This month a group of Moray women and a unique young people’s performance company from Moray will take part in Scotland’s first International Theatre Arts Festival and Forum.

Dràma Na h-Alba (DNA) takes place in various venues in Inverness from 18 – 22 October. The  60 event programme includes performances by professional companies from Scotland, England, Wales and Sweden alongside youth and community groups from the area.

Fit Angels is a group of women that first came together to perform a short play as part of International Women’s Day in March.  Bitten by the acting bug the group decide they wanted to carry on working together and successfully applied for a performance slot at DNA.

The group is now devising a new show, Kissing Bandits, which will be presented at the Spectrum Centre, Inverness on Thursday 18th and Saturday 20th October at 10.00pm.  A preview performance of Kissing Bandits will be presented at the Red Shoes Theatre, Elgin at 8.00pm on Wednesday 17th October.  Admission is £3.00 on the door.

Kissing Bandits is a hard-edged but humorous look at issues affecting the lives of contemporary Scottish women.  Moving swiftly from character to character and location to location, the production interweaves the stories of a group of apparently ordinary women.  Told through monologues, short scenes and ensemble playing, themes of love, loss, jealousy and betrayal are played out in an empty space. Hogmanay…people to kiss…stories to tell…women in…the hairdressers…love…a club…a taxi…a toilet…WLTM…Why do we kiss complete strangers at New Year?  How desperate do you have to be to go speed dating?

Tickets for the Inverness performances of Kissing Bandits are £6.50 (£5 concession) from Eden Court Box Office in Debenhams (Mon - Sat 11.30am – 3.30pm) or on 01463 234234 (Mon – Fri 10.00am – 5.00pm) or online at www.thebooth.co.uk

Forres Parkour is a new and unique young people’s performance company from Moray.   They started as a purely recreational group and got their first taste of performance using their skills to bring to life the battle scenes in the National Theatre of Scotland’s ‘Elgin Macbeth’.

Rush is a new piece that has been devised by this group of young people through workshop and improvisation sessions over the last few months.   Rush is a hard hitting look at issues that effect young people’s lives as they adapt to situations and negotiate obstacles in order to get where they want to be.  Sometimes life seems to be rushing towards us and it can be difficult to get off the path or deviate from the route in front of us.  But some things can help us escape, give us the adrenaline rush, that excitement that confirms who we are. The performance combines monologues, short scenes, and dialogue with a heady mix of movement and physical theatre.    ‘Rush is raw, Rush is life’.

Life - a path strewn with obstacles. Choices to be made? Where do your loyalties lie? Time rushing towards what? Energy, excitement, adrenaline, danger, power, escape, release, freedom, rush… how do you get your high? Devised by young people from the Forres area.

Written, directed and produced by Jeni Herbert, Nick Fearne, Fraser Macdonald and Lee-Ann Cardle.

Rush will be presented at the Ironworks, Inverness on Friday 19th at 2.30pm and Sunday 21st October at 7.30pm.  There will be an additional street performance in Inverness city centre on Thursday 18th October at 3.00pm. 

Tickets for Rush are £6.50 (£5 concession) from Eden Court Box Office in Debenhams (Mon - Sat 11.30am – 3.30pm) or on 01463 234234 (Mon – Fri 10.00am – 5.00pm) or online at www.thebooth.co.uk

Further information from Nick Fearne, Arts Development Officer, Moray Council  01343 557148 nick.fearne@moray.gov.uk