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 MacDonald. Under this triumvirate the company quickly gained fame and notoriety for its glamorous and ofttimes outrageously decadent European-style treatment of rarely performed European and English classics. New works such as Camille, Chinchilla, 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 passionately eschewed existing English literary and mechanistic acting conventions in order to 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, Celia Imrie and Ciaran Hinds.
Rudic was born into a musical, theatrical family in Glasgow, Scotland. His father was a violinist, his mother a semiprofessional singer, and his aunt was the Scottish actress and broadcaster Edith Ruddick.
Rudic began acting in amateur dramatics at an early age and working as a dresser when he was twelve years old in Jimmy Logan's Metropole Theatre in Glasgow. This early experience of the world of variety and music hall, created a deep and enduring fascination with theatre's potential as a space for expressing the immediacy of human existence beyond conventional approaches to text-based theatre. 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.
Rudic completed three years of 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 mime, Lindsay Kemp, whose approach introduced him to what Rudic refers to as Dynamic Meditation - a heightened state of sensory awareness in which intuition and spontaneity within the moment of the performance play a major role. Kemp's physical theatre work had its root in many inspirations including the corporeal mime of Etienne Decroux, Marcel Marceau, and also the classical Noh theatre of Japan, in which time is non-linear and of the moment.
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 company ('The Citz') (1969–2003), run by Giles Havergal. At that time (1972) he was one of only three Scots actors to be accepted into the young company who were predominantly English. Rudic continued to work there intermittently until 1996.
Throughout his years at the Citz, Rudic travelled frequently to cultures beyond Europe in order to understand more about holistic process in the oral tradition. 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 office 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 the Americas. He also experienced life as a Kathakali acting student at the leading school for Kathakali actors in Kerala, South India - the Kerala Kalamandalum. These travels and others in cultures with a strong oral tradition (Iran, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Morocco),contributed greatly to his understanding of his own transient process.
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 Dowwi, the improvising epic storyteller from Upper Egypt, and Hassan Khanufa, a traditional street performer and Aragoz puppeteer 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 improvising "Stand-Up Theatre" piece - And God Created - at his old theatre, 'The Citz'. The entertainment, improvised around a theme of autobiographical stories about acting and travel, deals with universal themes such as Time, the search for identity beyond society and culture, and the role of thought and memory in consciousness.
In October 2008, he returned once again to Glasgow, this time to direct and feature in The Parade, an early work by the American playwright, Tennessee Williams. The actors were encouraged to work within the action through an ongoing use of sensory awareness. There was no fixing of character and throughout the twelve performances, the life between the text was always in a state of flux, which meant that each night was considerably different from the other. This was the European and UK premiere of the work which was played at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre in the Circle Studio.
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
Traditional/James Bridie 'Punch and Judy/The Baikie Charivari' Frederick Robbins 'Beadle/Policeman/Mr Copper' 1970Anton Chekhov Uncle Vanya Colin Chandler Vanya 1971William Shakespeare King Lear Peter De Souza The Fool 19721971Jean Genet The Balcony Giles Havergal The Tramp1972–1973Shakespeare Timon of Athens Keith Hack Lucullus Abbey TheatreFestivalMoliere Tartuffe Giles Havergal M. Loyal Edinburgh International FestivalPeter Weiss Marat/Sade Steven Dartnell KarlMiles Rudge/John Gould Puss in Boots Giles Havergal PussChristopher Marlowe Tamburlaine the Great Keith Hack Celebinus Edinburgh International FestivalNikolai Gogol The Government Inspector Robert David McDonald BobchinskiJack Gelber The Connection Steven Dartnell Leech1973–1974Bertolt Brecht Happy End RD McDonald WilburJohn Whiting The Devils Havergal MannouryMiles Rudge/John Gould Dick Whittington Havergal King RatShakespeare The Taming of the Shrew Havergal Baptista (Hamburg Festival)Robert David McDonald Camille RD McDonald Dr KorevEdward Bond Early Morning Prowse DisraeliBertolt Brecht Saint Joan of the Stockyards McDonald CriddleShakespeare Coriolanus Scicinius1974–1975Arthur Kopit Indians Malcolm McKay Chief Joseph of the Nez PercesTennessee Williams Camino Real Prowse EsmeraldaNikolai Gogol The Government Inspector McDonald Inspector Of SchoolsJohn Webster The Duchess of Malfi Prowse Rodrigo (Belgrade, Ljubljana, Zagreb)Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet David Hayman BenvolioRobert David McDonald The De Sade Show RD McDonald The Bishop1975–1976Shakespeare Hamlet Prowse RosencrantzFalkland Cary Sailor Beware