ANGUS MCPHEE - Weaver of Grass


ANGUS MCPHEE or MACPHEE was a crofter from Uist who spent almost 50 years in a Highland psychiatric hospital. During this time he chose not to speak - instead he wove a series of incredible costumes out of grass. These he hung on trees in the hospital grounds.

This blog follows the progress of HORSE + BAMBOO THEATRE as they develop and tour a show about Angus....

Monday 20 June 2011

Kist O'riches

Although I've been working on other projects for most of the time since I returned from the islands, work on the Angus MacPhee show is developing in many other ways. Esther and I have designed a card to promote the production and planned tour. This should be back from the printers this week, ready for Esther to mail out.

Daniella Orsini 

Daniella Orsini drove up from London last night to discuss the film and animation sections with me, and between us we've divided up the 9 sections and sub-sections that require film content. Generally I'll be working on the film sections and Daniella will be working on the animated parts. There's a link to Daniella's own blog on the right.

I also received an encouraging email from Mary MacInnes, the headteacher at Iochdar School. Mary liked the 'gentle' depiction of Angus in the script, and she particularly commented on the fact we intend to use gaelic songs throughout the production. She writes 

"Thinking of the first song - home - one springs to my mind which you will find on the Kist O' riches website - a milking song  (Crodh Chailein) sung by a lady who was a neighbour of Angus's -- Kate Nicholson was her name and the song really epitomises the crofting life in Uist at the time. You hear her milking the cow and it is brilliant."

Kist O'riches is the English name for the really wonderful Tobar an Dualchais archive site that we were first introduced to by Anna-Wendy Stevenson. A treasure chest of riches indeed. 

Meanwhile Helen is working on fund-raising for the production; Joanne B Kaar is working on the grass weaving, and Chris Spears is planning to join me some time in the future in order to create a finished version of the set. 

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