ANGUS MCPHEE - Weaver of Grass


ANGUS MCPHEE or MACPHEE was a crofter from Uist who spent almost 50 years in a Highland psychiatric hospital. During this time he chose not to speak - instead he wove a series of incredible costumes out of grass. These he hung on trees in the hospital grounds.

This blog follows the progress of HORSE + BAMBOO THEATRE as they develop and tour a show about Angus....

Tuesday 3 May 2011

The nightmare of war


After taking a few days out for a sunny Easter and the various holidays we're back at Horse + Bamboo and suddenly our visit to Uist and Berneray seems just round the corner. There's still a million jobs to do - programmes to design for the Puppet Festival in July; helping Helen write applications for funding support for the Angus tour in 2012; planning for the next productions here (including Alison's version of The Nightingale), auditions, and more...

But also of course there's the jobs we MUST get completed before I set off to the islands in a weeks time. Making a tweed hat for Angus; finishing the horse puppet; cutting a window in the back screen for the set; more repainting of masks, finding costumes, and creating a short animation to try out front projections over the stage action. 

The picture above is a still from the animated film - there will be four main film and animation sections in the show. The first to set the scene and portray the view out of the window of Angus's small croft house. The second the wartime nightmares and return home from the front; a third will be the garden of Craig Dunain, and a final film will be the return to Uist as an old man. The photograph above is from the second animation - the nightmare of war.

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