Rantin' on Tour

The National Theatre of Scotland is bringing new work Rantin to ‘intimate venues’ around Scotland this January and February. In these welcoming, and often rural surrounds, Rantin weaves together images of Scotland, exploring the influence of the past on the present, the creation of the culture and identity of a nation. 

 It is safe to assume that this strong, Scottish performance will in some way engage in the independence debate, with Kieran Hurley, the acclaimed theatre-maker behind it, an active part of National Collective – a group of artists and creatives in support of Scottish Independence. Hurley has already been lauded for his previous productions, with solo show Beats recently completing a tour of the UK after much success as part of the Arches Behaviour Festival in 2012 and two years of Fringe success, and he's just completed a year in residence with the National Theatre as a recipient of the Pearson Playwrights’ Scheme bursary. 

Seen already as part of the Auteurs project for the 2013 Arches Behaviour festival, Rantin brings together music and theatre, with Hurley working alongside musicians Gav Prentice and Drew Wright, as well as theatre-maker Julia Taudevin and collaborative writer and dramaturg Liam Hurley. This interplay of music and storytelling aims to emulate and bring out the Scottish folk tradition, aided only by the locating of a character from the performance as coming from each different town the tour will be stopping at, starting at Cove Burgh Hall, Kilcreggan on 28 January and ending at the Paisley Museum on Saturday 1 March. The politics, the storytelling, and the folk-like feel are bound to weave together a fantastically enjoyable and thought-provoking evening. [Emma Ainley-Walker]