Theatre Gu Leòr are bringing a new Gaelic Western, Stornoway, Quebec, to audiences across Scotland, and will world premiere in Stornoway itself this March 30th, before embarking on a national tour. Described as ‘Ceilidhs meet Colt .45s in this wild Gàidhlig Western’, it promises to be quite the adventure! The QR was lucky enough to sit down for a chat with Artistic Director Muireann Kelly to discuss this ocean crossing, culture-steeped undertaking.
Hi Muireann, could I begin by asking how the show has been developed?
Well, initially, Calum L. MacLeòid, the playwright received a bursary from Playwrights’ Studio Scotland where he was mentored as part of that. I think Douglas Maxwell was working with them. Then we had a development opportunity that came up and he applied and explained what he had, it wasn’t quite a first draft, but definitely the bones of something. He really wanted to take it onto the next stage.
We offered him a kind of mentorship development program: a bit of seed funding, and time for him to write a bit more. He also had the opportunity to work throughout the whole of last year with, Dramaturg Linda Raley.
We decided pretty early on as soon as we’d seen the first draft to commission it.
It’s been a year of very interesting twists and turns, learning all about the Megantic Outlaw and the genre that is the Western. Calum is great to work with, and it’s very exciting for him.
Had you ever seen anything like it before? Do you think you might be creating a new genre?
Well, I’d like to think that I can claim that one!There are certainly many Westerns, but I would say this is more accurately a multilingual. Western. It’s definitely embracing a story that’s often not told in Scotland of the connection with Canada and specifically with Quebec.
And as soon as you’re talking about Quebec, you’re already into other languages. It’s really interesting talking to people from Quebec. I’ve made lots of interesting connections since we started on this project, talking how they view theater in other languages.
They kind of see all the wealth that’s in that, rather than finding it something to be overcome. It feels like it’s just a much richer, more exciting prospect. So that was quite interesting for it to no longer only be a Gaelic production which some people could perceive as being for very specific audiences.
This is much more about embracing the wild blue yonder of multilingual theater.
Has realising the show for stage presented any particular challenges, or even pleasures?
It’s quite exciting for me. Common to both Scotland and Canada is the vastness of the landscape, and the huge presence of weather in both countries. We’ve been trying to capture that: a weekend holed up with an outlaw on the run. It presents really exciting potential for drama.
We’re working with two designers, Set & Costumes from Becky Minto, and great lighting design from Emma Jones. Becky has absolutely embraced the idea of creating a snowstorm to get bogged down in.
You know, you’ve no control of the weather. Being snowbound immediately meant all kinds of interesting points of tension and drama. So it’s been exciting, but really, developing it is no different to developing for a specific genre for any other time.
The interesting opportunity is to work with people like Emma, or indeed Emmaclaire Brigthlyn our fight choreographer and movement director. That’s been, I suppose, more specific to the genre. Bar-room brawls are not the order of the day every day, but it’s been great fun and I think it’ll be great fun for the audience.
And…after the last two years we’ve had, I just really wanted to make something where people could immerse themselves completely and just have a wild night because it will be a pretty wild night. But also, I don’t want audiences to have to work too hard and it’s, even though it is multilingual, ironically, it’s a very accessible piece. It will be subtitled in parts, and will have integrated BSL.
We’re very mindful of this, given we’re a company that works in a minoritized language. Catherine King is our signer, is with us in rehearsals, discussing who she could be in every scene. She’s costumed like everyone else. Our conversations have included the lighting designer as to how you could solve the challenge of running through a dark forest, whilst signing BSL!
We work very, very hard to make sure no one in our audiences ever feels excluded. It should be for anyone, no matter what language you speak or don’t. I feel there’s kind of no excuse not to. You should, you really should.
For anyone interested, or who needs BSL, we’ll be offering it in Lewis, the Traverse in Edinburgh, and then the Tron in Glasgow.
When it comes to Gaelic, what do you think it means, or offers to Lowland Scotland where it’s not the traditional tongue?
For me, Gallic is spoken all over Scotland. There are Gaelic speakers and learners who live in Glasgow, in Edinburgh. I can’t give you the numbers, but there’s massive attendance at Gallic Medium education in those two cities. Traditionally a lot of Gaelic speakers from the Western Isles would have migrated down to Glasgow, in Gaelic known as Baile Mòr nan Gàidheal – ‘The City of the Gaels‘
But, I suppose it’s a bigger question. It’s about who we want to be in Scotland, and I know I’m saying this with an Irish accent, but I’ve lived here 30 years, so I feel like I’m an adopted, I think the thing I love about Scottish Theater is its inclusiveness and I suppose who we are as a country and who we want to include, I just feel Gaelic, even if you’re not a speaker or if you have no interest on the language, I would love to think that people want to know about the stories.
