The Wicker Tree is a film adaptation of Robin Hardy’s 2006 novel, Cowboys for Christ, and contains similar elements to his 1973 film The Wicker Man, but it is neither a sequel nor a remake of that film.

The film focuses on Texas pop star turned gospel singer, Beth (Brittania Nicol) and her boyfriend, Steve (Henry Garrett), both devout evangelical Christians sent on a mission to spread the word of God to the people of Scotland.  Beth and Steve decide to begin their preaching at the May Day celebrations in the village. In an attempt to impress the locals, they agree to becoming the local Queen of the May and the Laddie for the festival, not realising the consequences of their decision and what awaits them.

Robin Hardy began his directorial career in Canada and the US, where he was mainly involved in making television drama. In the 1960’s he returned to London and became involved in making commercials and informational films for the company Hardy Shaffer Ferguson Avery, which Hardy formed with writer Anthony Shaffer.

As a result of this partnership, the two men were involved in the creation and production of Hardy’s feature debut, the pagan horror masterpiece The Wicker Man. Although now considered a classic (at the time, its star Christopher Lee regarded it as his finest work), the film suffered after its producers made extensive cuts. Thanks partly to the subsequent disappearance of the original negative, it took nearly thirty years for the full-length version to be released in Britain.

Lisa Ward, Marketing Officer at Shetland Arts, said: “This is a unique opportunity to see a new film by celebrated director and writer Robin Hardy. I expect there will be a lot of interest in the screening.”

The screening is free of charge but Shetland Arts strongly recommends booking tickets to ensure a seat. Tickets can be booked through Shetland Box Office online at http://www.shetlandboxoffice.org or by calling 01595 745 555.

On the 17th of November 1929, Netta Fornario, aged 32, a practicing Golden Dawn magician, was found dead on Iona.  Naked apart from a silver necklace, she was lying on a cross cut from turf with a knife nearby, and with no visible injuries except a strange pattern of cuts on her heels.  Clutched in her perfectly manicured hand was a sheaf of incomprehensible letters from an unidentified stranger.  

Her death remains a mystery to this day.  Was she murdered by people offended by her unconventional views?  Was her death supernatural or merely the inevitable conclusion of untreated paranoid schizophrenia?  The Mysterious Death of Netta Fornario is a chilling account mixing fiction with the real events of a still controversial death, suitable for age 14+.

The newly commissioned script, using exciting imaging techniques to create a stunning visual landscape, marks the first collaboration between two Highland-based theatre-makers, the long-established Mull Theatre and one of Scotland’s most exciting new creative companies, Wildbird. These companies are brought together and the production funded by North by North-East, the Northern Scottish Touring Fund, and the tour within Argyll and Shetland is funded by Scotland’s Islands 2011.

Writer/director Chris Lee says “I first came across Netta Fornario and the strange story of her tragic death on Iona whilst researching traditional tales for a possible Christmas show for primary school audiences. She was tucked away amongst the Sithan and the Red Caps and all the other mythical beings and folk tales of Scotland; a completely original, 20th-century incarnation of magic and mystery.

“I knew instantly that I wanted to tell her story, or more accurately, a story with a version of Netta at the heart of it; and that the roots of this telling lay in the late 19th and early 20th century’s fascination with all things Gothic. Stories such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, that fascinate, attract and repulse at the same time. All of these kinds of tale touch something universal in us, something subconscious that is tied up with our own fear of death, moral degradation, and loss of control; something that seems at the same time to be inextricably linked to our most dangerous desires.

“In The Mysterious Death of Netta Fornario, I have taken the scant facts around Netta’s strange demise, that are available to even the most diligent researcher; including some of the wilder theories that surround the actual recorded events; and used them to create a Gothic story of my own. It shamelessly borrows from those classic stories that have gone before, to make a new play that is immersed in madness, murder, magic and decay, that has at its heart, a truly memorable character.”

Performances are in the Walls Hall on Monday 13 June, and at the Garrison Theatre on Tuesday 14 and Wednesday 15 June.  Tickets are on sale now from Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, tel. 01595 745555 | www.shetlandboxoffice.org.   Suitable for age 14+.

While he is Shetland Tony Mills will also be runing a series of free dance workshops for secondary age group (12-17) and adults (over 17). Download poster for more details.

For more details contact emily.sharp@shetlandarts.org

There will be a series of three workshops for the secondary age range (12 -17).  These will be held on Monday 11^th October (1.00 – 3.00) and Tuesday 12^th October (10.00 – 12.00 and 1.00 – 3.00).  It is expected that participants will be available for all 3 sessions and there might be the chance to share a piece of created dance at the end of the third session.  There is also a one off workshop for adults (aged 17 and over) on the Monday night (7.00 – 8.30).

The workshops all take place at the Garrison Theatre and there are only 16 places available.  Because of the number restrictions, booking is essential even though there is no charge for the workshops.  Bookings can be made at Shetland Box Office on 01595 745555.

