Dogstar’s hit of the 1999 Highland Festival comes to Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh as part an extensive Scottish tour.

The Captain’s Collection was written by Hamish MacDonald from an idea by Bruce MacGregor and in 2012 the production is again directed by the celebrated actor and director Alison Peebles.

The Captain’s Collection is an acclaimed theatrical production, designed by Ali MacLaurin, and performed by some of Scotland’s finest actors and traditional musicians. It sees the return to Scotland of the sublime singer Alyth McCormack, CATS Award winner 2009 Matthew Zajac as Captain Simon Fraser, regular Dogstar artist Jonny Hardie as Musical Director and multi-instrumentalist Ingrid Henderson.

The story is set around a published collection of Highland music, the family inheritance of Captain Simon Fraser of Knockie. In the era of Sir Walter Scott and Waverley, when Highland Scotland was becoming viewed as the Romantic ideal of Europe, Captain Fraser attempts to win fame by publishing his Highland music.

In order to gain the favour of elitist Regency society, Captain Fraser is forced to remove the Gaelic verses, often of Jacobite and virulently anti-Royal sentiment, from his collection, to be presented as refined chamber pieces fit for the drawing room.

Visiting Captain Fraser in old age, as he draws his final breath, he is visited by the ghosts and dreams dwelling within the pages of his collection, transported through the legends of the music itself and back through his own turbulent existence as composer, British Army captain, dispossessed laird and imprisoned bankrupt, through a story where ambition to succeed has been thwarted at every turn.

The triumphs and tribulations of Captain Fraser’s life are played out through a tapestry of moving and rousing tunes and songs that lie at the heart of traditional Gaelic and Scottish music. The music from the play was commissioned as a CD on the Greentrax label and highly acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic. The play was also adapted into an international award-winning radio series for BBC Radio Scotland. Dogstar’s last appearance at Celtic Connections was with Matthew Zajac’s fantastically successful solo show The Tailor of Inverness in 2009.

The Captain’s Collection is the recipient of a Creative Scotland Redistribution of Existing Work Investment Award.

www.dogstartheatre.co.uk

Tickets are £11.25 (£9.25), £6 under 18s and are available now from Brunton Theatre Box Office on 0131 665 2240 or online at www.bruntontheatre.co.uk.

TOUR DATES

North Edinburgh Arts, Preview: performance Tuesday 24 January 7.00pm

Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Wednesday 25 & Thursday 26 January 8.00pm

Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, Friday 27 January 7.30pm

Perth Theatre, Tuesday 1 May 7.30pm

Eden Court Inverness, Wednesday 2 – Friday 4 May 7.30pm

Craignish Village Hall, Tuesday 8 May 7.30pm

Cove Burgh Hall, Wednesday 9 May 7.30pm

Byre Theatre, St Andrews, Thursday 10 May 7.30pm

Dundee Rep Theatre, Saturday 11 May 7.30pm

An Lanntair, Stornoway, Tuesday 15 May 8.00pm

Cumbernauld Theatre, Saturday 12 May 7.30pm

Eastgate Theatre, Peebles, Thursday 17 May 7.30pm

Woodend Barn, Banchory, Friday 18 May 7.30pm

Macphail Centre, Ullapool, Saturday 19 May 7.30pm

Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, Edinburgh, Tuesday 22 & Wednesday 23 May 7.30pm

Druimfin, Tobermory, Thursday 24 May 7.30pm

Source: Brunton Theatre