Theatre for children and young people also gets a renewed focus.

Launching our season on the main stage is Samuel Beckett's tragicomedy WAITING FOR GODOT, the play that one critic famously declared, "achieves a theoretical impossibility - a play in which nothing happens, that yet keeps audiences glued to their seats." Now considered one of the most significant plays of the 20th Century, differing interpretations have abounded. But as Harold Pinter said, this is a play for those who don't want philosophies, tracts, ways out, truths or answers. It is simply courageous and remorseless writing that will get a rigorous interpretation by Director Guy Hollands.

Part of our on-going commitment to large-scale collaborations with the National Theatre of Scotland and Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR by Luigi Priandello will be the second of these, following the staging of Mary Stuart in 2006. Directed by Mark Thomson, it will open at the Lyceum on Friday 15 February and Glasgow audiences will be able to catch it at the Citizens' in March. A new version by David Harrower that was first staged at the Young Vic in 2000, the plot follows six characters who have been abandoned by their author and desperately need a writer to complete their troubled family story. A provocative drama with a philosophical questioning of the notion of identity.

A collaboration of a very different kind takes us into Easter with THEY SHOOT HORSES DON'T THEY? performed by members of the Citizens' Community Company, YOUNG Co. and new company members from Turning Point Scotland, a charity that tackles social exclusion for those with alcohol and drug addictions. This is a partnership that blossomed with the production of Ice Cream Dreams last year with many of the participants taking to the stage for the very first time and involving a cast of over 25. Jane Fonda was the star of the cast that made the 1970 film a Hollywood box office hit with a staggering 9 Academy Award nominations. Set in the height of the depression in 1930s America, this is about survival on a dancefloor to take home the life-changing prize fund, that pushes its participants to the very edge of sanity.

Equally intense but somewhat more surreal, LITTLE OTIK brings cult Czech film-maker Jan Svankmajer's wonderfully twisted story to the stage for the first time in a collaboration led by Vanishing Point with the National Theatre of Scotland in association with the Citizens' Theatre. A couple, desperate but unable to start a family, develop an intense relationship with a tree stump carved to look like a baby. As the fixation grows, so does the baby's monstrous appetite, eating the family cat and then the postman. Directed by Matthew Lenton who has a back- catalogue of successes with Vanishing Point, (Subway, Lost Ones, Mancub), LITTLE OTIK continues the distinctive, visual theme of Vanishing Point's work, combining dark humour, surreal horror and an unnerving but tender family story.

Running alongside this show in our Stalls Studio is a new adaptation of Ron Butlin's THE SOUND OF MY VOICE, adapted and directed by Jeremy Raison. Counting Irvine Welsh and Ian Rankin amongst his fans, Butlin's novel has been described as "One of the greatest pieces of fiction to come out of Britain in the 80s" (Irvine Welsh) and "One of the most inventive and daring novels ever to have come out of Scotland" (Ian Rankin). The story follows Morris Magellan, an executive who runs a biscuit company in Scotland. He has a house in the suburbs, nice wife and kids. But he is also a chronic alcoholic and his life is falling apart. This will be the first stage adaptation of the novel that finally put Butlin on the literary map.

Highlighting our work for children and young people, reflecting the Citizens' integration with TAG Theatre Company, we present two major shows this spring. First up is a return of our popular WEE FAIRY TALES for the half-term holiday. Based on the book by Matthew Fitt & James Robertson and directed by Jeremy Raison, three performers and a trunk full of props and surprises bring their interpretation of traditional fairy tales told in rich Scots language. In May, a brand new play by Davey Anderson (Snuff, Rupture) will come to fruition after two years development with TAG and Sounds of Progress. LIAR was commissioned as a production aimed at 8-12 year olds and tells the tale of two 10 year-olds fumbling their way through the adult world of secrets and deception. Directed by Guy Hollands, it is a story about an unconventional friendship, about trust, betrayal and the dangerous talent we all have for making things up.

Both of these shows will also tour to schools and venues throughout Scotland and will be supported by an integrated programme of creative learning activity.

Alongside our own children's work we will also be hosting KATIE MORAG by Mull Theatre and THE GRUFFALO AND FRIENDS, a set of readings from author Julia Donaldson. In addition, for the first time the Citizens' will be hosting productions from the 2008 Children's International Theatre Festival held in Edinburgh every May. Now Glasgow audiences will be able to see the pick of the bunch on their doorstep in early June. Details will be announced soon. Add to this mix our ever-expanding series of weekend drama classes for 4-15 year-olds and our commitment to engaging young people of all ages in the creative life of our theatre could not be stronger.
Not content with just getting the kids into drama, we have expanded again with NIGHTSCHOOL, a fun and informal introduction to acting skills for adults. Held on Monday nights throughout the season, no experience is required.

Other shows touring to the venue this spring include TRANSLATIONS, a Brian Friel play by the Arches Theatre Company and part of their 'Irish Classic Season', THE BLUE ROOM by Replico Theatre Company in a new production of David Hare's West End hit, BARRY by Rowan Tree Theatre Company tracing the story of the first female doctor in an all male world, EDUCATING AGNES by Theatre Babel in a new version of Moliere's School For Wives by Liz Lochhead, PICASSO AND ME by Mike Maran Productions, TERRY NEASON who returns to showcase the vitality of her voice and repertoire in a second series of concerts in the Circle Studio and SINGIN' I'M NO A BILLY, HE'S A TIM from NLP Theatre Company, a powerful comedy with a serious message about bigotry and ethnic identity.

And finally...we continue our policy of providing world-class theatre at accessible prices with fully professional shows just £3 on preview night and £6 every Tuesday for any seat in the house. -- www.citz.co.uk