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OranMor’s tenth anniversary celebration. June 2014.

Oran Mor 10^th Anniversary

June 2014

Oran Mor is turning ten.  To celebrate a month long programme of events, including live music, theatre and comedy, has been created in appreciation of OranMor’s  role as one of the most important cultural hubs in the country.  It will include old favourites and fresh faces.

PROGRAMME OF TENTH BIRTHDAY EVENTS AT ORANMOR

After lying derelict for many years,  Kelvinside Parish Church became OranMor in June 2004. The brainchild of Colin Beattie, the aim was to create an art centre offering entertainment similar to Glasgow’s much loved Mayfest – but on a year round scale.

The Auditorium

The Auditorium, on the top floor of OranMor,  is the showpiece of the building: its vibrant and wonderful mural created by Alasdair Gray, overlooks William Mossman’s stone carvings of Wycliffe, Luther, Melanchthon, Tyndale, Erasmus, Calvin, Knox, Zwingli, Chalmers, Melville, and Henderson. Part of the original church, these stoney-faced patriarchs contrast with Alasdair’s flamboyant signs of the Zodiac;  representing the reincarnation of the building with one of the largest and most beautiful pieces of public art in Scotland.

The Venue

In the basement the Venue hosts the majority of OranMor’s live music and comedy shows. It is also home to the West End’s groundbreaking and much loved lunchtime theatre:  A Play, A Pie & A Pint, where over the years Oran Mor presented Scotland’s upcoming writers and actors and played host to established acts from around the world.

LIVE MUSIC

Thousands of live music events have taken place and OranMor, where  a reputation has been built for showcasing established performers plustalented musicians on their way to the top.  They include: Amy Winehouse, Maceo Parker, Teenage Fanclub, Edwyn Collins, The Charlatans, Deacon Blue, Patti Smith, Doves, Ash, Bombay Bicycle Club, Eddi Reader, Lana Del Rey, Emeli Sande, Justin Currie and Martha Reeves.

Oran Mor is  proud to have put on early shows for many Scottish acts who have gone on to enjoy considerable success. For example: Frightened Rabbit, Admiral Fallow and The Twilight Sad – to name a few.

Oran Mor supports unsigned acts through The Billy Kelly Songwriting Award, which offers a prize worth £5000 including recording and promotion.

A PLAY, A PIE & A PINT

Ten years ago, when Producer David MacLennan and Colin Beattie came up with the idea of A Play, A Pie and A Pint, it would have been hard to predict its amazing success.  Since 2004 over 325 plays have been commissioned and every year it presents 32 new plays, four Classic Cuts and the iconic Winter and Summer Pantomimes – where David MacLennan and Dave Anderson, another well known West End writer  and actor, collaborate. A Play, A Pie and A Pint has also commissioned and produced the first professional theatre productions of many first time playwrights including: David Ireland, Daniel Jackson, Denise Mina, Alan Bissett, Gerda Stevenson, Jenny Knotts, Lesley Hart and George Milne. 

Many well known actors have appeared; such as Robbie Coltrane, Blythe Duff, David Hayman, Elaine C. Smith, Karen Dunbar and Bill Paterson, whilst numerous new performers have launched their careers at OranMor’s lunchtime theatre.

Scottish writing is the main focus, however, writers from other parts of the British Isles, also participate and plays are co-produced with Bewley’s Café Theatre, Dublin, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Bristol Tobacco Factory –  to name but a few. International writers have a role to play and seasons of plays from Latin America, the Arab Wold, China, West Africa and the Caribbean and have produced.  Plays from A Play, A Pie and Pint series at OranMor have been performed in the current year in the USA, Turkey, France, Norway and Italy.

A Play, A Pie and A Pint – Some Reviews by Pat Byrne

Ida Tamson by Denise Mina

The Brother’s Suit by Peter McDougall

Mortal Memories by Liz Lochhead

Between The Thinks Bubble and The Speech Balloon by Liz Lochhead

COMEDY

In the last few years Oran Mor has also become one of the most prominent venues for the Glasgow International Comedy Festival;  hosting comedians who have gone on to enjoy further fame and work on television. These include: Kevin Bridges, Limmy, Jon Richardson, Michael McIntyre and more.

As well as the Comedy Festival, stars such as: Elaine C Smith, Karen Dunbar and Jonathan Watson have appeared in OranMor’s  special Christmas shows.

Weddings, functions and dining at OranMor

OranMor is also much in demand for various functions and events.  Hundreds of weddings and functions take place in The Auditiorium throughout the year, among these the wedding receptions of celebrities such as  Simon Pegg and Eddi Reader.  Club O plays host to hundreds of clubbers every weekend and the popular Whisky Bar won the Sunday Mail Bar Of The Year Award in 2011.

Formal and informal dining is available in: 

The John Muir Room Conservatory and Lounge is adjacent to the Whisky Bar, offers a comfortable and relaxed area where you can enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

The Brasserie Restaurant, affords a stylish setting with an eclectic range of dishes using Scotland’s finest seasonal produce. 

The Private Dining Room is a beautifully appointed room with views over Kibble Palace within the Botanic Gardens. Perfect for business meetings, afternoon teas, celebratory dinners including graduation,  anniversaries, and intimate receptions.

The Whisky Bar is a popular place to hook up with friends. It’s often frequented by members of Glasgow’s literati as well as serving as a meeting place for people going on to gigs or clubs.

Programme of tenth anniversary events

And part of the West End Festival 2014

1^st – Who’s Afraid of the Big Bar-L by Philip Differ

2^nd – John Fullbright

6^th – The View Seven Year Unplugged

7^th – The View Seven Year Unplugged

8^th – The View Seven Year Unplugged

12^th – Eddi Reader

13^th – Electric Honey Records 21^st Anniversary Show

14^th – The Pierces

15^th – Edwyn Collins

15^th – Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox (Auditorium Show)

16^th – Aries Spears

17^th – Cherry Ghost

19^th – Meursault / Three Blind Wolves

20^th – The Delines

21^st – Justin Currie

22^nd – Justin Currie

23^rd+24^th – The Great Yes, No, Don’t Know 5 Minute Theatre Show

24^th – Scarlet Shift “Sparks” Single Launch

26^th – Terry Neason “Celtic Kisses, Slaps ‘n’ Tickles”

27^th – We Were Promised Jetpacks

28^th – Dumb Instrument “The Silent Beard” Album Launch

29^th – West End Festival All Dayer featuring: Admiral Fallow, The Vaselines, Hector Bizerk, Holy Esque, United Fruit, Laura St Jude and many more

2^nd-7^th – A Play, A Pie & A Pint: Fast Cuts and Snap Shots

9^th-14^th – A Play, A Pie & A Pint Classic Cuts: The Call of the Wild

16^th-21^st – A Play, A Pie & A Pint Classic Cuts: The Misanthrope

23^rd-28^th – A Play, A Pie & A Pint Classic Cuts: Don Quixote

To book:  http://www.oran-mor.co.uk

This section: Events, Fairs, Festivals and Fundraisers, Gig Guide plus Club Events, West End Festival 2014