ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Rhymes with Purple Productions is a Glasgow based theatre company which formed in 2004
with the intention of creating thought provoking theatre with a fun and playful edge.
Dissatisfied and disillusioned with the contemporary theatre industry, Rhymes with Purple Productions was formed to produce work for Scottish artists that left Scottish audiences feeling entertained again. With the intention to develop forms of theatre that entertain and delight today’s audiences rather than distancing them, Rhymes with Purple want to bring people back into the theatre and prove to them it's a far more fulfilling way to spend an evening than sitting in front of the T.V.
As a new writing company which also stages classic texts with a contemporary twist, the company directors are committed to pushing the envelope for Scottish arts & culture whilst supporting promising young Scottish talent of which there is a massive untapped source. Rhymes with Purple plan to create artistic links with international theatrical practitioners and create awareness of Scottish theatre and arts across the globe.
Rhymes with Purple also maintain a active role in cabaret and variety entertainment and run regular sell-out cabaret and comedy nights across central Scotland and manage the Glasgow branch of worldwide art/cabaret phenomenon Dr Sketchy's Anti-Art School at The Arches.
Britannia Panopticon Music Hall is the oldest surviving music hall in the UK (if not the world- please let me know if you know of an older one). Founded in 1857 on the Trongate in Glasgow, Scotland, the Britannia quickly became famed as being the most popular place of amusement in the city and 1500 people would cram themselves onto wooden benches for every show. The audience gained itself a reputation for "leaving no turn unstoned" and over the years the stage saw performances by such greats as Dan Leno, Harry Lauder, Marie Loftus, Charles Coburn, Harry Champion, W. F. Frame and of course, the debut of a sixteen year old Stan Laurel in 1906.
The auditorium was also one of the first places in Glasgow to show moving or animated pictures (cinema) in 1896 and by 1897 had become a regular part of the Britannia play bill, but it was in 1906 that the biggest change of all was to come when a young man who billed himself as "A.E.Pickard Unlimited of London, Paris, Moscow and Bannockburn" took over the management of the old Britannia (he was in fact from Bradford in Yorkshire). Pickard had been inspired by the great American showman, P.T. Barnum, and this influence was seen in the "Old Brit" when the young Pickard converted the empty attic above the auditorium into a roof top carnival, waxworks and freak show. Soon afterwards he also converted the basement of the public house on the ground floor into a zoo and renamed the building Panopticon which he took from the Greek; Pan = everything, Optika = to see, as the paying visitor could see everything from attic to basement for the one admission price.
The Panopticon survived until 1938 when it was finally closed as the people of Glasgow flocked to the 130 picture palaces which offered a more comfortable, flea- free enviroment for the viewing of the latest movies.Today the Britannia Panopticon survives and the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall Preservation Trust and Friends of Britannia Panopticon are working to ensure it's preservation for future generations to enjoy. As part of the campaign the Britannia Panopticon is open to the public for special shows and open days and we also have two charity shops at 45 & 49 High Street, Glasgow.
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