Actresses Gemma Stroyan and Mary McCusker have been chosen for a theatrical challenge that involves staging a brand new play after just two rehearsals.
What makes it even tougher is that the second rehearsal takes place the day of the show itself – which is at the Theatre Royal, Dumfries, on Friday, 24 November.
Wassail Party by Simon Farquhar has only just been written, and is a two-hander exploring loss and longing in a way that’s well suited to the season and the turning of the year.
Stroyan has been seen on TV in Taggart and on stage at the Lyceum in Edinburgh in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Keen gamers would also recognise her voice from the recently released Divinity: Original Sin 2.
She is also a writer and spoken word performer and last year created her debut theatre piece The Jam Diaries at Summerhall.
McCusker was born in Glasgow and has played many leading parts in contemporary and classical drama, from Kate in Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa and Isabella Bird in Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls, to Lady Macbeth and the title role in Schiller’s Mary Stuart.
Recent work includes Emer Donaghue in Heritage (Traverse Theatre), Maggie Morrison in Men Should Weep (Tag Theatre/Dundee Rep), Mrs Mac in The People Next Door (Traverse/Balkans tour/E59 Theatre New York), Pru in The House of Bernarda Alba (National Theatre of Scotland) and at last year’s Fringe Festival, Father Lawrence in Queen Lear. This year she was Mrs Culfeathers in The Steamie (30th anniversary tour).
BBC Scotland’s Poet in Residence Stuart Paterson is currently creating his poetic response to the play and presenting it for the audience.
The performances will be followed by a discussion in the theatre’s studio over pastries.
Ali Anderson-Dyer, Director and co-founder of the event’s producers Bunbury Banter, said: “We are really looking forward to presenting a play with two such strong female roles.
“Gemma and Mary really have the skills to take on such a challenging and exciting approach to theatre. With just a limited time to learn their lines and two rehearsals to get everything right, they have to be fast, flexible, confident and talented.
“With a play, followed by brand new poetry, then a discussion over pastries, we hope it’ll be a really enjoyable evening.”
Wassail Party is part of the second of four bi-monthly events which kicked off in September when Andrew Byatt and Gavin Jon Wright performed The Square Mile/Y Filltir Sgwar by award-winning Glasgow-based playwright Andrew Edwards.
A Play, A Poet & A Pastry is a collaboration between Dumfries and Galloway’s Bunbury Banter Theatre Company and the Theatre Royal.
Bunbury Banter, based in Thornhill, are specialists in new and experimental theatre.
They have recently produced Blackout to much acclaim, worked with the National Theatre of Scotland on the Five-Minute Festival, and a web-based audio production called Mortar which starred Timothy West, Prunella Scales and Nichola McAuliffe.
A Play, A Poet & A Pastry involves the semi-staging of the plays. It is being supported by the Holywood Trust, DGU’s Regional Arts Fund and Dumfries and Galloway Arts Live. The pastries are provided by the Marchbank Bakery.
Listings Details
- Venue: Theatre Royal, 66-68, Shakespeare St, Dumfries, DG1 2JH.
- Dates: Friday, 24th November 2017; Friday, 26th January 2018; Friday, 30th March 2018
- Performance time: 7.30pm
- Tickets: £12 (£10 concessions)
- Approximate Length: two hours
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Book online at theatreroyaldumfries.co.uk, and at Midsteeple Box Office on 01387 253383.
