I was in the wardrobe with a duvet but couldn’t have been happier
Kirsty Stuart joined the
Tennis Elbow cast from a wardrobe in her child’s bedroom.
When lockdown hit, the actor bought a piece of furniture she’d had no need for just a few months earlier. “My husband and I also do voiceovers. We’d talked about getting something at home, but when lockdown came around we did it,” she said, opening the wardrobe covered in blankets and sound insulation foam.
“You squeeze into this space and put a duvet behind you and that’s it.” It’s not how the Fife-based actor, who has appeared in TV series including Outlander and Shetland, would have chosen to perform the works of one of the country’s most respected artists.
“It was a no-brainer when I was asked to be involved. But I was terrified because it was John Byrne’s work. I felt as if I wanted four weeks’ rehearsal.
“You just have to serve John Byrne’s words. It’s actually more about submitting to what he has written rather than finding the character, allowing his words to do the work for you, because he does that, in an extraordinary way.” Kirsty teamed up with the other cast in a mix of audio and video links to create as interactive an acting environment as possible.
“Not only are you in a tiny wardrobe but you have a phone balanced and a laptop and all the rest of it just to keep it going,” she said. “Stuff balanced on books.” And she’s hoping Tennis Elbow is seen as an event by audiences at home. She said: “I hope people make a commitment to watching it the same way as they would if they’d gone to a theatre. They make space in their schedule for it. “There’s something lovely about giving people something to look forward to in an achingly empty social calendar.”
Pitlochry Theatre artistic director Elizabeth Newman added: “Sound Stage is about reaching audiences, giving them high-quality new drama to experience at home. It’s about making sure they can have a theatre experience which we know they’ve been missing. Audiences can even meet up with their friends in the theatre bar before, in the interval and with artists involved in the making after the shows.”