Malcolm Cumming and Caitlin Young who appear in The Stamping Ground first met at Eden Court following dreams of a performing life ...
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Highland actors Malcolm Cumming and Caitlin Forbes return to Eden Court this week rehearsing the roles that bring them back to the theatre that began their careers.
Hard at work in rehearsals for jukebox musical The Stamping Ground, based on Runrig songs, the two took a break earlier this week to reveal they met as youngsters in 2011 at a drama festival here.
Soon they will be back acting on the stage they know so well at the heart of this landmark production from Eden Court and Raw Material.
Malcolm said: “In the piece, to make things nice and easy, I’m actually playing a character called Malcolm!
“He is a young Highland boy looking for love somewhat hopelessly. I tried not to read too much into that when I got the script sent to me…” he laughs drily.
Caitlin says: “I am not quite so straightforward. I’m playing Fiona. She has grown up in London and is moving back with her parents to their home in the Highlands where they grew up.”
Malcolm, who went to school at Inverness Royal Academy, said: “Caitlin and I first met around 2011/ 2012 at the National Festival of Youth Theatre through Eden Court Creative Outreach. We both have quite a history with the theatre.”
Caitlin, who was an Eden Court young ambassador, said: “I’m from Caithness and it was through Eden Court’s Outreach programme that I landed at the festival where I met Malcolm. I did lots of stuff through the Outreach programme and also did my Higher drama at Eden Court. I’d get the bus down every weekend, stay over Friday night and do a full day of Higher drama on a Saturday and then go back – and we did intensive weeks sometimes during the school holidays as well.
“It was quite a lifeline for a lot of folk in the Highlands because I believe there were no Highland high schools at that time offering Higher drama. There were a lot of kids who really benefited from that opportunity.”
Malcolm went on to study drama at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, before getting a starring role in successful zombie feature film Anna & The Apocalypse.
“I played John in that – another young boy looking for love in a somewhat hopeless manner. I don’t want to throw the word typecast around...” Malcolm and Caitlin laugh.
Malcolm has most recently appeared in Channel 4 TV mystery series Murder Island written by Sir Ian Rankin.
Caitlin also studied at the Royal Conservatiore but on the BA musical theatre course, having previously got her HNC musical theatre studying at New College Lanarkshire in Motherwell for a year. Caitlin sings and also plays fiddle, piano and accordion and toured Scotland and the north of England on the Feis Rois Ceilidh Trail. Malcolm also plays guitar and sings.
Both from a young age knew they wanted to perform, both work in theatre as a career, both have won parts in the new production.
Malcolm said: “In a way, to be coming back to Eden Court with a full production that they are creating and going back to being a producing house – it feels this is not just a pipe dream but a viable career path and something people from the Highlands can go out and do. To be coming back and bringing this to Eden Court is genuinely going to be a very special thing.”
Caitlin added: “One of the things I love most about it is how much it reminds me of home – the topics that matter to the characters, the things we talk about when we go home. It’s so relateable for a Highland audience, but, as you say Malcolm, there is a universality as well which will give it a much broader reach. It’s a very exciting project to be part of.”
The Stamping Ground continues at Eden Court until July 30. More info: eden-court.co.uk
