Auditioning the singers

Yesterday was spent at Sgoil Ghaidhlig Ghlaschu, the Glasgow Gaelic School, auditioning four young women Gaelic singers - originally it was planned to see five, but one dropped out the day before.

In all honesty I had been worrying about this. Partly because I knew Mairi Morrison would be a very hard act to follow, but also because the people we had to select from (i.e. the singers who had applied for the work) were quite small in number, and once I had dismissed non-Gaelic speakers and a couple of Irish Gaelic singers from the list, I was barely left with enough people to fill a day of auditioning. 

So Loz Kaye (our Music Director), Mairi Morrison (who developed this role last year), and myself arrived at the Gaelic School at 9 in the morning ready to set up. The first surprise was the school itself. In my mind it was going to be a small 'alternative' kind of place with perhaps 4 classrooms. How wrong could I be! It was a bustling, three-story, college-like building with a nursery right through to a senior school. Groups of smart-looking teenagers stood in groups chatting away in Gaelic and, once through the security and signed-in, we were shown to the top floor where we were given a drama studio for the day - along a corridor of other drama and theatre studios, with harps, keyboards, guitars, fiddles and accordions lined up ready for use.

Then the auditions. From the first I realised my worries were unfounded - and again, like the auditions at CCA last year - I was immediately impressed by the quality, integrity and spirit  of the young singers in Gaelic in Scotland. It's truly humbling to see how this incredible heritage is being successfully passed on and being renewed by young people.  

We require a fine singer, but also someone who can communicate well through their story-telling and physical performing, which plays a very important part in the show. Finally we need to have someone totally at ease in Gaelic. All of the young women we auditioned had two of these attributes, often to a very high standard, but we need all three. So at the end of the day when the auditions were over it was an interesting discussion. Eventually a choice was made and we finished for the day - exhilarated and pleased by the way things had unfolded. 

So thank you Melissa, Elspeth, Debbie and Catherine. You all gave really well of yourselves - we were seriously impressed. But a decision had to be made - we would have loved to have had all of you - and so by now the emails have gone out to you. Mòran taing.

Welcome to Jordanna

Our first auditions went very well. Alison, Jonny Quick and I auditioned six performers - most of whom had travelled from London or further to Rossendale for the privilege (!). All were very good, but we ended having to make a decision between two we felt to be quite exceptional. In the end we chose Jordanna O'Neill, who travelled from Edinburgh but who is originally from Shetland. Jordanna also plays fiddle, so who knows - maybe some fresh takes on the music this year too?

At the end of this week it's more music - Loz Kaye and I travel up to Glasgow to meet up with Mairi Morrison to try and find her replacement. This is going to be interesting - anyone who saw Angus - Weaver of Grass last year will know how much Mairi stamped her personality and style on the songs and narrative in the show. We're seeing five singers in one day. Keep your fingers crossed for us - I'll report back. 

More auditions

We've now set up auditions for the second replacement for 'Angus - Weaver  of Grass' in 2013. This time for the singer and narrator, which means a fluent Gaelic speaker to replace Mairi Morrison, who has other commitments this year that prevent her from touring in the late summer. 

Just as with the other female role that we need this year the details of our requirements, and an application form can be found at http://www.horseandbamboo.org/auditions/ . The closing date is April the 24th, and auditions will be in Glasgow on May 3rd....

New tour; new plans

Preparations for a second tour of Angus - Weaver of Grass continue, as Esther begins to fit the itinerary jigsaw together. Roughly a month in Scotland, and a month in England, I believe. Organising the travel so the amount of criss-crossing of countries is kept to a minimum; let alone all the business with ferry time-tables. I'm told that there will be several islands on the schedule again this year - Islay and Muck were mentioned, but as yet I don't know much about the shape of things. Wise to leave it in Esther's capable hands at this point. 

The big change, sadly, will be in the cast. Frances Merriman (above, front left) isn't able to tour this year, as her academic commitments as a final year student at Aberystwyth mean she simply isn't able to tour well into October, as we require. Mairi Morrison (front right) too, has had to leave the cast due to other commitments. Both gave amazing performances last year and will be much missed. 

So the job of auditioning for replacements is also being planned. It will be a difficult job to replace such special performers, as both Fran and Mairi contributed in very distinctive and special ways. Finding people with the same, or even similar, skills won't be easy, but this isn't the first time we've been faced with the problem of recasting performers, in fact it goes with the territory. I'm optimistic that we'll have a new team in place in May - ready for rehearsals in August.

The first day of rehearsal...

....is always a day of mixed emotions. The great thing is when performers who have worked together over many years, but who have perhaps not seen one another for a long time, re-meet and share their stories - telling of adventures and tribulations since the last meeting, and much else. Then there's the opportunity for everyone to discover the new set, the masks, the puppets, the props...all the new stuff of the new show, sitting there, full of potential.

But then things get down to business - starting by trying on costume, rejecting some things and laughingly accepting others. Quickly the stage gets full of discarded clothes, un-padded masks and possible props. In this unfamiliar space no-one knows where anything should go so everything deteriorates quickly into a formless mess. 

Still, yesterday we managed to find time to look at the main 'puppet' scene, which tells the story of Angus's growing up by using Alison's newly carved hand puppets - all as yet un-costumed and unpainted. We also saw a tantalising clip of projected film (wonderful) and heard occasional snatches of Loz's music (also wonderful). 

Today Mairi Morrison joins us and the group is complete. More puppets, more music....

Welcome to Mairi

We can now announce the full team who will take the Angus MacPhee - Weaver of Grass show out on tour in July. The last member of the team to be confirmed is Mairi Morrison, well known in Scotland as an actor and tv-presenter, but also increasingly as a singer, both solo and with Alisdair Roberts. 

Mairi comes from Bragar on the Isle of Lewis, one of the furthermost parts of the Scottish Gàidhealtachd, and is a native Gaelic speaker. We are delighted to have such a talented musician and actor in the team - Mairi astonished us with the perfection of her audition pieces when we went up to Glasgow a couple of months ago. Listen (and watch) a sample of Mairi singing on You Tube here:

Mairi joins Jonny Quick and Mark Whitaker, long-standing performers with Horse +Bamboo. Both have a lot of mask and puppetry experience, and last toured together  in Deep Time Cabaret and Little Leap Forward.  They are joined by Frances Merriman, a performer who also worked with us on Little Leap Forward, veil and Red Riding Hood.