Citadel Arts Group’s Leith Festival show, ‘Beyond the Ash Tide’ was about to go into rehearsal when Covid-13 hit them.
Their older writers and the older audiences who enjoy the work have of course also been in lockdown. But the arts group says it has not been silenced!
In response to having to stop before they started they adapted Susan Chaney’s ‘Beyond the Ash Tide’ into a play for voices, sound and music.
And then they set their writers the challenge of creating short new audio plays, which confront the reality of life under lockdown. Another one will go online tomorrow.
Some responded with dark humour while others focused on the sadness and frustration that the crisis induced.
Recording the plays on Zoom brought its own challenges and frustrations. But the quality of the writing and the commitment of the actors have marked this project as an exciting development for the group.
Each week a new play is broadcast. There is a link on their web site: www.citadelgoesviral.com
- 6 July THE DUCHESS OF KIRKCALDY by Alan Mountford with Mark Kydd. A man awaits a train at Aberdour station. He remembers the woman he loved – and a Beatles song.
- 13 July LEAVING THIS SHORE by Vincent Maguire with Adam Tomkins, Laverne Edmonds, Ryaan Ali and Charles Donnelly. West coast fisherman, Donald, copes with painful and momentous changes to his way of life.
- 20 July HARD TRAVELLING by Jim Brown with Charlie West, Debbie Cannon, Gregor Davidson and Kirsty Punton. Lots of men talk to their cars but not many have a Citroen van that answers back!
- 27 July THE WALK by Elaine Campbell with Elizabeth Millbank. 82-year-old Dina takes her allowed exercise by walking through the crazy streets of Edinburgh’s West End.
- 3 Aug OLD NORMAL by Carolyn Lincoln with Charles Donnelly and Mark Kydd. Even before lockdown, many older people experience loneliness, even if they’re living with their father – or perhaps that’s why life is so trying!
- 10 Aug PLANET GLIESE 589 by John Lamb with Alison MacFarlane, Gregor Davidson and Mark Kydd. With no vaccine against the virus and climate change out of control, scientists explore space for a safe place.
Sound Engineer for all plays: Stewart Emm
Directed by Liz Hare
Citadel Arts Group is supported by the National Lottery Awards for All and The Robertson Trust. www.citadelgoesviral.com
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
