Saturday 4 May
SATURDAY 4 MAY
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12-2pm Workshop: Performing Arts role in Transformative Practice - A. Glasgow
2pm Play: The Red Lion by Jamie Mein
3pm Music: Kelso ByPass
4pm Play: Andy’s Man Club - Clare Prenton and Craig Adams
5.45pm Poetry and Music: Contrappunistica - Anita John, Philip Hutton, Brian Davidson
7.30pm Closing Concert: Get Your Dancing Shoes On!
12-2pm Workshop Programme - Cadet Hall
The Role of Performing Arts in Transformative Practice
Amanda Glasgow, Actor and Community Learning and Development practitioner
An exploration into the role of Performing Arts in Transformative Practice.
What skills do we gain by engaging in the Performing Arts and how are they useful in business, relationships and everyday life? How can we use our knowledge and understanding of the performing arts to collectively work with others using an asset – based approach to affect social change? Does engaging in the Performing Arts create strong leaders and does it hold the key to personal success?
We will discuss these questions collectively starting where you are, we will journey together to map how we use our skills to reach shared goals, we will discover how we will utilise the tools we have gathered from one another to take forward into our own practice.
2pm Main Stage The Red Lion
By Jamie Mein
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The Red Lion is the heart of the community for Chirnside in 1964. It’s where local residents – particularly the pensioners – have a pint, catch up on local gossip, read the Berwickshire, and plot against those who they think need bringing down a peg or two.
This short, sitcom-esque play continues the adventures of Davie, Alastair, Jean, and Marry who were first seen in Alex Watson's Jim Clark the Musical. They're joined by a new cast of eccentric Chirnside residents, imagined for the play by Jamie Mein.
3pm Cabaret Stage
Kelso Bypass
Free
Kelso Bypass are a four-person indie rock band based in Glasgow. Their songwriting is inspired by a collective love of pop melodies and psychedelic arrangements. ‘Licky Chops’, their debut album set to be released this year, is the culmination of endless hours of laughing and jamming in their Dennistoun home studio. It explores the joy and melancholy of nostalgia on a floaty boat of dreams.
4pm Main Stage
Andy's Man Club
If you’ve been through a storm, are going through a storm, or have a storm brewing, a
brotherhood of men meet at Andy's Man Club every Monday at 7pm, at 120 locations
across the UK, fighting to end the stigma around men's mental health.
In this safe space, speak or listen - it’s up to you. The first rule is #ITSOKAYTOTALK.
Simply put, that’s the whole point. Just men quietly joining the fight to reduce suicide in men.
No stigma. Just talk. With one aim:
TO HELP ONE GUY. TO SAVE ONE LIFE.
#ANDYSMANCLUBPLAY is a play, with music, inspired by these men, written by Clare Prenton with music performed live by West End/Off Broadway composer Craig Adams (Lift, Therese Raquin, The Guinea Pig Club).
Created as an artistic response to conversations with Andy’s Man Club members in Edinburgh, Galashiels, and online, #ANDYSMANCLUBPLAY takes a bold, imaginative, and fictional look at what this fast-growing UK network means to four men and the
importance of connection in a stormy world.
Joe
Craig Adams actor, composer, musical director, arranger (composer of off West End LIFT and THERESE RAQUIN). Craig arranges for West End star Kerry Ellis and has long collaborated with her as musical director on her London Hippodrome shows and her 2024 tour.
Sandy
James Dawoud, musical theatre graduate of the Royal Conservatoire, Scotland. Credits include musicals Lena (based on there life of Lena Zavaroni) and Sunshine of Leith (Pitlochry Festival Theatre).
Paul
Tam Dean Burn prolific Scottish actor/musician who has appeared in TVs River City and major films such as ‘Local Hero’, ‘The Acid House’ and ‘War Horse’.
Mark
Hamish Wyllie is a voice over artist and actor. Credits include TV’s ‘Armchair Detectives’ and on stage ‘Christmas Dinner’ (Lyceum, Edinburgh) and ‘AI’ at The Traverse (BBC).
5.45pm Main Stage
Contrappuntistica:
Two Poets, One Pianist
A medley of poems and piano pieces with poets Anita John and Philip Hutton, and renowned pianist composer Brian Davidson.
Contrappuntistica is a unique and varied evening of entertainment with pianist composer Brian Davidson at the keyboard and Anita John and Philip Hutton responding with their own poetry.
This year’s themes explore beginnings and endings, and the path from childhood to adulthood with all its joys and challenges along the way.
Brian plays extracts from his newly published piano compositions, Nursery Suit; Anita’s poems call to the heart; and Philip’s poems are cleverly interpolated into the music. Sit back and enjoy!
7.30pm Closing Concert
We begin our evening at the end of another DunsPlayFest!
Celebrating New Talent with
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The Hugo Award For Emerging Talent
Supported by Marchmont Farms
This award is presented annually at DunsPlayFest to a current or recent Berwickshire High School student looking to make a career in the performing arts. It is named in honour of its original benefactor, the great patron of the arts, Hugo Burge, who sadly died in May 2023. We hope that the recipient(s) will receive a significant boost of encouragement, symbolised by the sum of £1,000, and will always know that they are believed in by DunsPlayFest.
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Oliver Burge and Henry Lakin, directors of Marchmont Farms Limited, are delighted to support the Hugo Award for Emerging Young Talent at DunsPlayFest in memory of Hugo Burge (1972-2023).
Then, please, put on your dancing shoes,
and
join in our evening...
starting with a
Ceildh
from
The Small Hall Band
The Small Hall Band of the Scottish Borders encapsulates the vibrant musical heritage and community spirit of the region. Nestled amidst the rolling hills and picturesque landscapes, this ensemble resonates with the soulful melodies and lively rhythms that define traditional Scottish music.
Formed by a group of passionate musicians deeply rooted in the local culture, the Small Hall Band serves as a cultural ambassador, preserving and promoting the rich musical traditions of the Scottish Borders. Their repertoire encompasses a diverse array of tunes, including time-honoured ballads, spirited jigs, and beautiful airs, each evoking the essence of the region's landscape and history.
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Beyond their local performances, the Small Hall Band also participates in regional festivals and events, bringing their spirited tunes to a broader audience. Through their music, they weave a tapestry of stories that speak of love, loss, triumph, and resilience—themes that resonate universally but are deeply rooted in the fabric of the Scottish Borders.
In an age of rapid change, the Small Hall Band stands as a steadfast guardian of tradition, ensuring that the rich musical legacy of the Scottish Borders endures for generations to come. