Dogstar Theatre Company, Ullapool Village Hall, 21 February 2004 then touring

DOGSTAR THEATRE’S Seven Ages of Man tour began at Wick Academy on 18 February then went on to Skerray and Kinlochbervie before settling in to the village hall in Ullapool on a freezing February night.

The Seven Ages of Man by Dogstar Theatre

It was a modest but appreciative audience who sat and watched seven playlets covering the seven ages of man: Birth, Discovery, Love, War, Wisdom, Dotage and Death. Each had a Highland slant. The two actors, Alyth McCormack and Matthew Zajac, each played about fourteen characters – the change of costumes and characters (and what characters!) ran as smoothly as the transition of the scenes.

The first four scenes depicted Birth, Discovery, Love and War. Birth covered illegitimacy and attitudes of the Free Church; Discovery was based on the education of Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty – a swashbuckling knight, gifted, eccentric, allegedly insane, inventor of the world’s first universal language and translator of Rabelais; Love was represented by the story of Marianna, a refugee, who fell in love with a Highlander, but had to return to her country of origin; and War told of most recent events: the invasion of Iraq last year. This was most powerful tale of the first act, interspersed with lighter happenings at home, such as Celtic’s UEFA cup final in Seville last May.

After the intensity of the first act and the interval, the playlets took on a lighter and more humorous note: Wisdom was a tale of cunning and trickery; Dotage returned to the story of the refugee who had been reunited with her Highland lover and had emigrated to America, there to spend their last days together in their dotage; and finally, the story of Death was adapted from an old Scottish travellers’ tale which told of a young lad trying to outwit death and keep his mother alive for longer.

Matthew and Alyth gave fine performances; they were strong and emotional, and given that each act lasted just over an hour with many character changes, each displayed not just continuity, but incredible diversity. Alyth also let us hear her fine singing voice in some of the scenes, but the wonderful music of Jonny Hardie (fiddle) and Mary McMaster (clarsach) linked each scene together in a way that was so natural that you couldn’t imagine theatre without live music ever again.

This is a fine example of Highland theatre, drawing on Highland tales, tradition and music to give us a dramatic voyage through this mortal coil. Let’s hope audiences improve as the tour continues – this has not to be missed!

March 2004 tour dates for Seven Ages are:
Plockton Hall, Tuesday 2 March 2004
Aros Centre, Portree, Isle of Skye, Wednesday 3 March
Aros Hall, Tobermory, Isle of Mull, Friday 5 March
Lonach Hall, Strathdon, Saturday 6 March
Lochinver Village Hall, Tuesday 9 March
Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, Wednesday 10 March
Birnam Institute, Thursday 11 March
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Friday 12-Saturday 13 March

© Maggie Dunlop, 2004