Laurance Rudic

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Laurance Rudic (born 10 September 1952) is a British theatre artist best known for his long association as a leading member of The Glasgow Citizens Theatre Company.

For 34 years, (1969-2003) 'The Citz' as it came to be known, was run by a trio of maverick geniuses - Giles Havergal, Philip Prowse and Robert David McDonald. Under this triumvirate the company quickly gained fame and notoriety for its glamorous and oft-times outrageously decadent European-style treatment of rarely-performed European and English classics. New works such as Camille, Chincilla, A Waste Of Time and Webster were regularly written for the company by its resident playwright, dramaturg and translator, R.D. McDonald. For many years, the Citz was proving-ground and creative home to young actors who were encouraged to eschew existing English literary and technical acting conventions and instead develop their own very individualistic approach. Famous actors who started their careers there include: Tim Curry, Pierce Brosnan, Gary Oldman, Rupert Everett, Sean Bean, Tim Roth and Celia Imrie.

Laurance was born into a musical, theatrical family in Glasgow, Scotland, 1952. His father was a violinist, his mother a semi-professional singer, and his aunt, the Scottish actress, Edith Ruddick.

Contents 1 career 2 Eastern experience 3 Theatre 4 Other Theatre 5 External links

[edit] career

He began acting in amateur dramatics at an early age and working as a dresser when he was twelve years old in Jimmy Logan’s New Metropole Theatre in Glasgow. Intent on becoming an actor, he left school at the age of 15, and worked as an office boy at the BBC. While acting in a staff play he was chosen by director, Pharic McLaren to play the name role in The Boy Who Wanted Peace (1969), part of the BBC's Wednesday Play series.

He completed 3 years formal actor training at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow (1969 – 1972). At the same time he began performing in the dream theatre of the iconoclastic theatre artist and clown, Lindsay Kemp whose approach introduced him to living theatre.

His work with Kemp in ‘Flowers’ and ‘Woyzeck’ at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh led to his being accepted as a company member of the newly established Glasgow Citizens Theatre ('The Citz') (1969-2003). At that time (1972) he was one of only three Scots actors to be accepted into the young company who were at that time predominantly English. Rudic continued to work them intermittently until 1994.

[edit] Eastern experience

In his early days at the Citz, he began travelling to cultures beyond Europe in order to understand more about the oral performance traditions of India, Tibet, the Middle East and North Africa. In 1975, on his first visit to the Dalai Lama’s refugee headquarters-in-exile in the Himalayas, he was invited by the Dalai Lama’s Private Secretary to teach acting to the young refugee performers of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (T.I.P.A.) who were preparing for the first Tibetan cultural tour of Europe and America. He also experienced life as a Kathakali acting student at the leading school for Kathakali actors in Kerala, South India - The Kerala Kalamandalum

In 2000, intent on developing himself as a ‘stand-up’ theatre artist, he was awarded a Ford Foundation Grant to travel to Egypt and observe the dying tradition of epic storytelling. As part of his research, he based himself with El Warsha Theatre Company, a group of young Egyptian actors, dancers and singers, working in downtown Cairo. Through the company he got to know the old generation of traditional performance artists such as Sayed El Dawy, the improvising epic storyteller, and Hassan Khanufa, a traditional street performer from Cairo who died in 2005 at the age of 74.

In 2006, working with Scottish theatre practitioner, Andrew McKinnon, he returned from Cairo to Glasgow to perform a solo "Stand-Up Theatre" piece - "And God Created" - at his old theatre, ('The Citz'}. The show,inspired by time spent with traditional epic storytellers in Egypt, is improvised around a theme of very personal stories which also deal with universal themes and the search for an ever-widening identity through theatre, travel and the universal nature of creativity.

[edit] Theatre

Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama
Uncle Vanya Vanya 1970
King Lear The Fool 1971

CITIZENS THEATRE
1971
The Balcony The Tramp
1972-1976
Timon of Athens Lucullus Abbey Festival
Tartouffe M. Loyal Edinburgh International Festival
Marat Sade Karl
Puss in Boots Puss
Tamburlaine the Great Celebinus Edinburgh International Festival
The Government Inspector Bobchinski
The Connection Leech

1973-1974

• Happy End Wilbur
• The Devils Mannoury
• Dick Whittington King Rat
• The Taming of the Shrew Baptista (Hamburg Festival)
• Camille Dr Korev
• Early Morning Disraeli
• St Joan of the Stockyards Criddle
• Coriolanus Scicinius

