Outdoor festive theatre experience travels around Fife

Communities around Fife are being treated to some extra special festive cheer this year as The Travelling Cranberries take their Christmas show on tour.
The Travelling Cranberries castThe Travelling Cranberries cast
The Travelling Cranberries cast

Arriving on a bus they are bringing a free pop-up play to local communities with some fabulous outdoor performances.

Among the cast are two Fifers – Rachael Keiller from Leven, known for her role in River City, and Cara Watson, originally from Dalgety Bay but now living in Burntisland.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And both actors are delighted to be bringing live theatre to communities across the region who wouldn’t normally have a production on their doorstep.

The show continues to tour in the run up to Christmas.The show continues to tour in the run up to Christmas.
The show continues to tour in the run up to Christmas.

The play, which lasts for around 30 minutes, is about a young girl, Ava, who has lost her Christmas cheer.

Santa sends three elves to help her rediscover it and show her there’s more to the festive season than presents.

Cara, who plays one of the elves, said: “We’ve been to lots of different locations in Fife, all outdoors and we're bringing theatre to people's doors.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It's been really nice and it's so nice to see communities come out and be completely involved and really enthusiastic about it.

"Afterwards lots of people have come up to us saying they feel really Christmassy after watching it and they are excited for Christmas.

"After the last year it’s nice to be able to bring that back for people through things like theatre.

"I’m super excited we have got two more weeks to go.”

Her excitement and enjoyment of the production is shared by Rachael, who takes on the role of 12-year-old Ava, despite being 27 herself.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She said: “It's nice to have that playfulness and childlike role. By the end of the play she really does love Christmas again and it's quite magical. She gets boys and girls to join in with her dance at one point, which is a really nice moment.

"All the children have been joining in. It’s been lovely.

"There’s lots of laughter in the show, not just for the children but for the adults too.

"Of course being outdoors hasn’t been without its challenges, but we’ve been quite lucky as it’s been pretty dry. It’s been freezing, but we’ve got our thermals on so it’s fine that way.

"The wind on Saturday when we were in Burntisland was crazy, we had props blowing away and our stage manager was chasing presents up the street.

"But it's Scotland in December so you've got to accept it.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Travelling Cranberries Christmas Show was developed with funding from the Creative Scotland Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund, with OnFife receiving a total of £278,000 from the fund.

Michelle Sweeney, Director of Creative Development, said: “Bringing the Travelling Cranberries Show together has been a joy on so many levels. It’s a great opportunity to bring real fun and Christmas cheer right into the heart of communities across Fife – and it’s free.

“The show offers an intimate, up-close experience for audiences and it has been terrific to able to support local creatives who have had such a tough time during the pandemic.

“Support from Creative Scotland's Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund has been invaluable in allowing us to offer support to communities and those who work in the creative sector.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Travelling Cranberries will be at the Corrie Centre in Cardenden tonight (Thursday) and will be in Stock's Mill Car Park by the Philp Hall in Kirkcaldy on Saturday. The remainder of their tour will take them to outdoor spaces in Dunfermline, Glenrothes, Newburgh, Kincardine, Leslie and Methil.

Full details of where to see them and when can be found at www.onfife.com.

Thank you for reading this article on our free-to-read website. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a subscription to our print newspaper to help fund our trusted, fact-checked journalism.