National Theatre of Scotland's Unique Tour of Galway

GALWAY ARTS FESTIVAL

Presents

National Theatre of Scotland's unique tour of Galway

One of the most prestigious theatre companies in the world The National Theatre of Scotland, are set to perform a unique tour of County Galway during this year's Galway Arts Festival.

The company will perform in Galway City; St. Fursa's Hall in Headford and in the community hall on Inishbofin. Long Gone Lonesome by Duncan McClean celebrates the life of fisherman and crofter Thomas Fraser who was one of Scotland's most fascinating musical heroes. From the remote island of Burra, Shetland, Fraser was obsessed with country music and the blues, and mastered the styles of his idols from Jimmie Rodgers to Hank Williams and made their songs his own.

Long Gone Lonesome directed by NTS artistic director Vicky Featherstone is a beautiful evening of song and story-telling in the hands of Orcadian western swingers The Lone Star Swing Band, with novelist, playwright and musician Duncan McLean at the helm.  McLean was born in Aberdeenshire in 1964 and forms part of that influential bunch of then young writers who dominated the Scottish writing scene of the 1990s such as Alan Warner, Irvine Welsh, James Meek, A L Kennedy, Laura Hird, and Gordon Legge. His last play, Aalst, produced by the National Theatre of Scotland has built a reputation as a powerful and complex piece of modern theatre.

Commenting on the tour, Galway Arts Festival's Artistic Director Paul Fahy said, "We are really thrilled to welcome Scotland's National Theatre to Galway, and we are so pleased to take the show out of the city to Headford and Inishbofin. We love presenting work when we can on the islands of the coast of Galway and had a very successful project with Hughie O'Donoghue on Inis Oirr in 2006. This show has such a strong connection with the Scottish islands and it is so exciting to present the work on of our own islands."

Based in Glasgow, The National Theatre of Scotland is a theatre company with an adventurous streak at their heart and a strong desire not to do things conventionally. Their worldwide hit Black Watch, which began its life in a drill hall in Edinburgh, has played on stages from New York to London and Sydney to Los Angeles picking up prestigious awards around the globe.

Long Gone Lonesome is designed to set your toes tapping, your heart racing and your emotions running high. It will take place in Galway city on the 20, 21, 22 July, St. Fursa's Hall, Headford on Friday 23^rd July and Inishbofin Community Centre on Saturday 24^th July at 8pm.

The 33rd Galway Arts Festival runs from 12^th-25^th July 2010. The festival programme for 2010 will be announced on Thursday 27th May and available to download at www.galwayartsfestival.com on this date.

Ends.

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gwen O'Sullivan

Galway Arts Festival Publicist

pressoffice@galwayartsfestival.com

+353 87 6601592