Over 30 years ago Horse + Bamboo Theatre toured to the Outer Hebrides and discovered the wonderful story of Angus MacPhee.

Angus was a crofter from Uist who spent almost 50 years in a Highland psychiatric hospital. During this time he chose not to speak – instead he wove a series of incredible costumes out of grass. These he hung on trees in the hospital grounds.

The theatre company now return to the Highlands and Islands with the first theatre show about Angus’s life using incredible visuals including replicas of Angus’s original work made by Highland fibre artist Joanne B Kaar and the sounds and images of the Outer Hebrides. The show will also feature the gorgeous Gaelic singing of Mairi Morrison. The show will tour throughout the summer taking in VENUE on the DATE & TIME (before OR after) a trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Sealladh as boidhche na chunna sibhse riamh? Aonghas Mac-a-Phi a’ fighe le feur.

Have you ever heard a stranger sound than Angus MacPhee knitting with grass?

“… A theatrical spell, which is quite unique… And accessible to everyone.” (The Guardian)

The Company Background

Horse + Bamboo Theatre Company have been making and touring high quality visual theatre for over 30 years. To sustain the company for this long we have had to stay responsive and keep our work fresh whilst also still providing Horse + Bamboo’s distinctive visual impact. Horse + Bamboo’s audiences leave with a mind full of lasting images that can rarely be compared to anything seen before or after.

Horse +Bamboo’s theatre space in Rossendale, is the northern mask and puppetry centre and a hub for presenting other renowned puppetry companies and story-tellers.

In 1984 the company toured the Outer Hebrides with Seol meaning ‘sail’, or ‘quest’. Commissioned by the Scottish Arts Council to tour the Outer Hebrides, the story combined traditional themes (foretelling, and odyssey) with current issues (militarisation of the islands, and pollution of the waters by nuclear waste). While he was there Artistic Director, Bob Frith, found the wonderful story of Angus MacPhee. In late 2010 the company decided to take his story further.

This show has been a long time in the making and is all the better for it. Most of the company have travelled up to the Hebrides and other parts of Scotland in the process and the release of Roger Hutchinson’s book The Silent Weaver in September 2011 gave added depth to our knowledge along the way.

The Angus MacPhee Background

The tale of Angus MacPhee has been much told; a song, The Weaver of Grass by Runrig’s Donnie Munro; a recently released book by Roger Hutchinson, The Silent Weaver – The extraordinary life and times of Angus MacPhee; a documentary, Hidden Gifts by Nick Higgins; even a tapestry. Now for the first time Horse + Bamboo present a theatre show about him.

Angus was born in 1915 and raised in a crofting family on South Uist. At that time grass was commonly weaved to make ropes which were used to tie all kinds of things from the roof to the cows. In a period where time was more common than money or man-made fibres and grass was plentiful these weaving skills were very valuable.

In 1939 Angus rode off with the Lovat Scouts and was posted to Faroe during WWII. Whilst there he became ill and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was then incarcerated for 50 years at Craig Dunnain hospital in Inverness, for 43 of those years Angus was on no medication. To keep himself well during those ceaseless years Angus would pull the grass from the grounds and weave it making coats, trousers, boots which are now in the Collection de l’Art Brut in Switzerland and hats which were “stunning like a sunburst” according to one of his nurses.

Angus’s work was discovered in 1979 by the art therapist Joyce Laing when she was sent out by Tom McGrath of Glasgow’s Third Eye Centre (now the CCA) with 1 weeks’ petrol money to find him some Art Brut! Since that discovery Angus’s work has been shown and discussed around the world. Previous to Joyce discovering the work Angus had left the work hanging on trees and under the bushes of the hospital grounds and the would periodically get burnt by the hospital staff along with the rest of the dead leaves. Angus would watch this with little reaction. It was a restorative process for him; the final works were not something he ever expected the wider world to be interested in.

The 2012 tour

11^th July Tiree Feis

14^th July CEOLAS, South Uist

17^th July Mull Theatre

19^th July The MacPhail Centre, Ullapool

20^th July Rosehall Village Hall, Sutherland

21^st July Resolis Arts, Cromarty

24^th July Aultbea Hall

26^th July An Lanntair, Stornoway

28^th July AROS, Skye

30^th July Raasay Hall

31^st July SEALL, Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Skye

2^nd Aug Eigg Community Hall

4^th Aug Universal Hall, Findhorn

5^th Aug Pittenweem Arts Festival

16^th–26^th Aug The Scottish Storytelling Centre – Edinburgh Fringe Festival

10^th Sept Lyth Arts Centre

13^th Sept Dornie Hall

14^th Sept Craignish Village Hall, Ardfern

15^th Sept Ceol’s Craic, CCA Glasgow

www.horseandbamboo.org

Source: Horse + Bamboo