Great Glasgow theatre offers laughter and tears

Now, January is a month of guaranteed depression; the weather arrives in the form of storms so strong they have names attached, so escapism is paramount.

That’s why Return To Forbidden Planet, at the King’s Theatre, was so important to the psyche.

It was a return to fun and nonsense, a loose combination of Shakespeare and Star Trek. Writer Bob Carlton show was right on the money.

At the same theatre in April, who could not love Shrek? My friend James Ross (nine) certainly did and especially the performance of actor Gerard Carey, who spent the production on his knees, in playing the height restricted Lord Farquaad. Brilliant fun.

The action on the Oran Mor stage in June however was a little more series, with Greek classic, Andromaque, which was updated to modern times.

Actresses Lucianne McEvoy and Rebecca Rodgers proved to be the complete double act as two Irish women caught up in love troubles, with both revealing an incredible emotional range.

In the city centre, the Pavilion was, as always, going for big laughs in the way Andy Murray goes for a big serve.

Billy, Tim and the Wee Glesga Ghost is writer Des Dillon’s sequel to football rivalry play Billy and Tim. The rivalry continued between the Celtic and Rangers fans, but Des’s script added a delightful sentimentality, an It’s A Wonderful Life antidote to fitba daftness.

Writer David Ireland doesn’t often go for sentimentality, but he does go for big laughs, and he gets them.

His Tron comedy Can't Forget About You tells of a young Belfast man who has been recently dumped by his girlfriend and then falls for a more mature Glasgow woman, Martha.

Bigotry jokes, Wonder Woman/superman sex, the Glasgow/Belfast divide, this play had it all.

And it had Abby McGibbon, who played Stevie’s sister, and again proved herself to be one of the best comedy actors on the planet, let alone Northern Ireland.

Ian Pattison’s Willie And Sebastian, at the Gilded Balloon in August, was not short of outrageous behaviour either.

The Rab C. Nesbitt writer’s biog play told of the lives of the thoroughly decadent characters Willie Donaldson and Sebastian Horsley.

The writer (the Henry Root Letters) and the artist (who was once crucified) lived a life of prostitutes, drugs and alcohol. The rest of their time was wasted.

Andy Gray gave one of the best performances of his career as Willie Donaldson, revealing a character who was tragic, tortured but incredibly talented.

Acting talent was clearly in evidence too in at the Tron, with Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour. The title may be a little unwieldy, but not this piece of musical theatre which was bold, bawdy and at times brilliant.

This tale of schoolgirls’ choir trip to Edinburgh will be repeated and if you miss it you are passing up a delight.

Who’d have thought ELO music could sound so good?

Theatre certainly doesn’t have to be grand to be good, although ‘grand’ would be an apt word to describe Oran Mor success The Quiet Land.

The Dublin import by Malachy McKenna told of two men reflecting on their lives, and it was as lyrical as it was poignant.

Also at Oran Mor, Anita Vettesse revealed she’s as talented a writer as she is an actress, with her new play, Happy Hour.

This tale of wills and fractured relationships revealed what can happen when a pub-owning widow decides to cut her kids out of their dad’s cash.

Ghosts, at the Tron in October wasn’t funny at all, unless you can laugh at a tale of self-destruction, apolitical corruption, skulduggery and incest.

But the performers such as Alison Peebles brought Ibsen’s 19th-Century morality play into the modern world, and revealed the themes to be constant.

Theatre is of course, all about contrast and re-invention, and that was certainly evident in The Importance of Being Ernest at the Theatre Royal in November.

In order to allow for Nigel Haver and co to play twentysomethings, the play was staged as an am-dram outfit performing the classic.

And how can this idea not work when you have legends such as Sian Phillips in the cast?

The end of the year climax was perfect with Jersey Boys. Who’d have thought Frankie Valli and co could concoct such a clutch of great songs. But the real star was the script, which offered real insight, humour and colour.

But the year brought about its sad point. After sixty incredible years, comedy legend Dorothy Paul exited Stage Left for the very last time in her career.

And somehow Scottish theatre will never be the same again.