Broons for King’s

Famed comic strip makes stage debut

The King’s theatre is to be host to The Broons this autumn when Scotland’s most famous fictional family make their stage debut, it emerged today.

The Rob Drummond-scripted production will be the first time the DC Thomson characters have made an official on-stage appearance in their 80 years. The news comes in the publication of the King’s and Festival Theatre’s autumn season.

The show will be co-produced by Dundee’s Gardyne Theatre, which was behind the recent tour of Jackie the Musical, and young touring specialists: Sell A Door Theatre Company, which is behind the current tour of Avenue Q, amongst other shows.

According to a statement on Sell a Door’s website: “We are thrilled to be honouring these much-loved characters and bringing them to life for a live theatre audience.”

Full details and casting of the show are being held back until May, Æ understands, to allow the company to make a splash with a special strip in the Sunday Post.

However the autumn theatre schedules mean that five theatres have had to put tickets on sale before then. The show is scheduled for Perth Concert Hall, the MacRobert in Stirling, His Majesties in Aberdeen and the Edinburgh King’s before going to Glasgow’s Theatre Royal.

laughs, love and comic-strip visuals

According to Sell a Door’s statement, Rob Drummond: “brings the infamous characters Granpaw, Paw and Maw Broon, Hen and Joe, Daphne, Maggie, Horace, the Twins and the Bairn to life in a production filled with laughs, love and comic-strip visuals, all set to a Scottish soundtrack.”

Although this is the first time the DC Thomson characters have made an official stage outing, Maw Broon and her doppelganger starred in the Maw Broon Monologues, written by Jackie Kay and produced as part of Glasgay! 2013.

In the Dialogues she visited a therapist, went on a reality TV show, met Cameroon and Osbroon and fought against the bedroom tax in the butt and ben.

Rob Drummond is best known for his international hit: Bullet Catch and his Traverse production Quiz Show. He was a made an associate artist with the Traverse in February 2016.

The Broons is part of the Festival and King’s autumn season which went on sale to Friends today, Monday 25 April 2016, and will go on general sale from May 2.

Other highlights in the season include Joan Collins Unscripted, Democracy by Michael Frayn, A Tale of Two Cities from Wolf Hall adaptor Mike Poulton, and the Christmas productions: the pantomime, Scottish Ballet’s Hansel & Gretel and youngster’s show: Too Many Penguins?.

Listing:

The Broons
King’s Theatre, 2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ
Tuesday – Saturday 5 November 2016
Daily: 7.30pm; Matinees Wed 2 and Sat 5: 2.30pm.
Details and tickets from: http://www.edtheatres.com/thebroons

ENDS

Tags: Festival Theatre, Festival Theatre Studio, King's Theatre, News, Production News, Rob Drummond, Sell A Door, The Broons