Flooding play makes drama out of a crisis
WITH a production from north theatre company Right Lines, audiences might have cause to wonder whether they are seeing a show or appearing in it.
The writing team of Moray-based Euan Martin and Ross-shire resident Dave Smith have a history of creating shows where the venue also doubles as the setting — a ceilidh hall that becomes the scene of a whodunnit or a wedding reception where a Romeo and Juliet love story turns into a comedy of errors.
For new show Rapid Departure, audiences will find themselves taking on the role of evacuees seeking shelter from the rising floodwater that threatens their homes and the venue a rural rest centre where officials grapple with an ever deepening crisis.
"The audience come along expecting some sort of a show, but don’t always know what’s going to happen," Martin said.
"But there’s nothing to worry about. All the floods are imaginary and nobody gets wet."
The show is a return to Right Lines’ comic roots after the harrowing Be Silent or Be Killed, the true story of Scottish banker Roger Hunt, who was caught up in the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai.
"We absolutely loved Be Silent or Be Killed," Martin said.
"We’re very proud of the work we did on it, but we wanted to get back to what we do best — touring round village halls, playing to local people. We just love that interactive style of theatre.
"In a village hall, you are not just performing a theatre piece. There’s a camaraderie that develops between the audience and cast."
Just as it does in the tense situation in which the characters — and audience — of Rapid Departure find themselves, something Martin knows well from his other job.
"In my other job I’m an out of hours social worker and part of that role is managing rest centres," he explained.
"That can be traumatic. People are evacuated from their homes without knowing when they can go back again, so it is a difficult time, but there is a camaraderie that develops in these places."
It is also a situation where people use humour as a coping mechanism, but Martin stressed that the humour in the play was not intended to make light of the issues, which also touch on global warming and climate change.
"This is a comedy show, but the subject matter is very serious," Martin pointed out.
The play also has a public information element as Right Lines has teamed up with SEPA, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, and is promoting its Floodline telephone warming service.
"That’s something we’re happy to do," Martin said.
Overseeing the production is director Mark Saunders, working on his fourth play with Right Lines following Who Bares Wins and two other shows which blur the lines between audience and participants, Accidental Death of An Accordionist and The Wedding.
Likewise, the cast features an experienced team of actors, some of them already well known to the Right Lines duo.
They include Thurso actress Helen MacKay and Ewan Donald, who both appeared in Be Silent or Be Killed, while James Bryce, who composed the songs for Right Lines’ musical Whisky Kisses, takes on both acting and singing duties in Rapid Departure.
Also reuniting with Right Lines, is Barrie Hunter.
"He was the ceilidh band leader in Accidental Death, but he’s since developed a reputation as one of the best panto dames in the country and a very funny man in general," Martin said.
The one key cast member who is new to Martin and Smith is Edinburgh actress Estrid Barton, but even she has a Right Lines connection, having appeared in Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s version of Whisky Kisses last summer.
There is also a surprise appearance from a well known face from television who was happy to support the show with an unexpected cameo.
"We asked the person in question if they would be a part of the show and they were very generous with their time," Martin said.
"But we really can’t say too much about that because it happens at a certain point in the show and we don’t want to spoil the surprise."
• Right Lines Productions’ Rapid Departure, written by Euan Martin and Dave Smith, is on tour around Scotland from Saturday.
Dates include: Ardvasar Hall, Skye, Wednesday 20th; Plockton Village Hall, Thursday 21st; OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, Friday 22nd: Macphail Centre, Ullapool, Saturday 23rd; Carnegie Hall, Portmahomack, Monday 25th; Ardross Village Hall, Wednesday 27th; Portsoy Town Hall, Thursday 28th; Craigellachie Village Hall, Friday 29th; Rafford Village Hall, Saturday 30th; Fochabers Institute, Tuesday 2nd June; Daviot Village Hall, by Inverurie, Wednesday; Kemnay Village Hall, Thursday 4th; Moulin Village Hall, Pitlochry, Friday 5th; and Birnam Institute, Saturday 6th.