A Performance Event
Over the last eight weeks students from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama have been working with the National Theatre of Scotland in Barrhead towards a large scale performance event to be performed at Arthurlie Football Club in April 2009, by members of the community and pupils from Barrhead High School.
As part of their research they have been out and about in Barrhead holding signs asking ‘Tell Me a story, Barrhead’ in the hope of meeting people and collecting stories, memories and ideas. On Friday 12th December they will share some of these experiences in an original performance featuring some members of the community they have met along the way.
‘Tell Me a Story, Barrhead’ Was performed three times over the course of a day at St John’s Church Hall, Aurs Road, Barrhead on the 12th of December 2008 and was a huge success. As well as the 15 CPP students who performed, the show featured appearances from Bert Turner, John Joe Reiley, Meg Wight and Auchenback Primary School choir, as well as including contributions from Archie Boyd, Duncan McLellan, May Esson Lorin Florence and Peter McIntyre.
The show was attended by the third year pupils from Barrhead High who are involved in the project, and several people from the community- in fact, we had three full houses!
You can see a video and some photos of the show in the ‘photos’ and ‘videos’ pages. Also, check out the slideshow below!
‘Tell Me a Story, Barrhead’ was a collaborative effort, and every member of its cast had a different experience leading up to, and following, the performance. Some of those experiences are shared below…
“I spent some time in last term with John Joe Reilly, a 66 year old man who’s lived in Barrhead most of his life. He is the caretaker of St John’s church hall where we have been working. We shared each others stories and got to know each other. We created some text together about our lives, our relationship and Barrhead which was used in the ‘Tell me a story Barrhead’ performance. John Joe performed with me in this show and recently we have been working together to create some text for him to perform in One All”.- Rosana Cade
“I worked at the One Beauty Salon on Cross Arthurlie Street (well, work is a bit of an exaggeration. I made of conversation. Alot of conversation. The girl I worked with said that I talked too much). As well as learning the expertise on painting nails I wrote a text. Each sentence started with Beauty is … Each person I came in contact with had the opportunity to read it and write a response. I used the responses and made a text which I performed in ‘Tell Me a Story, Barrhead’. Nothing beats the word of mouth; thank you Barrhead, for sharing conversation, opinions and stories, it has been the most valuable part in my process.” Kirsty Byers
“I was given the task of finding famous people from Barrhead. I found a very impresssive list and began trying to contact them. I used various methods including contacting agents, record companies and phoning places they worked, by the end I felt like a bit of a stalker and that was the persona I performed as in ‘Tell Me A story, Barrhead’.” The show was a fantastic event that marked the beginning of the growth of something huge. Myself along with Lauren Benson have decided to take the song, ‘The Star O’ Rabbie Burns’ contributed by May Esson which was sung in the performance by Lauren and work on it with an ensemble group of singers. I am really looking forward to seeing how it evolves from being a solo piece performed in a hall, to being sung outside on the middle of a football pitch by 6 very talented young ladies.” Nicola Shepherd
“Before the show I met and spent some time with Bert Turner; a local cabaret singer who had spent many years performing and compering at Barrhead’s Dalearn nightclub before it closed. In the show, Bert and I sang a duet medley of songs from the wartime. Bert has since been working with the music group, helping them to develop the song ‘Show Me the Way to go Home’ to be used in One All.” Leo Glaister