Scotland’s leading Gaelic theatre company Theatre Gu Leor is celebrating 10 years with a new production bringing some of its most memorable work back to stages across the Highlands and Islands.
An t Urlar as Airde will open at Cnoc Soilleir in South Uist on 30 September before travelling to Skye, Inverness and Stornoway, with the anniversary tour concluding at Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre on 13 November.
Meaning The Highest Stage, the production looks back across a decade of Gaelic theatre while also asking audiences where it should go next.
Directed by Theatre Gu Leor Associate Artist Mairi Morrison, the evening brings together extracts from four productions which have helped shape the company’s journey.
Audiences will revisit Shrapnel from 2016, Bana Ghaisgich from 2019, Stornoway, Quebec from 2023 and Taigh Ty Teach from 2024.
Five performers will present the extracts entirely in Gaelic against a minimalist backdrop, with English synopses provided beforehand to make the performances accessible to a wider audience.
The title An t Urlar as Airde is taken from Shrapnel and also echoes An Ubhal as Airde by Runrig, which itself draws upon the traditional Gaelic saying that the best apple will be found on the highest branch.
That idea of reaching and striving provides an appropriate thread for an anniversary production celebrating how far the company has travelled while looking towards what might come next.
Theatre Gu Leor’s story began in 2013 and 2014 through a collaboration between actor Muireann Kelly and performer and writer Catriona Lexy Chaimbeul, supported by a voluntary board.
The company was formally established in 2016 after securing regular funding from Creative Scotland, with Kelly becoming Artistic Director.
That same year brought Shrapnel, written by Chaimbeul and adapted from the novel by her father Tormod Caimbeul, establishing one of the productions which will now return in part for the anniversary celebrations.
Ten years later, the company is using the milestone not simply to look backwards but to reconnect with Gaelic speaking communities and consider the future of theatre in the language.
The tour begins appropriately at Cnoc Soilleir in South Uist, at the heart of a Gaelic speaking community, before moving through Las Portree on Skye, Eden Court in Inverness and An Lanntair in Stornoway.
The final performance will take the production beyond the Highlands and Islands to the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow on 13 November.
The company hopes the intimate performances will bring together fluent Gaelic speakers, learners and supporters of the language while opening a wider conversation about what audiences want from Gaelic theatre in the years ahead.
For a company built around giving Gaelic its place on the stage, the anniversary offers an opportunity to celebrate 10 years of stories while reaching for that next highest branch.
Dates:
Cnoc Soilleir, South Uist – Wednesday 30th September
Las Portree, Skye – Friday 2nd October
Eden Court, Inverness – Wednesday 7th October
An Lanntair, Stornoway – Friday 9th October
Citizens Theatre, Glasgow – Friday 13th November
