HOUSES OF THE SEA by George Gunn - Saturday 20th October 2007

18th October 2007

Sometimes stories just need to be told.

Forged out of the tragedy of the Highland Clearances this is the story of one man's quest for truth which, ultimately, is beyond human knowing. From Stoer in Assynt the fate of Norman Macleod takes him to Cape Breton where he has to settle, as thousands of Highlanders had to do, as a refugee, an immigrant.

But Norman Macleod is no normal refugee. He will never be an "immigrant". He is determined to lead his people into the Promised Land.

Fired by a sense of justice and a fanatical belief in God, Norman Macleod has the innate Highland capacity for survival. His is the story of the Highland people themselves.

HOUSES OF THE SEA is the story of a class war and it is a war, which is still being fought in the hills and glens of the Highlands. The ruling elite forfeited their right to ownership of the land by displacing the native people. From this perspective the actions of a few short sighted and badly informed individuals seems criminal. The people of the north of Scotland can only overcome such injustice through art.

HOUSES OF THE SEA is an important and vibrant contribution to that process.

With a company of community actors themselves from the Highlands only Grey Coast is qualified to tell this story.

With a cast of Caithness actors and featuring Helen Mackay who recently starring as Solveig in the Dundee Rep/National Theatre of Scotland production of Ibsen's 'Peer Gynt', The Skraelings, the Grey Coast Community Theatre Company, present this exhilarating play of passion, extraordinary feats of human endurance and the necessary comedy people create when they are in extreme situations.

'Houses of the Sea' is no nostalgic look back to the past for there is no sentimentality found in this story. In its place is a challenging, modern piece of theatre from the pen of one of Scotland's foremost theatre poets. 'Houses of the Sea' by George Gunn is for all time and for the displaced everywhere.

Wick Old Parish Church
Saturday 20th October [AT] 7.30 pm
Donations payable at door on night

McCreadie Suite
Merkinch Community Centre
Inverness
Monday 22nd October ´7.00pm
as part of Drama na h-Alba
Tickets £6.50/£5.00
Tel. 01463 234234 visit www.thebooth.co.uk
or pay on door on the night