multiple organisms; John Mighton's dramatic love story Possible

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T MISS THIS possible worlds Tron Theatre, Glasgow, October 10-26 It takes quite a brainbox to possess expertise in philosophy, mathematics and drama, but John Mighton is such a man. He has lectured in the first, achieved a PhD in the second and won awards for the third - but perhaps the clearest evidence of his polymathic talent is Montreal magus Robert Lepage's film of Mighton's play, Possible Worlds, starring Tilda Swinton.

As part of the Tron's new Six Stages festival of Canadian theatre and dance, the play receives its Scottish premiere next month. A love story, a murder mystery and an existential inquiry into quantum physics, Possible Worlds centres on George, who believes he is leading an infinite number of lives.

In a series of parallel encounters he meets his lover Joyce, who either recognises him or doesn't. The play opens when detectives discover his corpse, minus its brain, and launch an investigation.

"It's incredibly complex but accessible at the same time," confirms Canadian-born, Glasgow-based director Adrian Osmond, who previously directed Mighton's play Body And Soul in London. "You tell the story and then the audience go away and think what they want to afterwards."

It's demanding material, but Osmond insists the crucial strategy is to feel one's way. "You must never be forced into the situation where you're inventing anything," he says. "The characters give up their secrets gradually, like in a relationship."

It's also essential to find the right actors. "What's most important is that you fill the room with people who believe in the work," says Osmond, whose cast includes Stephen Hogan, Billy Riddoch and Raquel Cassidy of the television series Teachers.

The heart of the task, Osmond believes, is allowing the script room to breath. "The absolute aim for me is to deliver this play to the audience in a way that is as open to them as possible, because everyone will feel different about it."

who to watch Iain finlay macleod homers Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, October 9-19; then touring the Highlands & Islands, October 21-November 9 Lewis-born Iain Macleod began his playwriting career at the Methuselean age of 17. Now 28, he's about to make his full-scale debut at the Traverse. So what's he been doing these 11 years?

Don't ask. Among other things, he's acquired a first-class honours degree in Celtic languages, travelled the world, been invited to Buckingham Palace as a young achiever, won a script-writing award for the Gaelic soap Machair and built a healthy career as a director of television documentaries and dramas.

His new short, Flat, is in the pipeline, featuring an upwardly mobile couple, their troublesome lodger and an assault with a frozen chicken. He's also written several stage plays, two of which have been performed at the Traverse.

His new play Homers is a black comedy, its title referring to the harsh system which saw Glasgow children from broken homes fostered into Hebridean families. The hero Alex is a homer who finds himself ejected from this alien island community and returns to Glasgow, where he is apprenticed to a vicious butcher named Pig. So no joy there, either.

"I always knew the story of the homers and I knew one or two of them, so it came from there and then I started playing with the language," says Macleod. "There's quite a few characters with odd traits - language or physical traits - and I brought them together to bring out the humour."

After its Edinburgh run Homers begins the Traverse's annual Highland tour, stopping off at Macleod's home village of Ness. Meanwhile MacLeod will soon be off to Moscow to perform at a music festival: the third string to his bow is playing guitar with Lewis- born singer and piper Anna Murray. "I like to switch from one to the other," he says, "so I don't get bored."

Stephen Hogan and Raquel Cassidy get intimate in Possible Worlds Photograph: Kevin Low for your diary the duchess of malfi Dundee Rep, October 9-26 Murder, greed, vengeance, twisted families and dodgy sex it's all there in this Jacobean revenge tragedy by John Webster. Guest director Dominic Hill returns to direct Dundee Rep's ensemble.

king lear His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen, October 1-5 Timothy West, right, was last seen in Scotland as Falstaff in an English Touring Theatre production of Henry IV. Now, for the same company, he takes on one of Shakespeare's most demanding roles as the ancient British monarch dividing his kingdom unwisely.

the tempest King's Theatre, Edinburgh, October 15-19 Richard Briers stars as Prospero, the vengeful exile who whips up a storm in Shakespeare's last, most philosophical comedy. This Theatre Royal Plymouth production is by Patrick Mason, who directed Too Late For Logic at last year's International Festival.

joy of the worm/ i licked a slag's deodorant Arches, Glasgow, October 23/25-November 3 Joy Of The Worm gets its title from a Shakespearean reference to the asp Cleopatra chose as the instrument of her death. The theme is "the frantic pursuit of happiness". The cast includes Tam Dean Burn and Julie Duncanson, who also appear in a revival of Jim Cartwright's rom-com about a prostitute and a broken man.

the importance of being earnest/the trials of oscar wilde Citizens Theatre/Citizens Stalls Studio, Glasgow, October 25/23-November 16 The Citizens revives Oscar Wilde's enduringly witty comedy plus - as a dark flipside - regular guest director Jon Pope has dramatised the transcripts of Wilde's disastrous libel suit and indecency trials.

single spies King's Theatre, Edinburgh, October 1-5 It's not all troublesome mothers and custard creams for Alan Bennett as this double bill of spy stories goes to show. Robert Powell stars as Guy Burgess in An Englishman Abroad and Anthony Blunt in A Question Of Attribution, with Liza Goddard, right, as the actress Coral Browne and HM The Queen.

the taming of the shrew Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, October 25-November 16 Yet more Shakespeare as gifted comedy director Tony Cownie tackles the Bard's battle-of-the-sexes classic. Sparks are promised by a cast led by Meg Fraser as feisty Katarina and Jimmy Chisholm as the braggart suitor who tames her. Or does he?

The vagina monologues Edinburgh Festival Theatre, October 30- November 2; Theatre Royal, Glasgow, November 5-9 Following their first Scottish outing in a semi-professional production in Edinburgh this March, Eve Ensler's series of homages to man's best friend returns, featuring Miriam Margolyes and Una McLean.

Copyright 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.