Rapid Departure – Programme

RAPID DEPARTURE

A Right Lines Production

Directed by Mark Saunders

Written by Euan Martin and Dave Smith

Cast

Albert..………..…………….…………….James Bryce

Gloria…………….…………….…………Estrid Barton

Flora…………………………….Romana Abercromby

Eric………………………..………….……….Ross Allan

Connal……………….……..…….…….David Rankine

Reporter (on screen)……..……..Craig Anderson

Crew and Creative team

Stage Manager………………………..Mick Andrew

Stage Manager………….……………Brian Gorman

Administration………………..……….Euan Martin

Administration……………….……….Lucy Conway

Costume………………………..………….Kay Smith

Props……………………………………Dave Smith

Publicity Design………………………Trish O’ Grady

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ESTRID BARTON

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ESTRID was born in Edinburgh of Scottish and Austrian parentage and brought up in the north-east.  After studying English and German at Aberdeen University she trained as an actor at the Ecole Jacques Lecoq and at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Most of Estrid’s professional career has been in Scotland where she has worked for the Royal Lyceum, Communicado, Prime Productions, Eden Court, Stellar Quines, Wildcat, Brunton Theatre, Mull Theatre and Theatre Workshop, amongst other companies.

In January Estrid was involved in a development workshop of David Harrower’s DARK EARTH with Firebrand Theatre Company. She was in the first outing of Rapid Departure in the late spring of last year.  Shortly before she toured Scotland with a production of THE BOY AND THE BUNNET for Bigsky, narrating in Scots with musical accompaniment provided by professional musicians, and in 2014 she was a member of the Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Season where she played the Countess of Brocklehurst in THE ADMIRABLE CRICHTON, Sadie in PERFECT DAYS,  numerous roles in YELLOW ON THE BROOM and Trish in WHISKY KISSES, which was written by Right Lines’ Euan Martin and Dave Smith, with music by James Bryce.

Radio includes: SUNSET SONG for BBC Radio 4, CONFESSIONS OF A JUSTIFIED SINNER for BBC Radio 3, and numerous readings and short stories for BBC Radio Scotland.

Film and television work includes: DOLLY’S HOUSE for the Royal Scottish Conservatoire, BAD BROWN OWL and ST MATHURIN’S SCHOOL OF PRACTICAL JOKING for Tartan Smalls and CBBC, and TAGGART for STV.

ROSS ALLAN

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Theatre credits include: Peter Pan, Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty with Eden Court Theatre. ‘Striptease/Out At Sea’ by Slawomir Mrozek with The Citizens Theatre Company. ‘The Pokey Hat’ with Grinagog Theatre Company. ‘The Miracle Man’ by Douglas Maxwell, ‘Empty’ by Cathy Forde and ‘Truant’ with The National Theatre of Scotland.
‘John Gabriel Barclay’ by John Carnegie, ‘Top Table’ by Rob Drummond, ‘Elf Analysis’ by Morna Pearson and ‘Thieves and Boy’ by Hao Jinfang for Play, Pie and a Pint at Oran Mor. ‘White’ with Catherine Wheels Theatre Company. ‘Puss in Boots’ at The Brunton Theatre. ‘Rudolf’, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Snow White of the Seven De’Wharffs’ with Macrobert Theatre Stirling. ‘Decky Does a Bronco’ and ‘Fierce: An Urban Myth’ with Grid Iron Theatre Company and ‘Gagarin Way’ with the Theatre Royal Bath.

TV credits include: ’Still Game’ for The Comedy Unit. Taggart and ‘Rebus’ for SMG/STV and ‘Me Too’ for Cbeebies/Tattiemoon productions.

 

ROMANA ABERCROMBY

Romana Headshot small

Romana is thrilled to be working with Right Lines having performed in their play Whisky Kisses at Pitlochry Festival Theatre in 2014.

Theatre credits include: The Admirable Crichton, Whisky Kisses, Passing Places, Yellow on the Broom (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), Blackbird (Firebrand Theatre Co), The Baroness (Dogstar Theatre Co), The Guid Sisters, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Pinocchio (Royal Lyceum), The Track of the Cat (Bearplate), The Girls of Slender Means (Stellar Quines), Hannah and Harvey (Reeling and Writhing), Mary Rose, Time Gairden, The Quest for Excalibur (Theatre Alba), The Battle in the Hills, Stormwatchers (Theatre Enigma), The World (The Byre Theatre)

TV and Film credits include: River City (BBC), Taggart (STV), Lip Service (BBC), Clive Barkers’ Book of Blood (Matador Pictures), 4dVenture (Our Dynamic Earth)

Radio includes: A Lulu of a Kid (BBC Radio Scotland)

Romana won the Leon Sinden award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Tweeny in the Admirable Crichton at Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

