Caravan tales back on the road

THERE’S no escaping the National Theatre of Scotland (NToS) this week with no less than three separate productions vying to get bums on seats in and around the Capital.

27, their co-production with the Royal Lyceum, is now in its third week at the Grindlay Street theatre; Men Should Weep is running at the King’s and tonight, NToS’ travelling tales stops off at the Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh.

Tall Tales For Small People is based on the work of the late storyteller and Scottish traveller Duncan Williamson.

As a travelling family make their way up to Blairgowrie for the berry picking, they stop for the night and exchange centuries’ old stories from the world of travellers’ tales.

This collection of stories has been woven into a tapestry of laughter and adventure.

Creep up to the campfire to hear about hunchbacks befriending swans, enchanted pots that fill with gold and a girl who is saved from the body-snatchers by a pair of magic boots.

‘Giggles by the bucket load, a touch of the macabre, magical transformations and fantastic live music’ promise to breathe life back into tales such as The Hunchback And The Swan and The Girl And The Boots, traditional yarns that have been passed from father to son and from mother to daughter inside the Scottish travelling community for generations.

Written and directed by Gerry Mulgrew, Tall Tales For Small People was premiered in 1995 by Communicado Theatre Company, co-producers of the current production.

The cast of Tall Tales For Small People is led by Scott Fletcher of Gary: Tank Commander fame, who is joined on stage by Iain Macrae Calum, Ceit Kearney, Finlay Welsh Iain and Angela Hardie.

Tall Tales For Small People, Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, tonight, 7pm, £6-£22 (for a family of four), 0131-665 2240 Suitable for 8+