The Captain's Collection by Hamish MacDonald 1999-2000, Revived 2012
|
2012 Production
From an idea by Bruce MacGregor Directed by Alison Peebles Designer Ali Maclaurin Lighting Andrew Wilson Musical Director Jonny Hardie Musicians Ingrid Henderson & Jonny Hardie Performers Alyth McCormack & Matthew Zajac Production Photography by Andrew Wilson “An engrossing treat…a fascinating and provocative piece of music theatre” The Scotsman "He saw it was the Fraser Yew of old The one wherefrom the Stratherrick men would fashion their warriors bows The three men took forth their dirks And stripped its branches with their blows But from its ancient limbs was made A fiddle, pipe and harp instead" |
The Captain’s Collection is a play which takes place during the death sleep and final dream of Captain Simon Fraser of Knockie. He is visited by the ghosts and dreams dwelling within the pages of his published music collection, Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles, transported through the legends of the music itself and back through his own turbulent existence as composer, British Army captain, dispossessed laird and imprisoned bankrupt, through a story where ambition to succeed has been thwarted at every turn. Published in 1816, Captain Fraser’s Collection was originally suggested by Bruce MacGregor as the basis for a musical play. Bruce played a tune or two from the pages, and although the music felt rich and vibrant, the prospect of developing anything dramatic or even slightly profound, derived from Fraser’s stilted prose at either end of the book, seemed remote.
- “Humorous, dark, emotional, historically factual and musically exhilarating…the performances…accompanied by the eerie music played by Old Blind Dogs Fiddler Jonnie Hardie, Rory Campbell and Brian MacAlpine meant that the effect was quite stunning…” Donald Fraser, Press and Journal
- “Beautifully written…it dwelt inside the psychological ruins, the haunted dreams of this compromised, complex tortured Highlander…Lyrical, elegiac, yet darkly resolute and lightened by both music and wit…” Tom Adair, The Scotsman
- "Superb live music from Jonny Hardie on fiddle and Ingrid Henderson on keyboard and harp was a perfect complement to this top-notch performance."
- The Buteman
“…they’ll have a hard time topping this for entertainment, value, home-grown talent and ingenuity…” Margaret Chrystall, Highland News
Production Images
|
|
At first glance, Captain Fraser’s musical publication of 1816 presents a fairly innocuous and romantic view of the Highland milieu. His introduction seeks the patronage and approval of the influential Highland Society, a necessary stamp of authenticity to promote his work. In this Prospectus, it is claimed by Fraser that the majority of his tunes have been derived from two main sources, the Gaelic singing of his paternal grandfather, a cattle dealer who moved among the Jacobite strongholds of the west, and his father, a Highland officer who scaled the Heights of Abraham in the company of General Wolfe. In fact, Fraser’s grandfather was a government spy who was the first to inform General Cope of the Jacobite positions, and Captain Simon himself - by the time of his publication in 1816 – had been defrauded in his early attempts at musical publication, had deserted from the British Army in Ireland, had fathered an illegitimate son, had cleared vast tracts of land for Cheviot grazing in Stratherrick, had amassed then lost a fortune, and just prior to his 1816 publication, had been denounced Rebel and thrown into Inverness jail for debt.
A musical genius beset by ill judgement and poor luck, he would be plagued by misfortune for the rest of his life.
A musical genius beset by ill judgement and poor luck, he would be plagued by misfortune for the rest of his life.
|
|
As with Captain Fraser’s Loyalist and genteel outward appearance, the tunes within the collection conceal an inner truth. Fraser set out to adorn his music with decorative European influences to suit the upper class tastes of Regency society. In the era of Sir Walter Scott and Waverley, when Highland Scotland was becoming viewed as the Romantic ideal of Europe, Fraser saw fit to remove song lyrics, apparently uneasy that any Jacobite sentiment (in truth a dead letter and now greatly exploited by one of his main correspondents – Scott) might yet cause offence. Although many of the original songs were apolitical, Fraser presented his music with caution, sometimes resorting to the most cringing of practises to seek the approbation of his peers.
