Premiered at Eden Court Theatre on 4th May 2024
Dip a rag in the burn,
Knot it to the tree,
In its decay,
Comes the remedy.
A lone clootie tree stands between the breathing and the buried, the hurt and the healing, the forgotten and the future.
A journalist returns home, determined to unravel a Victorian mystery of a suspicious death. The history she reveals exposes secrets that had been buried for generations.
By the clootie tree, in a place meant for recovery and wellbeing, tragic forces are looming, ever-present.
The Wound, the Rag and the In-Between brings together Highland theatre-makers to tell an innovative story set in the Far North of Scotland, past and present.
Commissioned by Vivid Roots Collective to explore gender inequalities in medicine, emerging Highland playwright, Annie MacDonald, offers a poignant and powerful response, telling a story which reaches across centuries. The Wound, the Rag and the In-Between asks unsettling questions about the spaces between trust, belief and recovery.
The Wound, the Rag and the In-Between was performed at Eden Court on Saturday 4 May 2024 (7.30pm).
The Wound, the Rag and the In-Between is funded by the National Lottery via Creative Scotland, and supported by Eden Court.
This play was commissioned alongside the HYSTERIA R&D in 2022. Annie was selected for this commission through an open recruitment process. You can learn more about HYSTERIA by clicking the image below.
Access to healthcare and medical male-body bias is a serious issue in the contemporary, and part of a centuries-old problem of male doctors practicing on male bodies. The Young Women’s Movement recently released a report about young women’s experiences of accessing healthcare, and you can read it here.
The core team are all emerging and early-career artists, and the production will be carried out in line with the company’s ethos: to create professional opportunities for Highland and emerging theatre-makers. We are recruiting a production team and five cast members for this premiere, which you can see above.
To enhance the professional development opportunities, we always work with mentors on our projects. Playwright, Annie MacDonald, has been supported by Birds of Paradise, Matthew Zajac of Dogstar Theatre, and Sara Shaarawi on the development of the play; director, Keira Smith, is being supported by Jack Nurse of Wonder Fools; and production/stage manager, Caitlin Riddell, is being supported by Fi Fraser.
Our Cast
Cindy Awor | Lubna
Cindy graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a BA (Hons) in Stage and Screen Acting in 2022 and was selected for the Citizens Theatre 2022 Graduate Actor Scheme. Her stage credits include: Red Riding Hood, The Comedy of Errors, Moonset (Citizens Theatre), and her TV and Film credits include: First Footing (BBC Scotland); Dog Squad (CBeebies); Hen Do (Goldie Luck Productions).
Megan Macdonald | Niamh
Megan is an early career actor from the Highlands. She moved to Edinburgh to begin her training at Performing Arts Studio Scotland (PASS) HND in Acting & Performance, then studied further at Rose Bruford College in London. The pandemic brought her back home to the Highlands where her professional career began, firstly in Theatre In Education then, SPARK Festival at Eden Court in partnership with Dogstar Theatre and Playwrights’ Studio Scotland.
Rosemary MacDonald | Mairead
Rosemary is a Scottish emerging performer, theatre-maker, and facilitator based in Glasgow. She studied at North East Scotland College (NESCol) and the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) graduating with a First Class BA(Hons) in Performance. She has been involved in theatre from a young age, developing her skills in stage, screen, and musical theatre throughout her education and further training.
Poppy Charteris | Helena
Poppy is an emerging performer from the Inverness area. She began her acting training at the University of the Highlands and Islands and is a recent Acting and Performance BA(Hons) graduate at Queen Margaret University, where she received classical training in both stage and screen and most recently performed the role of Donna Lucia in Charley’s Aunt.
Tiger Mitchell | Torcal
Tiger is a Scottish-Thai actor-musician from Fife, based in Edinburgh. Graduating in 2021 with a BA (Hons) in Acting.
Credits include: Annika (Black Camel Productions), Aladdin; Jack and The Beanstalk (Perth Theatre and Concert Hall), Spring! (Starcatchers), Olive the Other Reindeer (Tron Theatre), Back to Normal (Wonder Fools), Class Act (Traverse Theatre)
Our Team
Annie MacDonald | Playwright
Annie is a writer based in the Scottish Highlands, who co-hosts the hit podcast Stories of Scotland. Past work includes audio drama and audio documentaries with funding from the Edwin Morgan Trust, the Royal Society of Literature and Northword Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme. With a passion for folklore, they are trained in traditional storytelling with Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland.
Keira Smith | Director
Keira is an emerging theatre director and writer based in Inverness. They were an assistant director with Dogstar Theatre for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2022 and has worked with Surrogate Productions on tour. Her work predominantly centres on the nuances of the queer experience in rural areas in response to the current socio-political climate.
Caitlin Riddell | Production / Stage Manager
Caitlin is a freelance Stage Manager from Lossiemouth, now living in Nairn. They have a wide range of experience in theatre, most recently at SPARK Festival (2024) and enjoy working with local amateur musical theatre groups to make technical theatre more accessible to young people. Other credits include: Bugsy Malone (SM on Book – St. Giles’ Theatre), Constrictor (Stage Manager/LX Programmer, Edinburgh Fringe), Kidnapped (Rehearsal ASM, National Theatre of Scotland), and more.
Claire MacDonald | Set & Costume Designer
Claire Macdonald is a socially engaged, multidisciplinary artist with a career spanning theatre production, outreach education, community arts, visual art, and installation. Her current practice explores the relationship between environment and wellbeing, considering both emotional and physical landscapes. She draws inspiration from the interplay between everyday environments, daily rituals, and wellbeing, and crafts spaces designed to celebrate connection to each other and the natural world.
Daniel Pirie | Lighting Designer
Daniel is an early career lighting designer with an interest in new writing, particularly of plays that explore Scottish people and stories. He is interested in simulating natural lighting and investigating how to convey the passage of time. Daniel has a wealth of experience as a lighting technician, having worked on projects across the world including 4 UK tours and the US premier of Everybody’s Talking about Jamie.
Laura Valerie Walker | Producer
Laura is the CEO of Vivid Roots Collective. She produces all of the company’s internal projects, and works freelance as a director and producer in the Highlands. In her practice, she is interested in care, feminism, and emergence.
Sophie Wink | Artist Liaison
Sophie is the Artist & Community Lead at Vivid Roots Collective. Beyond the company, Sophie mainly works as a playwright and creative learning practitioner, working with the values of care and creativity. As Artist Liaison, Sophie supports the artists’ journey’s on the project, from application to evaluation.
Vivid Roots Collective 