ALASDAIR SATCHEL’S WEBLOG

Carrbridge and Birnam

26 July 2008

What fantastic weather to tour the Highlands. It's been just stunning all week. Only as we head down the A9 to Carrbridge does the weather start to appear a wee bit hazy. It's still bloomin' warm, though.

Carrbridge is the ideal hall for Accidental Death of An Accordionist. It's a nice size, and is suitably late 19th/early 20th century in its design and look. The more credible the venue, the more believable the show is, it seems to me.

The company now have midge hats en masse to repel the repellent Highland midge. It's quite a sight as a whole squad of people are to be seen lugging bits of scenery and propage across various car parks, decked out in anti-midge clothing. Remember that scene with the scientists and the plastic tunnel in ET? Well, we've made the theatrical equivalent.

Our accommodation in Carrbridge was fantastic. If ever you're passing through, or even just visiting The Landmark Centre in Carrbridge itself, you must treat yourself to a night at Melon Patch Guest House. The proprietors were in domestic service across in America, and boy do they look after you. The best porridge I've had on tour so far – and we even saw two red squirrels prancing around on the trees outside the breakfast room, like tiny spaniel puppies in delirium.

27 July 2008

From Carrbridge it was on to Birnam. Home of yon wood that Bill Wigglestick mentions in yon Scottish play. All that remains of the wood now is one or two giant oaks. So needless to say I was straight out there with my camera taking photos for the Macbeth education pack that I'm in the process of developing for Mull T's next production.

Birnam's an odd place. It's very nice, but it seems that all the shops there bear very little relation to anything you'd actually ever need in everyday life. Birnam Arts Centre was an interesting show, as it's not really the ideal space for performing a piece such as ours, but we managed to pull it off, thanks to a very enthusiastic audience (and one man in tartan troos that were way too short for his legs!).

Birnam was the scene of a remarkable incident involving Mr Sandy B. Reekin (please look away now if you're easily offended). After having emitted several noxious odours in our cramped, dark dressing room, Sandy decided to disperse the aroma by the application of a home-made flame thrower: there was a blast of light, followed by a hint of Lynx where once there had been ignoble gas, and then Mr B. Reekin' was gone with a “Right lads, see youse upstairs.” Needless to say we were floored with the giggles.

In a bar in Birnam a very nice man bought us all a round of drinks, as he had enjoyed the show so much! That hasn't happened to me in a long time. We were all delighted and very merry indeed.

28 July 2008

From the delights of Birnam to the splendour of our Georgian lodgings in the new town of Edinburgh. I've never before had a house with taxidermy. We have three very nice birds: a jay, a Lady Amhurst's Pheasant and a tawny owl, who we've placed by the window, looking longingly out to the streets below.

Today we're off out to Glenkinchie Distillery to meet up with Mark, our director, and have a wee re-rehearsal for the Fringe version of the production, and then we've got several hours to set up and prepare before we spend a week out there doing the show. I'm really looking forward to this one, as my pal Adrian reckons it's the best distillery tour he's been on.

I believe they have a working model of the distillery that makes real whisky, which was originally displayed at the Great Exhibition in Crystal Palace a hundred and more odd years ago. Of course, I'll have to sample the delights some time after the show has come down. I'm looking forward to that.


© Alasdair Satchel, 2008

Links

• Mull Theatre
• Right Lines