Play proves a hit with listeners
A new drama about a Pictish tribal leader and a Roman soldier meeting at Kenmore has won praise following a BBC Radio 3 broadcast to the whole of the UK.
As part of the Shades of Tay project, Pitlochry Festival Theatre (PFT) had commissioned top playwright David Greig to write a play for the 2020 summer season.
But COVID-19 saw the work,‘Adventures with the Painted People’put on ice until it can be performed on stage next year.
In a team-up between PFT, BBC Arts, Naked Productions in association with The Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, Adventures with the Painted People was instead premiered in an evening slot on BBC Radio 3 this month.
Actors Kirsty Stuart and Olivier Hubard had been cast in the role of witch and tribal leader Eithne and captured Roman, Lucius.
The action took place at the homestead of Eithne’s tribe, the crannog on Loch Tay.
As the summer passes, Eithne learns from Lucius how to write, the two become respectful of each other and as threat of an attack on the crannog mounts, romantic closeness between the pair beckons.
After radio listeners heard the first dramatisation of the historical two-hander end, they were offered a chance to hear Pitlochry’s artistic director Elizabeth Newman - who directed the radio play remotely during lockdown - in conversation on Zoom with the writer David Greig, artistic director of The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh since 2015.
The post-show talk was hosted by Clare Brennan and during it, Elizabeth explained the tricky issues regarding production when her two cast members and creative team could not be together to rehearse.
Comments about the play from the general public were hugely admiring of the endeavour begun in Perthshire.
One listener said:“I can’t wait until we see it on stage next year. Elizabeth and PFT are to be highly commended for the whole venture.”
Another said:“We loved the play – we are not usually listeners to plays on the radio, so it was a new experience in many ways.
“The sound effects were excellent, the music was lovely and I could sit there imagining the play on stage at Pitlochry.
“We now look forward to seeing it there next year.”
Adventures with the Painted People BBC Radio 3 is currently available on the BBC Sounds app.