1974-1975
Indians Chief Joseph
Camino Real Esmeralda
The Government Inspector Insp. Of Schools
The Duchess of Malfi Rodrigo (Belgrade, Lljubliana, Zagreb)
Romeo & Juliet Benvolio
The De Sade Show The Bishop

1975-1976
Hamlet Rosencrantz
Sailor Beware Carnoustie Bligh
The De Sade Show Madame de Martaine
Mirandolina Conte de Albafiorita
Woyzeck Karl

1981-1982
Babes in the Wood Friar Tuck
Chincilla Socrate (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Hague)
A Waste of Time Jupien (Caracas)
Hamlet Guildenstern
Marriage a La Mode Alexas
Puntilla & His Man Matti The Attachē

1982-1983
The Balcony The General
The Screens The Arab Voice
The Blacks The General
The Roman Actor Aretinus
Red Roses For Me Rev. Clinton
The Mother Rybin
The Impresario of Smyrna Ali (Turin)
The Merchant of Venice Gratiano (Turin, Parma)
Arms and the Man Major Petkoff
The Philosophy of the Boudoir Dolmance (Parma)
Sirocco Angelo
Webster Jeeper

1983-1984
The Last Days of Mankind A Man of Iron (Edinburgh Festival)
Der Rosenkavalier Herr von Faninal (Edinburgh Festival)
Juno and the Paycock Needle Nugent
Oroonoko Aboan
Private Lives Louis
The Machine Wreckers Jim Cobbitt
Altona Franz
She Stoops to Conquer Diggory
A Woman Of No Importance Mr Kelvill MP
Judith Tiresius
French Knickers Bob

1986
An Ideal Husband
The Representative The Doctor

1987
Joan Of Arc Charles VII
A School For Scandal

1988
‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore Friar
Lady Windermere’s Fan Cecil Graham
The Way Of The World

1989
The Alchemist Face
Mary Stuart Burleigh
A Tale Of Two Cities Dr Manette

1990
Mother Courage Cook Mermaid Theatre
Jane Shore Richard III

1991
The Rivals
Mourning Becomes Electra Ezra/Orin
A Design For Living Ernest Theatre Royal Richmond

1992
Lulu Dr Goll/Casti-Piani
1953 Eberhard
Edward II Edward II/III

1996
Long Day’s Journey Into Night James Tyrone

2006
And God Created… (solo show)

[edit] Other Theatre

LINDSAY KEMP, Traverse Theatre 1969-1972
Flowers
Woyxeck Karl

GUILDFORD THEATRE ROYAL 1973
A Measure For Measure Abwhoreson

WELSH NATIONAL THEATRE 1976
It Happened In Venice Beppe

SHAW THEATRE London 1976
Romeo & Juliet Friar Lawrence

DERBY PLAYHOUSE 1977
A Taste of Honey Colin

ROYAL COURT 1979
The Young Writer’s Festival

7:84 SCOTLAND 1980/81
Blood Red Roses John
Men Should Weep Alex

SCOTTISH THEATRE COMPANY 1981
Animal

Sir Ian McKellan-Edward Petherbridge Company at ROYAL NATIONAL THEATRE (Paris, Aberdeen, Chicago 1985/86)
The Critic Mr Hopkins
The Duchess of Malfi Death
The Cherry Orchard Trofimov

MERMAID THEATRE London 1990
Mother Courage Cook

RICHMOND THEATRE London 1991
A Design For Living Ernest

ALMEIDA THEATRE London 1993
Chatsky Mr D

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 1995
Lanark Lanark

PITLOCHRY FESTIVAL THEATRE 1996
Travels With My Aunt O'Toole et al
Flooers o’ Edinburgh Nabob
And Then There Were None Captain Lombard
Mr Bolfrey Cohen

FILM & TV

BBC
The Boy Who Wanted Peace Percy Phinn 1969
The Spirit of Asia India documentary BBC 1978
Blackeyes Commercials Director BBC
Breast is Best Manager BBC 1989
Poppylands Johnny BBC 1989
In Between the Lines Gilan

STV
Journey’s End Raleigh
Martha Doctor
Dr Finlay’s Casebook Sewell

In Defence of the Realm Charlie 1985

Being Human Solus 1992

Savage Play Christopher Sykes 1994

Ring of Truth Priest

Knights Muslim Chronicler 1997

[edit] External links

• Unofficial Glasgow Citizen’s Theatre