Beaches of St Valery by Stuart Hepburn
Kirky Players 18 May 2023
A very enjoyable, and at times very emotional few hours at the Turret Theatre in Kirkintilloch this evening watching the two one act plays on the theme of Lives Touched by War. Seascape looked at the theme of internment for civilians and Beaches of St Valery the fate of the 51st Highland division in June of 1940. Though both were enjoyable, Beaches was outstandingly good and so obvious why Kirky Players have received awards for their rendition of this play.
All three actors, Lewis Baird (as the young engineer/ soldier Callum) alongside Claire Connor (his fellow engineer/ soldier and later saviour and love interest) and Allan Cowan (as Old Callum looking back on his life / or as sergeant McGregor/ Mclean) took us through a range of emotions with the use of very minimum staging—3 chairs, a writing set and the odd change of clothing.
The intimacy of this little theatre with the addition of a well-chosen pipe tune, the singing of the lighthearted, ‘We’re going to hand out the washing on the Siegfried line’ as well as the more emotional ‘Flowers of the Forest’ as well as black and white images, including those of the Cameron Highlanders projected onto a backdrop, really was a great ‘stage’ for these three talented actors.
On a personal note, I hadn’t expected to be so moved but, as the play unfolded, I realised that this was also my father’s story: although from Glasgow, he volunteered for the 4th Battalion of the Queen’s own Cameron Highlanders, was with the 51st Highland division at the Maginot line and was one of the 9,000 captured and marched off to prisoner of war camps in 1940.
Thank you Kirky Players for a wonderful evening.
Mrs C. Fodey
Lives Touched by War is sold out but visit https://www.kirkintillochplayers.co.uk/next-production/ for information on future productions and on the British Community Drama Awards final in Belfast.
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