Rural life far from idyllic in one-act love triangle
Paul Murton has made his name through his Grand Tours of the Scottish Islands television series for the BBC.
Right now he’s trying to fine tune the script for the next series of the show, which sees him travel to some of the most interesting spots around Scotland’s craggy coastline.
When he appears later this month at Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Winter Words Festival, Paul will be talking about his new book, The Hebrides.
His spot on Thursday, February 15 at 7.30pm will see him taking the audience on a tour of each exquisite island that he has visited and explored. The journeys around the Hebrides has brought Paul into contact with crofters, postmen, weavers, fishermen and clan chiefs. The result are some remarkable stories.
“When I was a student I visited the Isle of Harris,” Murton told the PA. “I met this man on a white sandy beach there and he told me a story so unbelievable, it might just be true.
“He said he was 45 and a retired pilot. This fella told me more: He’d joined the RAF at 19, moved to the Australian Airforce and made another transfer to the USAF. A scar on his lip was where he had a cyanide tab sewn in, to pop in case he was captured.” Knives in Hens - the title of David Harrower’s play - is laced with sinister overtones.
The rural drama marking the return of the Perth Theatre stage to serious story-telling is tipped to be gripping stuff.
Set in a pre-industrial isolated Scottish rural community, Knives in Hens explores the love triangle between a nameless young woman, her ploughman husband and the hated village miller.
Dark and hard-hitting, the one-act play by one of Scotland’s foremost playwrights was an attractive prospect to director Lu Kemp: “It has been my ambition to direct Knives in Hens since I saw the original production in 1995.
“The play has a way of grabbing you and not letting you go; it is absorbing, gritty, sucks you into this very small and brutal world and leaves you thinking about it for months afterwards.”
Lu continued: “The reason behind its amazing global success is that it speaks to everyone, of all countries – these are universal and ageless themes.
“I am really looking forward to bringing it to Perth audiences. I hope it gets under their skin as much as it has got under mine!”
Ticket holders are in for a bonus as they are invited to attend a free post-show talk on Saturday, February 10, with writer David Harrower and acclaimed poet and playwright George Gunn, to whom the play is dedicated.
Knives in Hens runs in Perth Theatre from Thursday, February 1 to Saturday, February 17. There is a reduced price preview performance tonight (Friday) at 7.30pm and at 2pm on Saturday, February 3.
For tickets and information contact Horsecross Arts Box Office on 01738 621031 visit www. horsecross.co.uk Paul Murton has island knowledge
Serious storytelling in Knives in Hens