Burns Makes A Return To Dumfries
Written by Kevin Rennie on July 13, 2012
Dumfries is getting set for the return of its most famous citizens Robert Burns and Jean Armour.
An ambitious new play called Life, Love and Liberty will once again see Burns treading the streets of Dumfries spreading radical political views, falling in love and being inspired to write poetry and song.
The play which has been commissioned by Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival has been scripted and directed by the veteran Scottish actor John Cairney. Mr Cairney has enjoyed an acting career which has spanned almost seven decades, although he can cite many film and television credits it was his portrayal of Burns in theatre productions that made him world famous. John felt that Dumfries had a profound effect on Burns and was his inspiration for many of his most famous works including Tam O Shanter and A Red Red Rose.
The play is described as a promenade theatre performance and will lead the audience in an outdoor procession from the Whitesands through key locations ending up with the death of Burns at Burns house. Event producer Sid Ambrose was keen to stress that although it has been planned as an outdoor event wet weather contingencies have been put in place .He said ” Given the miserable summer so far we have made plans to move the whole show into the theatre Royal should it rain heavily, for those looking to buy tickets and support the event we would like to stress that the show will go on no matter what the weather.
Pam Pumphrey chair of Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival was enthusiastic about the amount of community support that the event has received. She commented “So far we have had fantastic involvement from the Community, and I believe this will continue with lots of people turning out to enjoy a fun stroll through the town entertained by drama, music, song and dance. What they learn about the life and times of our town’s most famous son and national bard will surprise and amaze them.”
Three professional actors have been cast to play the lead parts. Gavin Paul, Helen Logan and Andrew john Tait are no strangers to treading the boards. They share a number of television, film and theatre credits which include Taggart and the gruesome horror movie Descent.
Helen Logan said “We are delighted to be involved in this exciting theatre production, Burns is important to Scotland but it has become apparent to me that he is particularly important to the people of Dumfries, l am really excited to be playing the part of Jean Armour.
Life Love And Liberty will take place over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of July, the three performances will begin at the following times Saturday 6.00pm Sunday 3.00pm Sunday 6.00pm.
Adult tickets are priced at £10.00 and can be purchased at midsteeple box office.
For more information, and to see the route of the performance, please check out this link, and be sure to keep an eye and ear on Alive to hear more, including an interview next week with the cast and director of the production – certainly not to be missed.
