King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, 17 April 2008, and touring

The Emperor's New Kilt (Kevin Low)

THE FIRST one to get naked is not the emperor at all. It’s Ramsay, the loveable sheep, whose fleece is sheered off to supply the wool for the laird’s new birthday suit. Taking the role with wide-eyed gusto, Andy Cannon goes from a happy looking animal in black hat and white Arran jumper to a skinny creature in long johns, trapped in a clothes-horse cage, his insides destined to form the laird’s celebratory haggis.

None of which will sound familiar to readers of the Hans Christian Andersen original, of course. In this version, by Wee Stories and the National Theatre of Scotland, the emperor is the laird of a west coast island and a fairly tyrannical one at that. An advocate of the Highland clearances, he treats the island as his private playground, hunting the deer, shooting the birds and denying the salmon their rightful path upstream.

His word is law, which is why his underlings are so prepared to indulge him when he commissions a kilt that is visible only to the intelligent. It’s in nobody’s interests to admit they can’t see it.

This is just one of the Scotlands we discover in this tremendously enjoyable show. There are also two more. One is the Scotland of the accordion and the fiddle, initially regarded as an old-fashioned place by the three children who arrive from the city for a holiday, but gradually revealed to be a country with a dynamic musical heritage. Where Iain Johnstone starts off bemoaning the poor reception for Radio Luxemburg, he ends by leading a rousing ceilidh stomp at the show’s finale.

Then there is the Scotland of the music hall. It isn’t only the laird’s kilt that is painstakingly woven (albeit with invisible thread), it’s also the backcloths of Becky Minto’s set. These glorious, quilted evocations of Highland scenery reflect both the home-made inventiveness of the children’s games and the Scottish tradition of pantomime with its bold backdrops and direct address to the audience.

The Emperor’s New Kilt isn’t quite as raucous as that, but it has everything a popular audience would recognise, from the comedy kitchen routine to the communal joining in when the laird finally parades in the altogether before us.

In other words, it’s a multi-layered show, acted with Wee Stories’ customary good humour and genuinely appealing to the whole family with its Scottish blend of wit, wisdom and warmth.

(Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, 30 April – 3 May 2008)

© Mark Fisher, 2008

Links

• Wee Stories
• National Theatre of Scotland
• Mark Fisher’s Scottish Theatre Blog