Stream: Shades of Tay 4

Over the last two weekends we have been treated to two more original writings inspired by the River Tay on which the Pitlochry Festival Theatre stands. Both take different perspectives on how this river has spoken to them. More to follow in the next few weeks.

‘The Birch Tree Speaks’ by Timberlake Wertenbaker

As expected from this renowned writer this piece explores the myth of the Birch Tree, known as the Lady of the Woods. I am writing this having returned from a walk through the Anagach Woods in the Highlands, so this work resonated with me immediately. The sound of silence allowed me to imagine the voice of the tree and the wisdom it imparts. The old spirits that exist in the forest along the river, this time the Spey. The multiplicity of bird life and the lichen telling us that the air is good and clean. All this was in this beautiful piece of writing, performed intelligently by Jesse Fox

‘Shadows of Tay’ by Jo Clifford

This time the audience is taken to the mouth of the Tay where the famous Tay Bridge, famous for the collapse in 1879, which cost the lives of 75 people, crosses to Dundee. I remember that people from Fife never visited the city, it was never signposted, only as The Tay Bridge. All is different now with the glamourous new V and A. This piece, written from the perspective of a young girl taking advice from her grandmother and deciding to be an engineer resonates with the reputation of this lively working-class city. It comes over as a bit ‘East Enders goes north’! The aspiration is sound, but do we really have to have all those other issues in there? They all deserve their own conversation and here muddy the thoughts. However, it was good to take in the less mystical approach and see the river from a different viewpoint. Read by Blythe Jandoo.