An acclaimed tourist attraction is celebrating a relative return to normal with its first outdoor theatre performance this year.
Logie Steading welcomed touring theatre company Illyria on Monday night to perform Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.
Illyria will return on Sunday to stage The Further Adventures of Dr Dolittle and again in August with a performance of HMS Pinafore.
The outdoor theatre supplements Logie Steading’s event plan which also boasts monthly art exhibitions in Logie Steading Art Gallery and regular photographic and woodworking workshops.
The Steading has previously been recommended in Scotland the Best, a bestselling guidebook to Scotland written by Peter Irvine.
Panny Laing, owner of the art gallery said:
“We are thrilled to be back on track with our events.
“For over 15 years, Logie Steading has always enjoyed welcoming Illyria and we are so pleased that this year we will be able to provide our venue so they can stage all three of their performances.
“The fact that we have always done outdoor theatre means for us, the shows go on as they always have done.
“We were very lucky with Monday night’s performance as the forecast was awful.
“As it was, the sun shone.
“It was a fantastic evening and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.
“It really feels as though we are starting to get some kind of normality back at the Steading.”
Panny who curates the exhibitions in the gallery added:
“It has been a tough year and a half for everyone.
“Each month we celebrate a different artist in the Gallery and of course those exhibitions took a massive hit last year as well when we were forced to close.
“However, we have a superb line up of ‘artists of the month’ already planned for the rest of the year.”
She added:
“We also have monthly photography workshops run by Gary Murison and a regular feature are the woodworking classes with Aaron Sterritt.
“Generally, speaking to the other businesses here, the Steading is busy.
“Customers do seem to be embracing the message to shop local and we hope that this continues well into the year.
“We definitely feel there has been a change in people’s shopping habits with people understanding the need to support small, independent businesses.”
However, Logie Steading has taken the decision not to run the popular Christmas market as Panny explained:
“Last year we chose not to run it as encouraging people to the Steading for a busy market didn’t feel like the right thing to do and although it’s a way off, we have decided to stick with that decision for 2021 too.”