 JAMES BRYCE

james bryce (trev) rescaledJAMES BRYCE has two hats. As an actor, he has appeared in over 100 plays all over the UK for such companies as Communicado, the Royal Lyceum, Vanishing Point, and The National. He has recorded almost 300 BBC radio broadcasts, 90 talking books, 30 Television and film productions. In May, he will be touring nationally as the older Nijinsky in Company Chordelia’s five-star Production, “Nijinsky’s Last Jump”. As a composer, he has written for numerous theatre companies (Benchtours, the Young Vic, Perth, The Lyceum, Musselburgh etc), BBC radio and the concert hall, and can be heard strumming his idiosyncratic songs in the Central Belt. He was composer of Right Lines’ musical “Whisky Kisses”, which was Pitlochry’s showcase production in 2014.  He has also written scripts for  BBC Radio Education,  and is badly in need of a secretary.

DAVID RANKINE

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DAVID RANKINE is an actor/ musician who hails from Elgin. He graduated from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in 2009 with a B.A. in Acting and the LIPA prize for Acting Ensemble. His credits include Blair Atholl in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at Perth Concert Hall, Dave in THE LIBRARY with Frozen Charlotte, Lysander/ Peter Quince in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’s Dream with Bard in the Botanics, ALADDIN at Eden Court, HOWL[ing] at The Arches/ The Traverse, Macbeth in MACBETH THE REMIX as part of the Findhorn Bay Arts Festival, Master Ford in the R.S.C. Dell Season’s THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, Uncle Sid in A MILLION MILES AWAY with Frozen Charlotte, Ryan Kendall/Dr Segura in Dustin Lance Hoffman’s 8 as part of the Glasgay Festival, Romeo in Lodestar Theatre Company’s production of ROMEO AND JULIET, and Ned/Marty in the U.K. tour of OVER THE RAINBOW: THE EVA CASSIDY STORY.

 

MARK SAUNDERS

Mark's photos cuMark is a Graduate of Durham University, (BA. Gen. Arts). His first professional work was with Theatre Workshop in Edinburgh. 1977 – 79.  He studied at Ecole Jacques Lecoq, Paris, and then returned to Scotland to resume his professional career. Throughout the 80’s Mark worked as a freelance teacher, director, deviser and performer, touring widely both in UK and abroad. He served on the SAC Dance and Mime panel and received several SAC awards and bursaries. Mark devised a variety of work, both solo and with others. These included a two-hander version of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, and a one-man show about the life of Charlie Chaplin. Mark has performed at many Edinburgh Festivals, and festivals in London, Amsterdam, Germany, Denmark and Hong Kong.  He was Artist-in-residence at the Glasgow Garden Festival 1988, and resident performer at Glasgow’s Glasgow (1990 City of Culture year). he has also undertaken extensive work in the corporate entertainment sector, including Trade Fairs in Europe and the States. Between 1992 – 2009, Mark was a full-time Lecturer in Movement at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow. During this time, he directed many plays, both classical and modern with some of these productions invited to Warsaw Theatre Academy and to the Essen Student Shakespeare Festival. Mark directed RSAMD entries to the Sam Wanamaker Festival at the Globe Theatre, London. He also directed the award-winning The Accidental Death of an Accordionist, The Wedding and Who Bares Wins for Right Lines Theatre Company. In 2009, Mark was appointed Head of the MA Classical and Contemporary Text Programme, at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RSAMD), a one-year post-graduate programme in acting and directing. He has been Chair of the Board for several Scottish-based theatre companies, including Benchtours, VoxMotus and Terra Incognita.

 

CRAIG ANDERSON (on Screen Reporter)

craig 3 cuBrought up in Perth, Craig went to Aberdeen University where he studied Law and Scottish History.  After graduating he got his first start in journalism with a news agency based in Brussels, where he worked for four years, latterly as the Herald’s European Correspondent. He returned to Scotland to work for what was then BBC Radio Highland, becoming senior producer responsible for the station’s English language output.  He spent several years as a freelance broadcaster and journalist, setting up his own production company, before re-joining the BBC as their Inverness-based television correspondent. During his career he has contributed to numerous broadcasting outlets and newspapers, making films for Channel Four, producing documentaries for the BBC World Service, writing for papers as diverse as and the Financial Times, the Economist and the Sun and even coming up with a motoring column for the Inverness Courier.   A fluent French speaker, he is a former Scottish TV Journalist of the Year and a trained video journalist capable of filming and editing his own reports. Craig’s interests include cars, travel and music – describing himself as a practising guitarist. He is married with three children and lives on the Black Isle.