They want to know about, um, the connections they have to other parts of the world. They would want to know about more than just the language itself, the history, the connections with place, the music, the songs, the storytelling. So even if you’re not directly, I suppose, invested in the language as a speaker or a learner, I would hope that audiences want to be part of a Scotland, that is even richer for having people who do! In the same way, I don’t speak Scots, but I’m really glad that I live in the Scotland where Scots can tell their stories, and for that matter any other language spoken in Scotland now.
I’d like to think we’ve moved beyond the question of ‘is Gaelic for me or not?’ Generally speaking, I have to say that’s been the case in my experience. We tour to Aberdeen, from East Coast to West, not the obvious places for a Gaelic company to go. You’d be amazzed at the diversity in our audiences, people coming for all kinds of reasons.
It’s a really interesting perspective to reflect on, and the play is also viewed through the lens of the other communities that were there at the time. Quebec was, and at the same time French, with Gaelic sitting alongside. So it’s just a really interesting time to have a kind of snapshot of the different languages that were going on. I’m pretty sure audiences will embrace it, and to be honest you don’t need to focus on the language.
It’s a wild night at the theatre. I think no matter what language you speak, you’ll enjoy it.
Sounds great to me! Now it’s not the easiest time to be making theatre, and particularly new work in Scotland. What are your own feelings?
Well first, I will be forever grateful that we’re out of Covid lockdown, as is everybody but particularly in the theatre sector. It was so difficult. If that’s your baseline then I’m just so delighted we’re finally getting to do a big tour – on main stages where we can reach out and make theatre people will love. I hope they come away feeling they had a cracking night at the theatre; that’s really exciting.
Not to put a downer on it, but I think we are heading into one of the most financially difficult time we’ve seen. With the messages coming from Creative Scotland about what’s ahead for regularly funded organisation, and all funding in general it could be really difficult.
Right now we’re watching venues and many companies struggle to find their back out from Covid. It is challenging, but I would say you have to try to be positive. So many people have been hibernating and now they’ve come out!
Also there’s different ways of looking at things. We’ve adapted – we had to! (Theatre Gu Leòr pivoted into producing written word, new music, and radio drama in response to Covid restrictions)
It could be we’re in for a very creative time, but I am worried financially.
Hard times have always been a double edged sword creatively speaking; misery and struggle have produced great work again and again through the ages…
When things get tough, people need something to turn to. For a lot of people, it’s the art. People have turned to music, to film, to poetry, and much more when things were really, really difficult. It’s a key to people’s souls, it helps us take stock of who we are. I get that education and budgets for health have to be a priority, but there is an argument that the arts is part of that conversation. It’s part of education, it’s part of how people develop, culturally, and as a nation. It’s part of mental health. It’s how you deal with all kinds of expressing stories, and who we are.
It’s how we interrogate who we are. I hope all of that will be in the balance when it comes to making those difficult decisions on funding.
Returning to Stornoway, Quebec, what are you most looking forward to when the show opens?
Well first, we have a cracking cast! They range from very experienced actors, to folks just about to graduate from the Conservatoire. It’s always great having a cast where people learn, particularly working in Gaelic, which it can be challenging for them to have enough opportunities. We’re always working. We had a couple of students on placement with us. The design team is really strong. Matt Padden is one of my all time favourite sound designers. The weather in this piece, and the world of the landscape will be really important, and I’m so excited for people to hear it!
We’re working with a young fiddle player from Shetland, Arthur Coates. He lives in Aberdeen now, but he plays Quebec style fiddle. So that’s another part of the soundscape as it were.
Then there’s the work of fight coordinator, EmmaClaire Brightly, the brawls, the tussles, everything you would imagine in a Western involving shoot-outs and gunslinging! Think whisky-fuelled bar-room brawls – it’s all there. That physicality is always exciting to watch. EmmaClaire’s been fantastic!
Maybe if you ask nicely, The Trav will let you throw down some straw on the bar floor, and install a surly barkeep…
Maybe! It’s an all guns blazing experience!
Anything else before we wrap up Muireann?
Yes! Though the play is inspired by the Megantic outlaw, Donald Morrison who became a folk hero, this is not his story! It’s not a sort of drama documentary.
Really, it’s about what happens to myths and legends like his, and whats behind it. So we’ve got the base of this mythical character, which is a great story in itself, but in Stornoway, Quebec, we’ve gone with a badass bounty hunter from Barra, a female bounty hunter! We’re embracing all the possibilities of what happens when you hole her up for a weekend in a snowbound saloon.
So, if people are coming to see a factual documentary, that’s not what they’ll find. What they’ll find is a real character dropped into a sticky situation, with lots of tension on stage, and people who want to hide them as well as hand them in.
We’re in the business of making theatre, and in this case pretty wild theatre!
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