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....

The absence of words

The absence of text, of words, has an effect. Recently I’ve read several books on Celtic culture as part of the process of soaking up information about the history of the Hebrides, of the Gaeltacht, of Scotland (and Britain and Europe generally for that matter) in preparation for the Angus MacPhee production.

What all these books say, in their own way, is that Celtic culture often tends to be considered as a pre-history, simply because (unlike the Romans) it didn’t leave behind writings about itself. It left behind plenty of words all right, but it was as an oral culture rather than a written culture and this massively affects our perception of Celtic history, and the way the culture has developed through to the present day. Just look, for example, at the Gaelic song tradition; how these wonderful songs are still interpreted, modified and passed on through the ear rather than through notation.

It dawned on me how Angus’ own story reflects this in an odd way. His silence leaves us to make our own interpretation about his inner life – including what his woven artefacts meant to him. We look at these objects and are left to our own ideas and reflections as to their meaning - without Angus having given us any kind of explanation beyond the objects themselves.

Actually I’m used to this in another context. The theatre I’ve been making with Horse + Bamboo for nearly 35 years has nearly always been wordless and audiences interpret the stories and meanings through the images they see and the music they hear. This, in my experience, allows for a certain kind of richness and depth of interpretation, even when it demands and brings about its own disciplines and problems.

With ‘Angus –Weaver of Grass’ I hope we can find a way – and again it will be without using many words - of making Angus himself more tangible. In the books I’ve read and the film I’ve seen about Angus he seems to be largely absent – an Angus-shaped hole. There's plenty of context; everything goes on around him, but Angus just hovers there with that slight smile on his face, weaving away and with a bunch  of grass in his hands. I would like to feel that wordlessly, echoing both his distant culture and also his own choice of silence, we’re able to make something that brings Angus himself front stage.

Gaelic singer needed....

A start has been made on a very rough model for a set - a way of working out what type and size of screens we'll need - very important given the use of film.

Perhaps more important, this advert has now been circulated:

HORSE + BAMBOO THEATRE

We are seeking a female singer/ musician/ performer to tour with our forthcoming production of ‘Angus’, a visual and musical theatre performance about Angus MacPhee, the Uist-born ‘silent weaver’.

We are looking for a Gaelic-speaker to take a central role in a production which will be rehearsed in Lancashire from 5^th June 2012, and then tour the Islands and Highlands until September (subject to funding).

Horse + Bamboo were founded in 1978 and are one of the UKs leading touring companies. We have a long history of touring throughout Scotland and the islands as well as the rest of the UK and Europe.

www.horseandbamboo.org

Dealine for applications 5^th February 2012.

Please contact Esther Ferry-Kennington at esther@horseandbambo.org for further details or call 01706 242 945 to discuss the post further.

Esther away

Esther is visiting Scotland next week; following up my own visits in July. Her itinerary, I believe, is Glasgow - Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Skye - Taigh Chearsabhagh, Lochmaddy - Eochar - Berneray - Stornoway - Ullapool - Inverness. In 5 days - good luck Esther.

The idea is for her to look for additional but specific and focused support towards a tour of the region; to see how we can work with other groups to make the tour more than simply a show that goes from centre to centre. It might be possible, for example, to have an accompanying exhibition, or follow up the show with skill sharing. This could take many forms - mask and puppet making, weaving, music, animation, even Gaelic song, for example. We couldn't deliver all of these ourselves, so it's beginning to look for partners, as well as listening to what people say to us - maybe new opportunities or things we haven't thought of will grow from the visit. 

Feel the draft

Esther phoned me on Friday. She wanted to confirm that I was happy for her to take the draft script along to Inverness today in order to show anyone who might want to look at it. Presumably so they could get a sense of the general drift of the production. Sure, I said - meanwhile pointing out that my own version has already been modified. 

At this time the script is simply a draft. It's there so other people who may get involved with the production, whether artistically or organisationally, can get a feel of how it might be. So what we have now is no more than a general approach to telling a story. It combines a narrative about Angus McPhee with stage directions, such as whether a scene is accompanied by film, or whether the scene is played using masks or puppets, and where I see songs being placed amongst the action. 

The script tells a broadly sequential story of Angus's life. It's held together by narratives told as if by 'Joyce' - Joyce Laing, that is, and using her book 'Weaver of Grass' as a guide. Film is used to suggest some of the textures of the islands, and there are puppetry interludes that broaden the context to include Scottish and Celtic stories and histories. As I've mentioned there is also a thread of song. Probably largely Gaelic song.

In a way I've tried to write a script as a kind of analogy to a piece of work by Angus himself. To weave together threads of material that make connection with one another. To, in the end, create a complete artifact that says something about the man himself and his life, the place he came from (and goes back to), the historical and social circumstances of the time, and finally the cultural context of the whole.