Writer: Niamh O’Donnell
Director: Anna Millington
The Highland Clearances in 19th Century Scotland have been described as one of the darkest moments in Scottish history. Alongside the devastating impact on many Scottish communities, is the complete ignorance most British people have of this shocking scandal. Those who may be acquainted with the history of the Holocaust or slave trade may know almost nothing of this historic national tragedy.
Set over two years in the 19th-century Scottish Highlands, Cianalas is an important play that shares with audiences the inhumanity of this agricultural pogrom. When landowners or ‘the Laird’ decided sheep were a better investment than people, huge numbers of houses were burnt to the ground with mass evictions and murders. Those who could headed to the coast or Canada. Cianalas is the story of one community’s resistance, and this production is dramatized with passion and heart.
The use of traditional live music sets the scene as a group of young women carry out their domestic chores on the land. They are all at different ages and stages of their lives from the young girl who’s never been kissed to the wise grandma who’s seen it all. Ùna played by the writer, Niamh O’Donnell, lives with her gruff protective widowed father, Seamus, played by Mark Moore. As the women attempt to negotiate love, family and future, a malign force is at work and a thick, black smoke on the horizon. Could the rumours be true?
With energetic direction from Anna Millington, there’s rarely a dull moment in this historical saga which combines love, war, music and dance. The relationships between family members, neighbours and soldiers are well drawn out with strong committed performances from a cast of eight. But it’s the deep attachment to the land and nature that constitutes the primary relationship, and this works narratively to make what’s to come even more horrific.
Gaelic is used in parts with the dialogue updated and modernised to make it accessible to new and younger audiences although purists may baulk at the sound of Glaswegian accents in these staged Highlands or the use of contemporary colloquialisms. While there are some issues with staging in the final scene, with the performer giving the big speech tucked at the back of the group, it’s an ambitious piece of impressive work, epic in scale and sure to find a welcome home on many more stages with similarly enamoured audiences.
Reviewed on 31 July 2024
Camden Fringe runs until 25 August 2024
