Spectrum Centre, Inverness, 24 March 2006

Harris, Isla and Lewis in 'The Callanish Stoned'.

THEATRE HEBRIDES delivered a thoroughly enjoyable production of Kevin MacNeil’s “The Callanish Stoned,” directed by Muriel Ann Macleod. As a play designed for a young audience and addressing socially relevant issues, the production translated beautifully as a touring show.

Without patronising a teenage audience it emerged as a tale of discovery and life-affirming change. What begins in anticipation of a drug and booze-filled weekend gathering at the Callanish stones becomes a real journey for all the characters.

MacNeil explores human themes of alienation, friendship and family relationships through a summer solstice gathering of subcultures.

There is no barrier to a non-Gaelic speaking audience understanding the action on stage as the play moves easily between Gaelic and English. Meaning is conveyed in equal measure by the actors and the context into which Gaelic is introduced. To this non-Gaelic speaker the flow of speech between languages actually enhanced the meaning in a scene.

Part of the secret of this delivery is the way that MacNeil combines language with humour to explore universal themes within a very specific Western Isles setting.

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Touring the show outside the community that inspired it is a great way to introduce a young audience both to live theatre and to Gaelic language

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Whilst the play contains references to the road movie genre and is steeped in popular culture, it is also full of Island humour and observance of life. “The Callanish Stoned” contains many hilarious and slightly surreal moments that the Inverness audience thoroughly enjoyed. There are always kernels of truth in comedy, and McNeil weaves this very well into his story.

Act One introduced the audience to the main characters and their reasons for setting out on the road to Callanish. Lewis Macleod, played by David Fitzgerald, is in conflict with his God-fearing mother, Mrs Macleod.

Played by Carina Macleod, her fire-and-brimstone damnation speech is as riotously funny as it is sincerely believed. With an evangelical delivery bordering on hysteria, we are also hysterical with laughter.

Her faith is also ambivalent. Through her conversation with the local minister we learn that she too was young once. She also participated in the time honoured tradition of breaking free of parental rules and the communal culture of “thou shall not” by visiting the stones.

Conflict between generations is dealt with in a humorous way which doesn’t dilute the discord between a mother and son.

Lewis is a teenage everyman faced with the end of his school years and the start of a life as an adult. Like his peers he faces either leaving for college or waiting for life to inevitably catch up with him at home. His best mate Harris (Neil McNulty) arrives, and together they head for the stones to artificially lose their inhibitions, have a good time and go in search of “foreign totty” from “Dingwall”! One last stand before responsibility catches up with them.

The question of personal freedom and leaving the island community is at the forefront of the choices ahead of the two friends. It is a life changing dilemma especially relevant – but not exclusive to – youth of the Highlands and Islands. The whole question of how to belong both in terms of home and the world outside.

Like everyone in adolescence, Lewis is trying to define himself and this process is subject to all the insecurity, anxiety and awkwardness that every human being in the audience can relate to. Lewis’s future girlfriend Isla is also wrestling with the discomfort of being in her own skin. An aspiring writer, she comes into contact with the ghost of a Gaelic Bard whose reoccurring presence in act two seems to bring the lives of the characters closer together by the conclusion.

There is a sense of a shared past and an embrace of change and healing. The annual ancient solstice ritual of change has real implications for the characters once they reach their destination at the stones. It is significant, and sends a strong message without preaching that all the characters arrive at Callanish stone cold sober.

Ultimately love, a sense of place and qualities within themselves make the solstice a life changing event, and delivers a positive outcome for all of them.

The staging of the play is perfect for touring with a simple white backdrop of screens and boxes that the actors move to set the scene. Images are also projected onto these backdrops placing the actors on the road and expansive moorland of Lewis on their journey to Callanish. The lighting design by Davy Campbell, multimedia projections by Neill MacConell and original music by Willie Campbell all assist in defining each scene.

David Walker deserves special mention for his five supporting roles as the minister, Angus the petrol station attendant, Phallic Alec, Seonaidh Taireisgeir and Uileam.

The whole cast work well as an ensemble, and music is performed by Willie Campbell and Rod Morison. Campbell’s echoing guitar is well suited to a play set within a Hebridean landscape. Like MacNeil’s writing it seems a natural expression of place and conveys a laid back contemporary mood.

Touring the show outside the community that inspired it is a great way to introduce a young audience both to live theatre and to Gaelic language.

© Georgina Coburn, 2006

Link

• Kevin MacNeil’s website