Stream: Adventures with Painted People
The blow of the cancellation of Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s 2020 season due to the pandemic was mitigated by the BBC’s decision to ask Artistic Director Elizabeth Newman and writer/artistic Director David Grieg to create an audio production for Radio 3. Originally a partnership with the Lyceum in Edinburgh and the famous Pitlochry Theatre in the Hills, this was the play I was most looking forward to. As an incomer, born and bred in Essex, to my newly adopted home in the Cairngorms, I knew that the subject would appeal to someone who has embraced a new way of life. With this piece I felt an immediate empathy with the clash of cultures. The last-minute foray by writer David Grieg into radio from stage did not disappoint.
This was ultimately a love story between an ordinary Roman soldier, Lucius, from Libya, garrisoned in Colchester (Essex! - the first English city), sent to the north to subdue the tribes of Caledonia, and a feisty Pictish girl, Eithne, who calls herself a witch. Due to his incompetence he is captured and held, and so the relationship unfolds. She wants to learn to write so she can broker peace and he, with poetic ambitions, is captivated by her relationships with dreams and nature. They have little in common but a desire to learn more about each other.
As a two hander this could have been difficult to fill an hour and a half as a radio play, but Kirsty Stuart and Olivier Hubard, under Newman’s skilful direction, magicked the time away. Olivier, with his estuary speak and Stuart contrasting with a fine Highland and occasionally Glaswegian accent played the scenes with sensitivity and understanding. You never really believed she would sacrifice him as Beltane approaches. Their relationship is playful, intimate, and contemporary. Extraneous characters are called Brian and Derek. The couple gloss quickly and painfully over the deaths of their respective children. They reference the fish, the lochs, the Tay, and the old ways versus the Roman straight lines. Reminders of the A1 versus the drover roads. Lucius’ description of the ritual of the Roman Baths spoke directly to me. How I miss my hot tub in my Essex garden! Thank goodness too we were spared the obvious Scottish musical background. A delicate score with the occasional Carnyx horn avoided breaking the mystical setting.
Theatre people will always find a way to develop their craft. Bravo to Pitlochry for being at the forefront of a new normal. I cannot wait to return to the live experience but in the meantime a return to quality radio drama is a true pleasure.
Available for free on iPlayer.