The play visits the undying fire that burns within Celtic music and consciousness, as Captain Fraser is confronted by the ghosts dwelling inside the pages of his collection. Introduced musically through Jonny Hardie’s playing of the strathspey Lovat’s Restoration, hurling into the almost anarchic pipe arrangement of Kilchattan Wedding, the music eases as Fraser’s death dream is manifested through Alyth McCormack’s singing of Braighe Lochiall, seeing the apparitions of his father and grandfather adrift on the songs that now possess him. Playing a multiple of character roles, from Simon’s housekeeper to an adversary who condemns him for compromising the spirit of his music, Alyth also performs a number of the songs such as Mhairi Bhan Og and Luinneag Mhic Leoid. The haunting Mo run an diugh mar an de thu is sung by a widow who first appears holding the blood-stained shirts of her husband and son who died as Highland soldiers, and who reminds Fraser of the atrocities he has committed as a British officer against the Celts in Ireland, some of whose music he has now taken into his possession.
The play visits the undying fire that burns within Celtic music and consciousness, as Captain Fraser is confronted by the ghosts dwelling inside the pages of his collection. Introduced musically through Jonny Hardie’s playing of the strathspey Lovat’s Restoration, hurling into the almost anarchic pipe arrangement of Kilchattan Wedding, the music eases as Fraser’s death dream is manifested through Alyth McCormack’s singing of Braighe Lochiall, seeing the apparitions of his father and grandfather adrift on the songs that now possess him. Playing a multiple of character roles, from Simon’s housekeeper to an adversary who condemns him for compromising the spirit of his music, Alyth also performs a number of the songs such as Mhairi Bhan Og and Luinneag Mhic Leoid. The haunting Mo run an diugh mar an de thu is sung by a widow who first appears holding the blood-stained shirts of her husband and son who died as Highland soldiers, and who reminds Fraser of the atrocities he has committed as a British officer against the Celts in Ireland, some of whose music he has now taken into his possession.
|
|
|
Performed on Ali Maclaurin's atmospheric set with Alison Peebles's dynamic, sensitive and inventive direction, the action moves through Regency dance scenes, a clan battle fought out by toys, an encounter with subterranean fairies and the remonstrations and crises of Captain Fraser’s own troubled life, the whole production "awash on a sea of music."
Originally commissioned by Highland Festival in 1999, the production opened in Captain Fraser’s homeland in Errogie, on a memorable night when a thick, ghostly fog drifted down from the Monadhliath and almost two hundred people packed into tiny Stratherrick Hall. There followed a short tour and the production was revived for a more extensive tour in April 2000. Developed into an award winning series for BBC Radio Scotland, produced by Bruce MacGregor, The Captain’s Collection CD featuring the musical repertoire of the play was produced by Jonny Hardie for the Greentrax label, becoming one of the most highly acclaimed and cherished CDs of Celtic music in 1999.
The 2012 revival opened in Glasgow's Tron Theatre as part of Scotland's biggest festival of traditional music, Celtic Connections.
This was followed by an extensive Scottish tour.
The 2012 revival opened in Glasgow's Tron Theatre as part of Scotland's biggest festival of traditional music, Celtic Connections.
This was followed by an extensive Scottish tour.
2012 Scottish Venues
- Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Celtic Connections
- North Edinburgh Arts Centre
- Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh
- Perth Rep Theatre
- Eden Court Theatre Inverness
- Glengarry Community Hall
- Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute
- Craignish Village Hall
- Kilcreggan, Cove Burgh Hall
- Byre Theatre St. Andrews
- Dundee Rep Theatre
- Cumbernauld Theatre
- An Lanntair, Stornoway
- Rosehall Village Hall, by Lairg
- Eastgate Theatre, Peebles
- Woodend Barn, Banchory
- Tolbooth Stirling
- Traverse Theatre Edinburgh
- Mull Theatre, Druimfin, Tobermory
- Taynuilt Hall
|
1999-2000 Production
Directed by Alison Peebles Performed by Alyth McCormack and Hamish MacDonald With live music by Jonny Hardie - Fiddle Brian MacAlpine - Keyboards Alyth McCormack - Song Rory Campbell/Iain MacFarlane - Whistle & Pipes Musical Direction by Jonny Hardie Production Management & Lighting by Alan MacKinnon Set Design by Iain Campbell Backdrop by Jackie MacKenzie Publicity design by Ian Gibson Produced by Hamish MacDonald |
1999-2000 Venues
Stratherrick Hall Rosehall Village Hall Raasay House Laggan Village Hall Lemon Tree, Aberdeen (Rootin' Aboot Festival) Universal Hall, Findhorn Lyth Arts Centre Stornoway Town Hall Lochinver Village Hall West Church, Inverness (The Gathering Festival) Macphail Centre, Ullapool Nevis Centre, Fort William Plockton Village Hall Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Skye |
 |
 |
