McLellan Festival
Heather Gough explains how the McLellan Festival started, and gives details of this year’s programme.
Since 1989 the Arran Theatre and Arts Trust has been working to bring diverse and quality arts events to the Isle of Arran. In 2004 the McLellan Arts Festival, an offshoot of The Arran Theatre and Arts Trust, was established as a means of honouring the memory of Robert McLellan. It aimed to raise awareness of him as the most important Scottish dramatist and short story writer to work in living Scots in the twentieth century, and in 200 it celebrated his centenary.
This year’s festival season kicked off earlier in the summer with Nutshell Theatre Company’s award-winning play, Allotment, performed outdoors on a rain-free (yes, really!) afternoon in June. This touching drama played to a capacity audience, every member of which was moved by the tender tale of two sisters and their vegetable plot.
We now have the very first Arran Open Studios to look forward to. Over the weekend of 10th – 13th August, before the main week of the festival starts, twenty-five of Arran’s artists and craft workers are opening their doors to visitors, offering a unique opportunity for the general public to see how and where their art work is created. Look out for the handy pocket-sized brochures available across the island, giving details of the artists and other useful information or visit our website www.arranopenstudios.co.uk Thanks to LEADER and North Ayrshire Council for their financial support with this event.
Back with the performing arts, the festival kicks off with a production of two of Robert McLellan’s fine works – Jeddart Justic, a comedy,and the lyrical Sweet Largie Bay. Performed by local actors, these pieces will be performed on Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th August.
Two days later, on Friday 31st August, Arran and Beyond at Brodick Hall is a date not to be missed by poetry lovers. In a real coup for the island we have an evening with one of the UK’s leading poets, Jackie Kay, who will be reading from her work and judging the McLellan Arts Festival Poetry Competition. The evening’s music will be provided by the mellifluous sounds of local singing group, Ain’t Misbehavin’. Jackie Kay will also be performing at our Saturday night ceilidh, which offers a great mix of music, words, dancing and good food, as well as an open mike for local poets.
We also have our third Music School with students from the highly esteemed Royal Northern College of Music. They will perform for us in a Gala Concert on Friday 7th September at the Community Theatre. Previous concerts have played to packed houses, so book early to avoid disappointment!
The singing community on Arran is invited to take part in a performance of Haydn’s Creation, which will be rehearsed through the week and performed on Sunday 9th September in Lamlash Church.
Other highlights of this year’s fabulous festival include screenings of Arran On Film, Ed O’Donnelly’s fascinating compilation of film footage of life on Arran from the 1920s – 1970s, with new material added.
Reaching beyond this year’s festival, the Arran Theatre and Arts Trust has been working with Edinburgh publishers, Luath Press, to create an anthology of Robert McLellan’s work. This pioneer of writing in the Scots language lived and worked in High Corrie for over 40 years, but there has never previously been a collection of all his works, plays, stories and poems. We are delighted to announce the imminent publication of Collected Works of Robert McLellan as a lasting tribute to Arran’s most accomplished writer.
The Arran Archaeology Project is now in its second year. Children from Lamlash and Kilmory Primary schools have been unearthing the history of people from Neolithic and Viking times on Arran. Meanwhile the replica roundhouse is now under construction in Brodick Country Park. Arran Archaeology is a joint venture between Arran Theatre and Arts Trust, Arran Arts Resource and the National Trust for Scotland’s Countryside Rangers at Brodick Castle. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Trust for Scotland and Argyll and the Islands LEADER programme, the project runs until December 2012.
The McLellan Festival has been made possible by the financial support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Scottish Community Foundation, North Ayrshire Council, Auchrannie and the Arran Theatre And Arts Trust.
For more information about individual events, booking, dates and times please visit our website www.mclellanartsfestival.co.uk or look out for posters and flyers.
