FROM POETIC CABARET TO KICANNIBAL RATS - GATEHOUSE IS SET FOR THE BIG LIT

Rally and Broad cabaret to round off four days of literature, music, song and performance at the Stewartry’s own book festival

Poetry, performance and songs about a ship full of cannibal rats – Rally and Broad’s lyrical cabaret will be one of the highlights of this weekend’s Big Lit book festival.
With just days to go before the start of this year’s event, which runs from 16-19 April, Gatehouse of Fleet is gearing up for an influx of literary, musical and other artistic talent from across the country.
Among those taking part are Michele Roberts, Booker shortlisted author of 12 novels including The Looking Glass and Daughters of the House and Terry Darlington, whose book Narrow Dog to Carcassonne is the true story of two pensioners and their whippet who set out, against informed advice, to sail their narrowboat from Staffordshire to the Mediterranean.
There will be a host of other delights, from the family friendly to the distinctly adult, along the way with the acclaimed duo of Jenny Lindsay and Rachel McCrum providing Sunday afternoon’s finale when they appear as their alter egos Rally and Broad.
Rachel says the show will be: “Shiny, sparkly and spiky. There will be poetry, storytelling, spraffing and some audience participation too, as we get people to contribute a line each for a massive poem that we will perform at breakneck speed right at the end.
“There will also be some very quirky songs from our special guest Chrissy Barnacle – with darkly romantic subjects like the fate of the last two human beings on Earth who fall in love aboard a ship packed with cannibal rats.”
Much of the cabaret will be focused round Rachel and Jenny’s latest collections of poetry Do Not Alight Here Again and Ire & Salt which were both written against the backdrop of last year’s referendum and address themes including home, identity and nation.
Rally and Broad have toured the country and make regular appearances in Edinburgh and Glasgow. They were created in 2012 when Jenny and Rachel were keen to find new ways to build on the energy of Scottish spoken word performance.
Rachel said: “We are very much looking forward to Big Lit. We really believe in live events and the way they can bring words to life. It can be the Albert Hall or the back room of a pub, it doesn’t matter, the effect can be spellbinding.”
Rally and Broad will be at the Mill on the Fleet from 3.55pm to 5.00pm, with tickets costing £8.
Chrys Salt MBE, festival organiser and Artistic Director of the Bakehouse, said: “There are just a few days to go now and there’s a real sense of excitement about this year’s Big Lit as it has so much to offer with a mix of literature, poetry, music and much more.
“It’s a chance to meet best-selling authors, hear superb singers and enjoy all sorts of entertainment with literary roots. Far from being just for adults, there’s lots aimed at children, so it’s a festival for the whole family.
“Rally and Broad have been delighting audiences all over Scotland and we are really pleased to be bringing them to Gatehouse of Fleet for a memorable and lively festival finale.”
Other attractions include:
• Stewartry author Karen Campbell, speaking about her new novel Rise
• The poems of Hugh MacDiarmid set to music and sung by Nicola Black.
• Ladies who Launch – Elspeth Brown and Vivien Jones launch new poetry collections
• Candlelit readings in The Temple, a Georgian folly deep in the forest with Liz Niven
• A typically crazy Bill Barlow interactive art installation in The Bakehouse Studio
• And you can rub shoulders with everyone from Leonard Cohen to Ivor Cutler in the Murray Arms with one of Galloway’s longest-standing pub sessions.
There will also be a Big Lit Mill Session with Gerda Stevenson (nominated Scots Singer of the Year, MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, 2014) with her new album Night Touches Day. She will be accompanied by Norwegian musician Kyrre Slind, on lute, sitar, guitar and mandolin.