Pavilion, Rothesay, Isle of Bute, 21 August 2009

THE CAST and crew of the Mull Theatre Company were well into their current ‘island-bagging, ferry-hopping’ tour when they reached Rothesay Pavilion. This is an extensive tour, visiting 19 islands and many mainland venues, with fifty performances in just over nine weeks.

The cast, doubling as ceilidh band for the evening, kicked off the show with a cheery introduction of traditional Scottish music before the audience of sixty or so joined them aboard the ferry, heading for Todday and the big Homecoming dance – oh, and an island wedding that wouldn’t go ahead until they arrived: the meenister for the ceremony was aboard the vessel!

Island Nights performance at Rothesay, Isle of Bute

With Para Handy on the bridge and Dan McPhail in the engine room, it was no surprise that the ferry trip did not go to plan. Opportunistic Calum MacAskill, the once-famous Highland entertainer, saw a long delay as heaven sent and was all set to perform for those on board.

In a desperate effort to keep Calum at bay, the other passengers offered up their own party pieces as entertainment, with snatches from Para Handy, Whisky Galore, Kidnapped, Katie Morag and more.

The spirit of The Homecoming was well in evidence in the mix of drama, comedy, dance and song, with the numerous roles requiring the cast of four – Sarah Haworth, Fiona Morrison, Alasdair Satchel and Harry Ward – to make some nifty changes between scenes. To their credit, they managed this while retaining the integrity of each of their characters – and without appearing to be the slightest out of breath!

This was accessible, community theatre which probably works better in the cosy environment of a small village hall, rather than the larger space of the Pavilion, but with a responsive audience and an enthusiastic cast the evening danced along, with only a couple of stumbles when the thread of the story seemed to lose itself, leaving the audience momentarily adrift and having to make a bit of leap to get back on board.

However, any shortcomings in the production were more than forgiven with the witty tale of the Two Herdsmen and by the time the cast took up their instruments once more for a short ceilidh dance to round off the evening, a considerable number from the audience stayed behind to take to the floor with gusto.

Despite my feeling that not everything worked about the show – the production could have been more coherent with a clearer, unifying story line – this was an evening of family entertainment which was well received by an audience that clearly enjoyed a good night out.

© Ishbel Crawford, 2009

Links

• Mull Theatre