 

MICK ANDREW

mick croppedMICK has been involved with touring theatre shows, many in theHighlands & Islands providing illumination and other technical services for nearly 30 years. Tours have been with 7:84, Mull Theatre, Highland Festival, Tosg Gaelic Theatre and Communicado amongst others. Previous show with Right Lines was the very successful Whisky Kisses. He also regularly works on numerous festivals including over 20 years at Glastonbury, T-in-the-Park and every Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, though due to current UK weather climate these usually mean being covered in mud & diesel, rather than getting a sun tan. Pyromaniac tendencies were developed by running the Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival during the mid 90s and are continued with his fire sculpture company “Skyefyre” who are regulars at Glastonbury & Edinburgh.

 BRIAN GORMAN

 brian g 01 cuFree until the age of five, then captured by the educational system, Brian emerged into the virtual world with a degree in civil engineering. He then worked as a Hollywood rigger before theatre work began to sporadically interrupt his life over the last twenty years. Brian has worked for numerous theatre and dance companies touring all over the UK and internationally. He has toured extensively in the Highlands & Islands with Cartoon Theatre and he has also been Technician/Production Manager on all Right Lines’ shows. He likes smiling!

  KAY SMITH 

kay cuKay graduated in drawing and painting from Edinburgh College of Art in 1983. Since then she has worked in theatre as an artist with companies including Welfare State, Fablevision, Edinburgh Puppets, and Arts in Motion. She has costumed for several Right Lines productions: The Wedding, The Accidental Death of an Accordionist, Who Bares Wins, From These Parts and most recently Be Silent or Be Killed. She lives in the Highlands and is delighted to be once again working with the company.

EUAN MARTIN and DAVE SMITH

RIGHT LINES PRODUCTIONS

Euan and dave 02Dave Smith and Euan Martin first met up in the percussion section of the ground-breaking Aberdeen electric ceilidh band “The Reel Aliens” in the mid-80s.  Today, hundreds of bands play for ceilidh dances every weekend across Scotland, but it was “The Reel Aliens” that pioneered the fusion of rock and ceilidh music with the use of electric instruments and drum and bass rhythm section.  The band led the field in popularising the “new wave” ceilidh, bringing the music and dancing to a much wider and younger audience. After the demise of the band, Dave and Euan pursued other interests and their career paths took very different directions, wending through a variety of occupations: social worker, wagon train operative, circus hand, oil worker, ceilidh consultant and theatre designer.

Many years later, when Dave was searching for a follow-up to his successful Highland Festival commission Hard Pressed a comedy about the aphrodisiac qualities of Islay cheese, Euan dusted down notes for an interactive comedy ceilidh murder mystery show which had been lying in a drawer for 10 years.  Their first writing collaboration, commissioned by the Highland Festival resulted in The Accidental Death of an Accordionist which toured the Highlands & Islands to great acclaim in 2001 and re-toured in 2002.  A second interactive comedy, The Wedding, was equally well-received during a tour in 2002.  Both shows played to sell-out audiences during a week-long run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The Highland Festival won the “Visionary Sponsorship” award at the Arts and Business Awards 2002 for its production of The Accidental Death of an Accordionist in partnership with Diageo.

As a result of these successful collaborations, Dave and Euan decided to form their own company, Right Lines Productions, as a vehicle for their new work.  In 2013, they celebrated 10 years of writing, producing and touring new theatre in Scotland.

RIGHT LINES PROJECTS

Miniatures (2004)

The first commission for Right Lines again came from The Highland Festival.  One for the Road – a short play on the theme of whisky was commissioned as part of a four piece show Miniatures which toured during the Highland Festival, June 2004.

Who Bares Wins (2004)

The first major tour organised by the company was Who Bares Wins – a two-hander theatre show inspired by the Naked Rambler.  A 15-date tour of the Highlands & Islands and North-East took place in December 2004, with funding support from Highlands and Islands Producers Fund.  Cast: Ron Emslie, Alyth McCormack. Director Mark Saunders, Stage Manager Brian Gorman.

This show garnered great reviews from audiences everywhere and needless to say, the subject matter generated a lot of interest from the media!  The show was featured on TV – BBC Scotland’s Reporting Scotland covered it twice – and radio: Good Morning Scotland, Newsdrive, BBC Radio Scotland, MFR, NECR and Broadcasting House, Radio 4 all featured the show.  The P&J ran several stories on the production and it appeared in several other local and national papers – and even made it to Page 3 in The Sun! It also attracted some controversy when two Highland schools felt unable to stage a performance!

Watching Bluebottles (2005)

The next production by the company was Watching Bluebottles – a one-man theatre show.  This project was funded jointly by the Highlands & Islands Producers Fund, Awards For All, MBSE, NEAT and The Moray Council.  The show toured to selected venues in the North-East in Spring 2005 and following this “pilot” project, a much wider tour took place in November 2005. Watching Bluebottles is a one-man show based on the life of a village hall- keeper. “Heaters, lights, keys… is that me done now?”  The old hall keeper recites his daily mantra as he prepares for one last bash – his own retirement party.  After years of service behind the scenes, the hall keeper turns the tables and takes us beyond the mundane chair-stacking and sweeping up to reveal a world of passion, pathos and life-changing experiences.