The pieces he is performing are highly charged and contrasting in style, both asserting powerful choreographic language and technique and pushing inimitable physical extremes.  Watch iT!, a hit during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2009, is a multi media dance about one man’s love hate relationship with his TV, expressed through a striking mix of break-dance, physical theatre and cutting-edge animation.  Such A Bloke by award winning choreographer Janis Claxton, is an emotionally driven, semi autobiographical look into Tony’s experiences of futility and frustration as a bloke.

As part of his visit to Shetland, Tony Mills will also be running dance workshops at the Garrison Theatre on Monday 11^th and Tuesday 12^th October.

Tony is delighted to be coming to Shetland.  “Growing up in Orkney, I never got the chance to visit Shetland. I’m proud and excited about showing my solos there and that I can finally make the trip!”

You can watch a video of Tony Mills performing here.

Tickets for Watch iT! and Such A Bloke are £10/6 and are available from Shetland Box Office, 01595 743843.

If you are interested in the competition please download the  details: Christmas Card Competition Details.

The deadline for entries is 30th September 2010.

For further information please contact jane.matthews@shetlandarts.org

For up to date film information see our Films @ The Garrison Theatre page
(http://www.shetlandarts.org/whats-on/garrison-film)

Or, buy tickets online now at http://www.shetlandboxoffice.org/

The 2009 Shetland Guitar Festival will take place between Friday 18th and Sunday 20th September with concerts in Unst, Lerwick, Brae and Bigton, educational events in schools throughout Shetland and the Classic Guitar Show and Trade Fair on Sunday 20th in Islesburgh Centre.

Known locally as the “Peerie Willie” Guitar Festival, the Shetland Arts event is dedicated to the memory of the late Peerie Willie Johnson, the highly regarded Shetland guitarist who pioneered the jazz influenced accompaniment style now prevalent in traditional Shetland music. Willie was influenced by the jazz musicians he heard on the radio as a young man, particularly guitarist Django Reinhardt, and this years festival has a “Gypsy Jazz” theme as tribute.

The festival gives audiences a chance to experience world-class performers playing a variety of styles on one of the world’s most popular and versatile instruments. As well as the visiting artists, the festival line up boasts some exceptional local players and young up and coming musicians.

Visiting artists

Visiting artists include: Lulo Reinhardt, great grandnephew of the late great Django; Itamar Erez, an Israeli guitarist, pianist and composer; Brian Gore, an American steel strung acoustic player; and Havana Swing, a Scottish ‘Hot Jazz’ quintet featuring three guitars, double bass and clarinet. Visit the Shetland Guitar Festival page for more information.

Concerts

On Friday 18th in the Garrison Theatre, Lerwick, Lulo Reinhardt, Itamar Erez and Brian Gore will play a range of solo, duet and trio pieces. The three guitarists are currently on tour together under the International Guitar Night moniker, a project that aims to bring together interesting and innovative guitarists to exchange musical ideas, highlighting the virtuosity and diversity within the world of acoustic guitar. Young local guitarists Adam Johnson from Brae and Jonny Polson from Lerwick will support them.

The festival will also be heading north to Baltasound Hall on Friday 18th where Havana Swing will perform their trademark brand of ‘Hot Club de Paris’ inspired jazz. They will be supported by last year’s Young Fiddler of the Year Maggie Adamson accompanied by well-known local guitarist Brian Nicholson, and young Unst guitarist Megan Burns who recently won over the crowds with her performance at UnstFest. The concert will be hosted by Unst based comedian and guitarist Sandy Nelson.

Then it’s south on Saturday 19th to the Bigton Hall where Lulo Reinhardt and Itamar Erez will headline, with support from Norman Goudie and Friends, a band rumoured to include prominent local musicians and jazz stalwarts Jack Robertson and Drew Robertson.

In Lerwick on Saturday 19th, in the opulent surroundings of Lerwick Town Hall, audiences will have another chance to see Havana Swing perform, supported by Maggie Adamson and Brian Nicholson.

Also on Saturday 19th, in the Long Room of Busta House Hotel, there will be a special acoustic performance by Brian Gore and Shetland Young Musician of the Year, singer Erin Sandison. The two musicians have been collaborating on songs by exchanging musical ideas across the Atlantic via the Internet and the Busta concert will be the first time they have played together. They will be supported by Adam Johnson and Jonny Polson.

All concerts except the Garrison Theatre will have bar facilities and under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.

Tickets

Tickets costing £12 (£10 concessions) for all concerts are available from festival sponsors High Level Music, 1 Gardie Court, Lerwick, 01595 692 618 and Shetland Box Office, Islesburgh Community Centre, Lerwick – 01595 745 555. Box Office customers can buy tickets by credit card over the phone and collect them at the venue.

