This is an individual and collective story of vanishing villages, performed and told by a poet, along with live music.

Artist/Company
Tom Pow & The Galloway Agreement [From Scotland, UK]
Date
Saturday, 23 September (National Holiday),18:00-
Sunday, 24 September,18:00-
*There will be a talkback after each performance.
Running Time
70 minutes
Venue
BIRD Theatre [Theatre]
Price
Adults: 2,800yen*
Students: 1,000 yen
under 18: 500yen
Preschool-aged children: Free
*Including one drink voucher for use at the Café
Age Recommendation
We recommend that children under 10 years of age should be accompanied by adults.
Language
Performed in English with Japanese subtitles
Mobile subtitles
Mobile devices for Japanese or English subtitles available
© Andrew Wilson
About the programme開く

When a village = a small community disappears, it is not only the population, economy or numbers that disappear. What disappears is the history, the stories that the nameless people who lived there had weaved over a long time. The declining birthrate and ageing population plague us in Japan. This is a collection of beautiful memories a Scottish poet picked up while walking through European villages facing the same problems.

Cast/Staff開く

Original script by Tom Pow

Music by The Galloway Agreement

Direction by Matthew Zajac

Performed by Tom Pow
and The Galloway Agreement
Wendy Stewart (harp, vocals)
Ruth Morris (nyckelharpa)
Gavin Marwick (fiddle)
Stuart Macpherson (double bass)

Original live score by The Galloway Agreement

Original lighting design/photo credits Andrew Wilson

Lighting technician Alberto Santos Bellido

Sound Design by Stuart Macpherson

Digital Assets by Emma Dove

Message from the writer開く

When I began my research on dying villages, I was prompted by articles about the falling birthrates and the ageing populations in villages throughout Europe. I travelled from Spain to Russia, visiting such villages. At the same time I was aware that Europe was not alone in its rural demographic problems. 2007, the year I began, was the year when for the first time more people in the world were living in cities than in rural areas. Reading about problems elsewhere, I learnt about similar challenges faced in Japan. The Village and The Road, in which my text is woven through the music of the Galloway Agreement, is our invitation to a world and to a conversation. We are thrilled to have this opportunity to perform it at The Bird Theatre Festival.

Tom Pow

Musician's profile開く

The Galloway Agreement

is a collaboration featuring four renowned traditional musicians; Wendy Stewart (harp, vocals), Ruth Morris (alto and tenor nyckelharpa), Gavin Marwick (fiddle), and Stuart Macpherson (double bass). These world class musicians are all based in Dumfries and Galloway. They originally came together as invited artists to record on Wendy's album, Folds in the Field. They enjoyed playing together so much that they decided to form this quartet, with quite a different instrumental line-up and choice of material from a more usual string quartet! Their repertoire is a mixture of original compositions and favourite tunes and songs from Scotland and other European traditions.

Artist's profile開く

Tom Pow

He received a Creative Scotland Award to respond in poetry and prose to the phenomenon of dying villages in Europe. Travels to Northern Spain, Central France, Southern Italy, Eastern Germany, Bulgaria, Western Poland and Russia, and Northern Scotland, resulted in a rich archive of recordings, photographs, and writings, including In Another World – Among Europe's Dying Villages (Polygon, 2012).

Host/Grant開く

Creative Scotland

Made in Scotland

Scottish Storytelling Centre

Theatre Royal Dumfries

Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival

Dumfries and Galloway Unlimited

Scotbelge Charitable trust

Dame Barbara Kelley

Peter Renwick