Review of Eden Court and Raw Material's co-production The Stamping Ground with a community story set to Runrig's universal music
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REVIEW:
The Stamping Ground
Eden Court and Raw Material
4 stars
IN a musical built with stories for our time, new production The Stamping Ground took you back to Runrig gigs which only had one possible ending, an outpouring of emotion, only one song to express it.
Without any spoilers, the team behind the ambitious new show pitched their deserved big finish at Eden Court on Tuesday night exactly right, earning a standing ovation for the official first night.
Before it there had been a fast-paced multi-layered story that sometimes didn’t seem to leave enough breathing space to get fully under its skin.
Dark aspects of urban life have chased one-time teen lovers young dad Euan (Steven Miller), his partner Annie (Neshla Caplan) and their traumatised daughter Fiona (Caitlin Forbes) back to their Highland village to stay with Euan’s mother, feisty, self-sufficient widow Mary (Annie Grace).
The family arrive as the pub is under threat and plans are set in motion to prevent it becoming holiday homes.
The community’s efforts give the story much of its momentum, and help uncover the cracks in Euan and Annie’s relationship, while both Mary and Fiona are given the chance of new love, embracing themes of diversity and mid-life second chances.
Supporting characters help explore contemporary Highland issues which include returning exiles adjusting, young people searching for love and meaningful lives in a rural community – supporting the isolated elderly – and, a big one, coping with the impact of tourism and how communities can survive and benefit from it without being decimated by it.
Creating a convincing Highland world physically was ably taken on by the design and lighting team, with Kenneth Macleod’s monumental centrepiece a versatile chameleon presence, its final surprise creating a real sense of wonder.
Music is a constant, as you would expect. Both a band, stage right, plus the musicians in the cast, add colour – choral, harmony singing as well as solos, a banjo here, a cello there, on top of the backing musicians – to the Runrig songs that power this production.
There are moments when the poetry of Runrig’s music doesn’t quite seem to fit the action, Dust in the revelatory scene between Summer and Fiona struck that way, but it sent you home to have another listen. There were others where the team of writer Morna Young and music arranger John Keilty have been particularly inspired. Going Home at the start perfectly expresses the sentiments of the characters. Older character Donnie’s performance of A Dance Called America when it comes too. My own favourite came with Somewhere well into the second half when it couldn’t more movingly express Euan and Annie’s position where it falls in the story. Also, reinterpretations and arrangements can ensure songs can also take on a new life, as in Annie Grace’s performance of Worker For The Wind.
Runrig fans will enjoy hearing some of the best songs many will know by heart and audiences could happily enjoy this show more than once to appreciate the music alone.
But does the audience get enough chance to interact with it?
On the first night, there was a sense that some may have been itching to join in, to clap along – as a couple of songs suggested from the cast onstage. Perhaps the show will somehow manage to encourage the shy to feel they can interact where it’s possible as the musical’s life goes on.
But there is probably a fine line between a show celebrating Runrig’s music – and this musical given its own life by it.
Scenes that really work at creating visual impact include the peatcutting near the start,with mouth music and an immediate sense of a Highland past and present.
The funeral scene with its choreographed brollies made a strong opening for the second half.
With such a universally strong ensemble cast, it can be hard to pick out individuals. One standout might be Steve Miller who has a lot to do as Euan, whose emotional journey goes far, far farther than his family’s physical one from London to Glenbeg. His strong, clear voice struck home with Runrig’s music.
As Annie, Neshla Caplan has an even tougher job, portraying the disillusionment and building resentment which make the constrained wife and mum seem less easy to warm to, but a truthfully 21st century woman.
Alongside the feisty, cockney-accented Fiona, tourist guide Summer – a natural storyteller - becomes one of the play’s strongest voices. Annie Grace as Mary completed Morna Young’s spectrum of strong independent female characters.
One of the triumphs of the musical is to pitch a variety of characters so many different members of a community can relate to – and give some room to play out their situations, problems and life experiences.
In the year of storytelling, this important, spirited production will spark many conversations and needs to be seen by Highlanders, Scots, visitors – people of all ages. It’s about the here and now, our past, future – and the universal question – that always seemed to be at the heart of Runrig’s most resonant songs–- how best to live a life.