Illicit (2006)

Illicit is a fast-paced comedy show about hard-nosed ambition, illicit whisky and perfume!  Scotching the rumour that business start-up is singularly dull, Illicit neatly blurs the boundaries between fantasy and reality with a deluxe blend of interactive comedy, mission statements and technical wizardry – 100% proof that the show will be a barrel of laughs!  This one-woman show was commissioned by HIE Moray and toured during the Spirit of Speyside festival in 2006.

Whisky Kisses (2005 – 2010)

Right Lines’ musical Whisky Kisses progressed to the final of “Eden Court’s Highland Quest for a new Musical” competition which began in 2005.  The final in Ullapool took place in July 2006 and our production finished a very close second to the winning show The Sundowe. Following several development workshops in 2007 and a student production by RSAMD in 2008, a full production of Whisky Kisses was funded by SAC and toured Scotland in May 2010.

The Big Shop (2007)

We were approached by Symon MacIntyre of Puppet Lab, Edinburgh to write two short shows for a new version of his Big Shop project, held in Inverness in October 2007.

Belladrum Festival (2007)

We were commissioned by Joe Gibbs from Belladrum Festival to write a 2 minute advert for the 2007 festival.  Safe Listening can be viewed on YouTube!

The Accidental Death of an Accordionist (2008)

Collaboration with Mull Theatre led to a nine week SAC-funded Scottish tour of Accidental Death in summer 2008, including a three week fringe run in Edinburgh.

The Great Tartan Haggis of Tooriebrochan! (2009)

Awards For All assisted the funding of this community project which involved a community cast, two professional actors and three Moray primary schools.

 Whisky Kisses (2010)

A major Scottish tour of Whisky Kisses took place in May 2010. Starring Alyth McCormack, George Drennan, Ron Emslie, Paul Harper-Swan, Nathalie Toyne, Masashi Fujimoto, Trevor Allan Davies and Kinny Gardiner.  Director – Ian Grieve, Musical Director Karen MacIver.

Hi-Wireless (2011)

Right Lines Productions curated a new writing project for online radio plays.  We commissioned five Highland writers to deliver five 10 minute radio plays.  These were recorded and released on line on the Northings website – www.northings.com  Morrison’s Van, our contribution to the project – was released on 1st October 2011 in a four-part mini-serial over consecutive days. Starring Ron Emslie, Helen Mackay, Garry Collins and Morna Young.

HI-Wireless was re-launched in 2012 with support from Creative Scotland and Screen HI. There will 10 writing slots available to new writers and a piece written by Dave Smith of Right Lines.

Blood from a Stone (2011)

We were commissioned to write a 45 minute solo piece for the Play Pieces lunchtime theatre season in Inverness.  Blood from a Stone starred Elgin actor Garry Collins.

From These Parts (2012)

An Alien Abduction comedy funded by Northern Scottish Touring Fund, From These Parts toured in the North-East, Moray and the Highlands & Islands in June 2012.  Starring Ron Emslie, Helen Mackay, Ewan Donald and Vari Sylvester.  Director – Ian Grieve.

 Hall Tales (2013)

This cross-generational community project will involve the establishment of film-making workshops in association with six Moray Village halls.  The young film-makers will interview and record stories about the local village halls with senior members of the community and present the results in an exhibition/event which will coincided with a performance of Watching Bluebottles, a revival of the 2005 show starring Ron Emslie once again as the Hallkeeper.  This project ran from November 2012 – end of March 2013. Funder by Moray Leader and Awards for All.

 Be Silent or Be Killed (2013)

Following on from an initial workshop funded by National Theatre of Scotland, we adapted Roger Hunt’s book Be Silent or Be Killed, for the stage.  This is the extraordinary story of a North-East banker who was trapped in his hotel room, fighting for his life during the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.  Be Silent or Be Killed was funded by Creative Scotland and toured in May 2013.  Starring James Mackenzie, Ewan Donald and Helen Mackay.  Director – Ian Grieve.

 Whisky Kisses (2014)

Whisky Kisses was selected as the flagship production of Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s 2014 summer season.  The script has now been published by StageScripts and is available to amateur and professional companies.

Workshops

Right Lines Productions also presented a number of workshops in connection with the Masters & Champions programme at Moray Art Centre throughout the summer of 2012.  This included Comedy sketch-writing, film-making and Cartoon Theatre-style animation workshops.  We have also contributed to the Scottish Drama Training Network programme at Eden Court and Dundee Rep.

We took part in the first Culture Day in Forres in September 2013 and will be involved in with Findhorn Bay Arts with future projects.

Further details on all productions are available on –  Facebook – RightLinesPro and Twitter – RightLinesPro. And on the company website

www.rightlines.net