Byre Theatre brings a summer of music, laughs and drama to St Andrews

First up is a super series of toe-tapping music acts including Hotel California, Spatz & Co: One Night in Las Vegas, Through the Decades with Roy Orbison & Buddy Holly, Cloudbusting – The Music of Kate Bush, The Legends of American Country, The Summer of Love, Dàimh, Simon and Garfunkel: Through the Years, MacFloyd, A Foreigners Journey and Counterfeit Sixties, Joan Baez: A Tribute and Eva Cassidy: The Story.

The theatre also welcomes the return of favourite musicians Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham, as well as a new name for The Byre stage – American singer-songwriter Dean Friedman, best known for his classic hit single ‘Lucky Stars’ in 1978.

A string of top notch Scottish comedians provide hysterics including ‘BBC hot lister’ Jamie MacDonald with his new show Designated Driver, comedy farmer Jim Smith with ‘Back To The Teuchtar’ (now sold out), Craig Hill, Micky Bartlett and Mark Nelson with their Comedy Sneak Peek Fringe Preview, and Scottish comedy award winner and viral sensation Gary Meikle with The iBrow Guy.

Combining comedy with quality drama is the game of Rapture Theatre, as they present a new production of Patrick Marber’s hit play, The Red Lion, transcending ‘the beautiful game’ in a tale of heroism, hubris and handballs. Starring Brookside star John McArdle, the show will stop at The Byre for a Friday and Saturday in early June.

And quality drama doesn’t stop there as audiences can catch some rave reviewed productions including House of Mirth’s production of Marie, Stellar Quines’ beautiful coming-of-age production of This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing, and Vanishing Point’s ‘Unplugged’ version of The Dark Carnival.

Contemporary dance also features this summer with Joan Clevillé Dance’s renowned production of The North.

The Byre is also excited to present FELT, the extraordinary work of dance maker Elisabeth Schilling, as she uses the Byre building as her canvas for a stunning installation. A day of creativity and workshops will culminate in an evening performance.

A new season of National Live Screenings will return. Plus fans of Channel 4’s award winning drama ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ will not want to miss Margaret Atwood: Live in Cinemas, as the author reveals her highly-anticipated sequel Testaments.

Classical music highlights include a new season of MET Opera Live, a live screening of Andre Rieu – Shall We Dance and Byre Opera’s new production Riders to the Sea and Cupboard Love.

Local schools will feature this summer including The Burning Question, an evening of debate with pupils from St Leonards in collaboration with the University of St Andrews; and pupils of Bell Baxter High School present a new musical production Darien: The Commonplace Book of Murdo McFarlane for three night run.

Finally, in September, The Byre Theatre heads to St Andrews Botanic Garden to present Sea Hames, an extraordinary promenade performance from Oceanallover in association with Feral, celebrating Orkney’s Festival of the Horse.

For all the details of all shows over the coming months see the Byre Theatre website