The successful Play Pieces season continues in October with a playful take on a play by Russia’s finest playwright, Anton Chekhov.

Swan Song is a vaudeville by Chekhov about an old actor and his prompter in a theatre after the lights go out. Adapted from one of his own stories, Swansong made Chekhov’s reputation in the theatre in 1888.

Open Book PW, based across the Highlands, have been working with Garry Collins, an actor and director from Elgin to produce this adaption which will be set in a fictional Inverness Theatre, played strictly tongue in cheek with an affectionate send up of actors and the acting world.

Lindsay Dunbar, co-ordinator of Play Pieces said ‘this drama which will be quite unlike the rest of the Play Pieces season. ‘Swan Song’ will show that a classic play can be set in a Highland context, in Inverness and still be very relevant.”

She also hopes that the informal nature of Play Pieces will appeal to an audience who are perhaps unfamiliar with the work of Chekhov who is thought of as one of the greatest playwright to come out of Russia.

Open Book is dedicated to connecting communities separated by geography, history and language through the arts, through the celebration of diversity and through the promotion of local cultures and approaches nationally and internationally.

Currently Open Book PW are very busy with co-producing “Para Handy” with Eden Court Theatre so anyone who enjoys that production should come along to ‘Swan Song’ to find out more about the diverse range of work they undertake.

Play Pieces is now more than half way through it’s first season and Lindsay Dunbar is confident that it will return in 2012. “The audience feedback has been hugely positive. They have enjoyed each show and the atmosphere is very laid back. The standard of work by each company has been exceptional and just proves there is a huge wealth of talent in the Highlands. Watch this space, some of these companies will go far!”

Swan Song is on Saturday 1 October, doors open 1pm at the Ironworks. Tickets are £10 and include a free lunch from MacDougall & Hastie. Vegetarian options are available.

Source: Play Pieces