Community-inspired play set to take to the stage in Buckie
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A NEW play combining theatre, food, song, bingo and karaoke is coming to Buckie soon.
In Motion Theatre's Other Side of the River is billed as a compelling, accessible and upbeat new play focuses on a working class community’s fight to be noticed for who they are, not what government stats, figures or media headlines tell them they are.
With many people experiencing access barriers during the current cost of living crisis, Other Side of the River, a dining and activity experience with a play at its heart, is being brought to local communities across Scotland. In Motion Theatre, in conjunction with local food and community partners, are also arranging pre-performance activities for the areas the play is due to visit from cooking classes for local residents to journalism sessions for high school pupils.
The play’s characters are inspired by writer and director Lisa Nicoll and In Motion’s time working with the Ferguslie Park community in Paisley.
Lisa said: “The friendships and relationships I have gained in Ferguslie Park have allowed me to write the play that I wanted to write and the support of people there has been amazing and generous.
“There is no doubt that there are struggles and obstacles in life and in communities but it is about the attitude and resilience communities have to overcome these and how people pull together and make use of what they have. This is especially reflective with the current cost of living crisis and the things that Ferguslie Park are doing to help people in terms of food, clothing, activities and warm spaces.
“I have been attending community lunches and going to warm spaces across Scotland to get to know folk at the venues and towns we’re visiting. There is a real sense of universality in the play’s themes in how the communities across Scotland connect to both Ferguslie Park and the play. There’s also a strong sense of gathering in these towns and that has always been the aim of the play – it’s not just a theatre show but an experience with bingo, food and song, three things in addition to theatre that can bring us together.
“We are living in a world highly dominated by technology and social media and being embraced by these communities makes you realise that as human beings we need to speak, hug and listen to people in the flesh. This play began life before the current cost of living crisis and feels more apt than ever that it is being staged now. The Other Side of the River is a play to gather people together, to see positives amongst adversities and to take eyes away from screens, even for just a short while.”
The play follows driven but lonely city girl Beth who is desperate to get a juicy article published so she can be noticed by her boss, her arch-rival Suzy McIntyre and to hear her sick Dad say he is proud of her before he passes away. Beth enters small Scottish town Ailm, which has been described as one of the worst towns to live in by the media, in the hope she will find a ‘good’ story that will make her feel successful and noticed.
She is welcomed to the town by extended family Jo, Andy, Meg and Dan who, despite many obstacles in their life, know how to pull together and get on with things.
When the van which delivers food to the community and hosts the mobile bingo nights breaks down, the town must find a solution to get them back on the road again. While Jo, Andy, Meg and Dan plan their charity fundraiser, Beth’s questioning begins to get to the bottom of their secrets.
In Motion Theatre has partnered with community food hubs, larders, foodbanks, community lunches and schools across the tour, including Peoplehood in Buckie. The partners will deliver a set of cooking workshops in advance of the play helping participants explore ways of cooking using food waste and eating healthily on a budget.
On the day of the show, workshop participants will prepare a meal for audience members, who will sit down to eat and watch the play unfold in front of them.
The theatre company has also teamed up with local secondary schools with journalism workshops being delivered to pupils by local journalists ahead of each tour stop off. Schools will attend The Other Side of The River with pupils writing a post-show piece which will then be published on In Motion and OneRen’s website to encourage careers in writing and journalism.
Other Side of the River will be coming to the Fishermen's Hall, Buckie on Sunday, April 30 at 1pm. Tickets are available from https://renfrewshireboxoffice.ticketsolve.com/shows/1173639893/events
