Dumfries & Galloway Arts Live SPRINGS into its 2017 programme with a slick noir-inspired piece of theatre; a surreal tale of a man who eats himself into a chair; and a rare opportunity to experience the music of two outstanding classical musicians from the UK’s leading string orchestra all take place this month.
From 9 March, Cornwall-based ’Owdyado Theatre presents A View from the Edge to three of the region’s venues. This is a highly original and surprising show where the search for the truth provokes a mind-bending journey through the world of dreams, imagination and real life.
Private eye and troubled sleeper Charlie Daniels is hired by the seductive Elise Hillerman to investigate the disappearance of her husband – a prominent gallery owner. Meanwhile, writers Charlotte and Dan struggle to write the script of their new noir-inspired theatre show about an art forgery ring. As scenes spin, fragment and entangle with each other, one question arises: whose reality is real?
The performances take place on Thursday, 9 March, at the Craft Hotel, Wigtown; Saturday, 11 March, Glencairn Memorial Institute, Moniaive; and Sunday, 12 March, Colvend Public Hall. All shows start at 7.30pm.
On Monday, 20 March, Clod Ensemble bring their critically-acclaimed “tour de force” The Red Chair, to the Theatre Royal Dumfries.
The Red Chair is the surreal story of a dysfunctional family whose father literally eats himself into a chair. This epic ballad lies somewhere between a Grimms’ fairytale, an absurdist ghost story and a parent’s guide on how not to bring up children.
This unique solo storytelling performance is told in a rich and saucy Scots dialect with physical verve, a wee dram of whisky to oil the way and a musical score that rolls in like mist over the hills.
By turns haunting and humorous, The Red Chair steers its audience through a landscape of twisted reason, extreme compulsion and eye watering complacency, where domestic drudgery happens on an operatic scale and a father’s dereliction of duty reaches epic proportions. The show starts at 7.30pm.
On Thursday, 30 March, two outstanding musicians from the Scottish Ensemble will perform an Evening of String Duets at the Theatre Royal, Dumfries.
Chosen by violinist Cheryl Crockett and cellist Alison Lawrance, the programme is a showcase of some of their favourite pieces for the two instruments.
Spanning the Baroque to the 20th Century, Cheryl and Alison will shift between moods and styles, from the rich, earthy sounds of Bartók’s folk-inspired melodies to the romance of Ravel’s sonata to Halvorsen’s Passacaglia, an impressive, virtuosic gambol across all the strings inspired by Handel.
The performance promises to be a powerful, moving and thoroughly entertaining evening of music and is a taster of what’s to come in the Scottish Ensemble’s regional residency during the 39th Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival which takes place this year from 26 May to 4 June.
Tickets and further information for all shows visit www.dgartslive.org.uk