Havergal Carnoustie BlighRobert David McDonald The De Sade Show Prowse Madame de MartaineCarlo Goldoni Mirandolina McDonald Conte de AlbafioritaGeorg Buchner Woyzeck McDonald Karl1981–1982John Byrne Babes in the Wood Havergal Friar TuckRobert David McDonald Chincilla Prowse Socrate (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague)Robert David McDonald A Waste of Time Prowse Jupien (Caracas International Theatre Festival)Shakespeare Hamlet McDonald Rossencraft/Player KingJohn Dryden Marriage a la mode Havergal AlexasBertolt Brecht Mr Puntila and his Man Matti Havergal The Attache1982–1983Jean Genet The Balcony Prowse The GeneralJean Genet The Screens Prowse The Arab Voice ProwseJean Genet The Blacks Prowse The GeneralPhilip Massinger The Roman Actor AretinusSean O'Casey Red Roses for Me Havergal Rev. ClintonBertolt Brecht The Mother McDonald RybinCarlo Goldoni The Impresario of Smyrna McDonald Ali the Impresario (Turin Festival)Shakespeare The Merchant of Venice Prowse Gratiano (Turin Festival)George Bernard Shaw Arms and the Man Havergal Major PetkoffMarquis de Sade The Philosophy of the Boudoir Prowse Dolmance (Festival Di Parma)Noel Coward Sirocco Prowse AngeloRobert David McDonald Webster McDonald Jeeper1983–1984Karl Kraus The Last Days of Mankind McDonald A Man of Iron (Edinburgh International Festival)Hugo von Hofmannsthal Der Rosenkavalier Prowse Herr von Faninal (Edinburgh International Festival)Sean O'Casey Juno and the Paycock Havergal Needle NugentThomas Southerne Oroonoko Prowse AboanNoel Coward Private Lives Prowse LouisErnst Toller The Machine Wreckers Havergal Jim CobbittJean-Paul Sartre Altona McDonald FranzOliver Goldsmith She Stoops to Conquer Havergal DiggoryOscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance Prowse Mr Kelvill MPRolf Hochhuth Judith McDonald TiresiusJacques Offenbach French Knickers (La Vie Parisienne) Prowse Bob1986Oscar Wilde An Ideal Husband Prowse Vicomte De NanjacRolf Hochhuth The Representative McDonald The Doctor1987Friedrich Schiller Joan of Arc McDonald Charles VIIRichard Brinsley Sheridan The School for Scandal McDonald1988John Ford 'Tis Pity She's a Whore Prowse Friar BonaventuraOscar Wilde Lady Windermere's Fan Prowse Cecil GrahamWilliam Congreve The Way of the World McDonald1989Ben Jonson The Alchemist McDonald FaceFriedrich Schiller Mary Stuart Prowse Lord BurleighCharles Dickens (adaptation) A Tale of Two Cities Prowse Dr Manette1990Bertolt Brecht Mother Courage Prowse Cook (Mermaid Theatre)with Glenda JacksonNicholas Rowe Jane Shore Prowse Richard III1991The RivalsEugene O'Neill Mourning Becomes Electra Prowse Ezra/OrinNoel Coward Design for Living Prowse Ernest (Theatre Royal Richmond)1992Frank Wedekind Lulu John Pope Dr Goll/Casti-PianiCraig Raine 1953 Prowse EberhardBertolt Brecht Edward II Prowse Edward II/III Prowse1996Eugene O'Neil Long Day's Journey into Night Stewart Laing James TyroneWORKS AS GUEST ARTIST AT CITIZENS THEATRE:
2006Laurance Rudic And God Created... solo work created by Laurance Rudic. Creative Advisor Andrew McKinnon2008Tennessee Williams The Parade Laurance Rudic Don European and UK premiere
Traverse Theatre Edinburgh 1971Woyzeck by Georg Buchner (Lindsay Kemp Company) KarlGuildford Theatre Royal 1973Shakespeare Measure for Measure (Robert David McDonald) AbwhoresonWelsh National Theatre 1976Carlo Goldoni It Happened in Venice (Ian Stewart) BeppeShaw Theatre London 1976Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet (James Rhoose-Evans) Friar LawrenceDerby Playhouse 1977Shelagh Delaney A Taste of Honey (Patrick Lau) GeoffreyRoyal Court 1979The Young Writer's Festival - Six new Plays directed by Philip Hedley7:84 Scotland 1980/81John McGrath Blood Red Roses (John McGrath) John (Scottish Tour and Theatre Royal Stratford East)Ena Lamont Stewart Men Should Weep (Giles Havergal) Alex (Scottish Tour)Scottish Theatre Company 1981Tom McGrath Animal (Kenny Ireland)Ian McKellen-Edward Petherbridge Company at Royal National Theatre (Paris, Aberdeen, Chicago) 1985/86Richard Brinsley Sheridan The Critic (Sheila Hancock) Mr HopkinsJohn Webster The Duchess of Malfi (Philip Prowse) DeathAnton Chekhov The Cherry Orchard (Mike Alfreds) TrofimovMermaid Theatre London 1990Bertolt Brecht Mother Courage (Philip Prowse) CookRichmond Theatre London 1991Noel Coward Design for Living (Philip Prowse) ErnestAlmeida Theatre London 1993Aleksander Griboyedov Chatsky (Jonathan Kent) Mr DEdinburgh Festival The Assembly Hall 1995Alasdair Gray Lanark (Tony Graham) LanarkPitlochry Festival Theatre 1996Travels with My Aunt stage play by Giles Havergal adapted from the novel by Graham Greene (Richard Baron) O'Toole et al.Robert McLellan The Flouers o Edinburgh (Clive Perry) NabobAgatha Christie And Then There Were None (Joan Knight) Captain LombardJames Bridie Mr Bolfrey (Joan Knight) CohenFilm and TV
BBCGeorge Friel The Boy Who Wanted Peace 1969 The Wednesday Play Pharic McLaren Percy PhinnThe Spirit of Asia India documentary BBC 1978 directed by Michael McKintyreDennis Potter Blackeyes Dennis Potter Commercials Director BBC2Breast is Best Manager BBC2 1989Poppylands Johnny BBC2 1989In Between the Lines GilanSTVJourney's End Raleigh directed by Tina WakerellMartha Doctor directed by Tina WakerellDr. Finlay's Casebook SewellFILMIn Defence of the Realm 1985 Charlie directed by David DruryBeing Human Solus 1992 directed by Bill ForsythSavage Play Christopher Sykes 1994Ring of Truth PriestKnights Muslim Chronicler 1997The Guest by Albert Camus Monsieur Daru