; fax: (0141)
332 4477).
The Royal Scottish
National Orchestra (telephone: (0141) 226 3868; fax: (0141)
221 4317) is Scotland’s leading symphony orchestra. Its popular
Proms concerts take place in June, at the Glasgow
Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street (telephone: (0141)
353 8000; fax: (0141) 353 8001).
The BBC Scottish
Symphony Orchestra (telephone: (0141) 338 2606; fax: (0141)
307 4312) can be seen at the City Hall, on Candleriggs,
in the Merchant City (telephone: (0141) 287 5511; fax: (0141) 287
5533). This is the Glasgow home of the Scottish
Chamber Orchestra.
The Royal Scottish Academy of
Music and Drama (RSAMD), 100 Renfrew Street (telephone: (0141)
332 4101; fax: (0141) 332 8901), puts on a range of performing arts
productions.
Theatre
Glasgow has more than a dozen theatres and performance venues showcasing
local pieces and a variety of contemporary works as well as old
favourites and touring productions.
The 600-seat Citizen’s
Theatre, 119 Gorbals Street (telephone: (0141) 429 0022; fax:
(0141) 429 7374, is one of the better places for theatregoers to
witness groundbreaking contemporary drama and re-workings
of foreign and historical pieces.The Circle and
The Stalls are studio venues on the same site.
The late-19th-century facade of the King’s Theatre,
297 Bath Street (telephone: (0141) 248 5153), belies the musicals
that are performed inside.
Dance
The Scottish
Ballet (telephone: (0141) 331 2931; fax: (0141) 331 2629) performs
at the Theatre
Royal, 282 Hope Street (telephone: (0141) 332 9000; fax: (0141)
332 4477), is Scotland’s national dance company.
Film
The Glasgow Film
Theatre (GFT), 12 Rose Street (telephone: (0141) 332 8128),
an Art Deco landmark, is a cinema with a varied programme of foreign,
independent, arthouse, classic and popular films.
Mainstream cinemas in the city include a state-of-the-art, 12-screen
multiplex off Paisley Road, Odeon
at the Quay (telephone: (0141) 418 0111 or (0870) 505 0007)
and the new UGC Renfrew Street, 7 Renfrew Street
(telephone: (0870) 907 0789), near the shopping precinct.
Many films are shot and produced in Glasgow each year. Large parts
of the hit films, Shallow Grave (1994) and Trainspotting
(1996), as was Small Faces (1996), which captures
the gang violence on a Glasgow housing estate in 1968. Carla’s
Song (1996) , My Name is Joe (1998), both
directed by Ken Loach, were also set in Glasgow. The 1999 release,
Ratcatcher (1999), is a portrayal of the city’s
poorer side, seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy in the 1970s.
Cultural Events
The Celtic Connections festival is a place for
all styles of Celtic music, featuring international and local musicians.
The concerts take place over two weeks in late
January at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
A traditional ceilidh offers the participants a
chance to don the kilt and enjoy an evening of Scottish music and
dancing.
More conservative music can be heard during the World Pipe
Band Championships (telephone: (0141) 221 5414), in mid-August,
on Glasgow Green.
The West End Festival (telephone: (0141) 341 0844),
is held from mid- to late June, featuring the Midsummer
Carnival Parade and music, theatre and exhibitions.
Literary Notes
Traditional Scottish heritage continues to influence the cultural
scene in Glasgow and remains a source of great pride. There is a
deep-rooted attachment to Scottish literature and poetry, particularly
the works of Robert Burns, celebrated every year
on Burns Night (25 January). The Mitchell Library,
on North Street, has a large collection of his poetry in its Robert
Burns Room.
Glasgow has drawn the praise of many literary admirers, including
Daniel Defoe, Sir John Betjeman,
who described it as the most perfect Victorian city centre in the
UK, and Bill Bryson voted Glasgow as his favourite
city in Britain.
In the past 20 years, Glasgow has experienced a literary renaissance.
 Lanark
(1981), Alisdair Gray’s debut novel, set
in a fictional version of Glasgow has become a cult classic.
William
McIlvanney’s Laidlaw crime stories are set in Glasgow.
James
Kelman’s Booker Prize-winning How Late It
Was, How Late (1994), traces the life of a down-on-his-luck
Glaswegian, through stream-of-consciousness dialect. |
