In the build up for BIG SHOP INVERNESS 17 - 20 October 2007, Symon Macintyre and his team of performers designers and set-builders, have  turned  the Old HSBS building on the Longman Industrial Estate into a hive of artistic activity. These performances range from the hilarious to the provocative and are written by John Harvey and Dave Smith and Euan Martin.

The Inverness Big Shop is the  lightning  strike event that brings six 15 minute performances of widely varying styles to  vacant premises in the heart of the City.

Conceived by Artistic Director Symon Macintyre The  Big Shop Inverness will, in six weeks,  turn the very fabric of the space it finds into the show you see.

Even as you read this premises donated by Rydens, Upland Developments, Allied Souter Jaffrey's, and Burns and Partners are being transformed into venues that will amaze and delight.

The six shows you will see are:

• Mostek (The Footbridge) - A Polish Migrant and his daughter stand beside a  bridge that cannot take their weight. In order in order to cross the bridge and gain the other Country. He must  decide which stories to keep and which to throw away.
• Astral Job Centre - Set in the Old Job Centre on the High street this play  is about the Agency that finds employment for prophets and seers. Many strange applicants are waiting in line for  the opportunities but few are fully qualified.
• At Struthers Lane we board a Mysterious Tour Bus for the Wee Tartan Shoppie. Expect to visit to an unusual Gift shop with a nasty secret lurking behind its walls.
• The Cage is a strange performance that looks at those coping on the edges of this booming city.
• The Inverness Mystery takes us to the BBC Home service studios to witness an all star cast reading the 3rd instalment of this 4 part thriller. All special effects are done live!
• Forest is a very bizarre and abstract piece set in a forest clearing. The Audience listening to headphones whilst unusual events unfold.

The Big Shop Invnerss starts at 7.30pm when 4 guided groups set out across the streets of the city.... be prompt latecomers may be lost.

Advance tickets  can be bought on-line from www.thebooth.co.uk on the phone from  Eden Court Box Office 01463 234 234 or from 6pm on the night at Hootananny's Pub, Church Street.

Artistic Director: Symon Macintyre, from Nairn  has over 25 years experience in running large scale site-specific events. He is also writer, performer and director in both theatre and television. Symon is Artistic Director of The Puppet Lab and produced & directed three previous ‘Big-Shops’ in  Nairn, Forres and Edinburgh.

Writers:

• John Harvey - John has been the writer for The Big Shop in all its previous incarnations and has written for every major Scottish Theatre & Dance Company you can think of over the last 20 years including TAG, Lung Ha’s & Communicado (where he wrote their first show and others to follow). Perhaps the work which John is most renowned for is Witches Blood which is still very much talked about as a landmark in community theatre.
• Euan Martin and Dave Smith - This is Dave and Euan's first Big Shop. Their writing partnership is now well-established and Dave and Euan have formed their own company Right Lines productions as a vehicle for their new work. The first production as Right Lines was 'Who Bares Wins'(2004), a hugely successful farce based on the antics of the Naked Rambler. In 2006, the company produced 'Illicit', a one woman show about the perils of business start-up, illicit whisky and perfume.

Designer:

• Iain Halket - Iain has designed all the previous Big Shop Projects his design work includes Finders Keepers for Benchtours / Lemon Tree, The Big Shop, and Manon Lescaut for Theatre Sans Frontiers. Iain also runs The Folding Theatre Company, performing throughout the UK and internationally.

The Big Shop is funded by Highland 2007 , Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The Highland Council,  Awards for All Lottery fund and The City Centre Management Group.