As the dark October nights begin to draw in, things are set to get darker still in the gardens of Pitlochry Festival Theatre when the Perthshire venue premieres Ghost Stories, three brand new haunting promenade monologues.
Written by Scottish based playwrights Maryam Hamidi, Martin McCormick and Jen McGregor, Ghost Stories will be thrilling audiences from 20 October – 7 November with an evening of mysteries, apparitions, and lost souls, all found under the spectacular autumn canopy of the woodland of the theatre.
From Edinburgh playwright Jen McGregor comes When Soft Voices Die, a new play based on a newspaper report of naked ghosts haunting the roads in late 19th century Alyth. Protagonist Felicity Creech grabs a horsewhip and sets out to reckon with the spirits – but what seemed like a clever idea in lit rooms and in company quickly changes once she is out in the gathering dusk, surrounded by shadows and memories.
The play takes from McGregor’s own experiences of being a solitary kid who caught glimpses of ghosts everywhere, read about them incessantly and would do experiments to see if she could persuade a ghost to come and talk to her.
Best known for playing Leyla Brodie in the hit BBC Scotland series River City, Iranian born Glasgow actress and playwright Maryam Hamidi’s tale I Look Down on Myself tells the tale of Mandana, an immigrant in Scotland, who is grappling with the realisation of how she has steadily began to lose a sense of her identity and how she now disassociates from each present moment, whilst also reflecting on the trauma of witnessing her parent’s pitiful transformation from citizens to immigrants.
I Look Down on Myself is Hamidi’s take on the notion of a ghost story, with the ghost metaphor standing in for the experience of disappearing pieces of yourself and your birth culture/heritage to assimilate and ‘pass’ culturally in the UK.
Played by a Ghost by award winning Perthshire playwright Martin McCormick asks why humans continue the ghost story tradition even though for most of us being scared when we encounter horror is an unsatisfying and unpleasant experience. And why do we insist on focussing on the fictional when something worse is happening in real life? And it might just have happened down the road from where you live, and to the ones you love.
Director and Associate Director at Pitlochry Festival Theatre Amy Liptrott said:
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with Martin McCormick, Maryam Hamidi and Jen McGregor on our Autumn production of Ghost Stories. Maryam and Jen are new writers to PFT audiences. We cannot wait to share their important voices with audiences. We are also equally excited to grow our relationship with Martin after the success of 22 Mays, one of our Shades of Tay pieces. We will also continue to explore our extraordinary Explorers’ Garden as we take the audience on a promenade experience for Ghost Stories. Each of the new dramas, specially commissioned for this Autumn, is a contemporary and fresh approach to ghost stories.
Ghost Stories will premiere at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from 20 October – 7 November. For tickets and further information visit www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com