Classic Guitar Show and Trade Fair

As part of this year’s festival, the first Shetland Classic Guitar Show and Trade Fair will be held on Sunday 20th September. The show will feature a range of guitars including vintage, historically significant, hand made and unusual instruments. The trade fair will give visitors a chance to try out guitars, amps and effects pedals from manufacturers including Skyinbow, Moon Guitars, Ibanez and Fender. There will also be workshops hosted by artists performing at this year’s festival and an open stage concert to allow Shetland’s aspiring young guitarists to take to the stage and show off their skills. To exhibit guitars or perform on the open stage contact Bryan Peterson at Shetland Arts on 01595 743 843 or Brian Nicholson at High Level Music on 01595 692 618

There will be a £2 entry charge payable at the door.

High Level Music and the Research Fishing Company sponsor the Shetland Guitar Festival

The show, written by Phil Woods is a modern version of the 14^th Century original.  In Chaucer’s Middle English work, some two dozen tales are told by a group of pilgrims travelling from London to Canterbury.  In this version, eight of the tales are presented as part of an annual ‘Geoffrey Chaucer Canterbury Tales Storytelling Competition’.  The featured tales reflect the variety of the original with presentations that feature heroic love, singing hens, slapstick and a healthy dose of near the knuckle humour.  In fact the show is described as ‘bold, boisterous and bawdy’ and director John Haswell said; “the approach adopted by the company is best described as ‘Carry on Canterbury’.  Some of the original tales are very rude and this is reflected in the show.  However, it is hopefully a very funny show in the tradition of much of British comedy.  For the young cast one of the most difficult tasks has been to adopt different theatrical styles for the tales and perform some of these in a manner that reflect elements of the worst excesses of amateur dramatics.”

The production features a company of 30 who have worked intensively on the show for the past month, giving up much of their school holidays.  Featuring live music by Philip Taylor and technical design by David Wagstaff, the production promises to feature all the creativity and flair associated with the nationally renowned company but unusually, with less of the angst and misery that define so many of the productions.

This vulgar romp through the nether regions of medieval storytelling is performed at the Garrison Theatre on Thursday 27^th and Friday 28^th August at 7.30pm.  On Saturday 29^th August there is a performance at 2.30 pm.  Tickets priced £7/£5 (concessions) are available from Shetland Box Office on Lerwick 745555.

Tavish Scott, our MSP, was due to welcome everyone to Shetland but a pressing and much more important engagement arose (congratulations to Tavish and Kirsten on the birth of a baby boy!). Director of Shetland Arts, Gwilym Gibbons took the helm to welcome the visitors and, after a few words about ferries and workshops from myself, our students dispersed into their classes. This is the first year we have run The Art Craft Experience (contemporary knitting techniques) and Makkin Wi Wirds (creative writing) and our workshops run by Wilma Cooper and Jenni Bradley (ACE) and Jen Hadfield (writer and winner of the TS Elliot prize 2008) continued well past their allotted time due to the enthusiasm of both tutors and students.

The fiddle workshops on day one give everyone a chance to re-grade their speed of learning; we teach by ear and each of the four classes are set by the speed a student can learn. This year we have fewer absolute beginners and more of the medium to fast learners, and the fastest class learned four tunes from Bryan Gear and Violet Tulloch in the first hour… that’s going to be some catalogue of tunes by the end of the week!

The afternoon was rounded off with a great youth session. We sprung on the under 25’s that they could play a set of tunes in our headline concert on Saturday, but listening to that practice they were all more than up for the task; there are some great young players with us this year.

The evenings Dance at Islesburgh was a sell out and from 7.30 until 9.30 the floor was never empty. A short story from Elma Johnson about a magic fiddle that broke into a thousand pieces after its owner died was quickly followed by a Boston Two Step and the night began. Jim Halcrow’s Dance band is always a hit on the first evening of Fiddle Frenzy and Maria Leask, Shetland Arts’ Traditional Dance tutor, was on hand to walk our visitors who are new to Shetland through some of our dances before firing into the full speed version.

The day didn’t finish there, as everyone left Islesburgh they headed for the festival Club in the Garrison Theatre for tunes and tales. This is the first year we’ve used backstage at the theatre for the Festival club and it seemed to go very well. Carol Duncan not only administrates the festival she also stepped up to the mark to become our barmaid this week (now that’s dedication!). The Shetland Fiddlers joined us for a tune and the theatre was ringing to the sound of fiddles, banjos, pianos and mandolins till well after midnight. Slightly earlier than we sometimes end up playing until, but not surprising on the first night as many folk had travelled up that day, and some had taken the ferry option and not taken cabins. 14 hours overnight followed by a full on day of tunes. I’ve still to speak to the writers, knitters and story tellers about last night, but I’ll catch up with them this morning and see how they got on.

It was a great day and I hope that everyone got some rest last night as we’re about to start all over again. Having realised that all we ate yesterday was one bacon roll and a Panini, I’ve had a huge breakfast to ensure my energy levels remain up…. and lots of coffee will be the order of the day!

Looking forward to the first concert in the Garrison tonight at 7.30 with Bryan Gear and Violet Tulloch, and our tutors and storytellers.