A MORAY VENUE is set to commence a new season of participation in the highly successful Play Pieces Lunchtime Theatre performances.
Now ready to begin for a fifth successive year, the sessions have proved highly successful with 18 lunchtime productions helping in the creation of five new Theatre companies, five productions that have gone on a national tour and three that have featured at the Edinburgh Fringe.
On the back of sell-out performances at the Drouthy Cobbler in Elgin and an Inverness venue, 2016 will see the lunchtime format being undertaken at three new venues in Skye, Dingwall and Aviemore.
Currently the call is out for theatre makers based in or originally from the Highlands and Islands to submit work. They have until March 21 to propose contemporary productions to the Play Pieces team.
The selection panel this year also includes Robert Dawson Scott, arts critic for The Times for ten years and former arts editor of The Scotsman.
Poacher turned gamekeeper, he has since become a playwright, debuting with “The Great Train Race” in A Play, A Pie and a Pint at Oran Mor in 2013.
Artistic Director for Play Pieces, Lindsay Brown, said: “There is a real appetite for the work we are producing and people really enjoy supporting artists in and from the Highlands to create new work.
“We are delighted that Robert Dawson Scott is willing to cast his eye over the applications for the lunchtime season this year. We believe we have great work being produced up here so the more people in the central belt who agree, the better.”
Another first for the lunchtime season is the inclusion of a Gaelic theatre brief. Partnering up with the Blas Festival and funded by Bòrd na Gàidhlig, not only will this be the first ever Gaelic production in the Season’s history but it will be the Season opener.
“We are really excited about teaming up with the Blas Festival which celebrates Highland Gaelic culture so vibrantly. We have been so keen for a Gaelic production which is contemporary and accessible to our audiences. We can’t wait to see what ideas are out there.” said Lindsay.
Theatre makers are being asked to submit ideas to Play Pieces for the lunchtime season – the full brief for this can be read online at www.playpieces.co.uk.