Rantin

(Paperback)

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Description

A retired American steps off the plane at Prestwick, hoping to discover the land of his fathers. A beleaguered politician in Edinburgh dips her feet into a hot bath. An old drunk man in Peterhead has a mystical vision at the harbour. A supermarket checkout girl in Port Glasgow approaches work with a baseball bat... Part living-room gathering, part play, part gig session, Rantin draws on storytelling, live music and an unapologetically haphazard take on Scottish folk tradition, in an attempt to stitch together fragmented stories to reveal a botched patchwork of a nation.

Reviews

This gorgeous piece of ceilidh-theatre, where music swirls engagingly, is taut, nuanced and illuminating, and refuses to be bleak. * Four stars - Herald *
[Hurley is] setting out on an ambitious and tremendously worthwhile journey that seeks to link Scotland's familiar past to its fast-changing present * Scotsman *
A kind of state-of-the-nation ceilidh - an encapsulation of a Scotland that stretches from the Stornoway ferry to a private dining room in Edinburgh, via Donald Trump's Menie Estate and a supermarket in Port Glasgow - with a quietly radical energy of its own, Rantin echoes the sentiment of another Proclaimers song, Scotland's Story, with its all-embracing philosophy of a nation united in its diversity. * Four stars - Guardian *
These stories, sometimes narrated, sometimes performed, are interspersed with music and songs which range from traditional Scottish ballads to a modern rock music which is truly global. The piece is delivered with the charming informality of a living room ceilidh and an engaging, often bleak humour. * Telegraph *

Author Bio

Kieran Hurley is an award-winning writer, performer, and theatre maker based in Glasgow whose work has been presented internationally and throughout the U.K. Theatre includes Rantin (National Theatre of Scotland / The Arches), Beats (The Arches), Hitch (The Arches), Chalk Farm, co-written with AJ Taudevin (Oran Mor, ThickSkin). Other theatre includes The Jean Jacques Rousseau Show as co-writer (Oran Mor), Demons as co- writer (Oran Mor), London 2012: Glasgow (Theatre Uncut). At the time of print, Kieran is currently playwright in residence with the National Theatre of Scotland as recipient of the Pearson Playwrights' Scheme bursary.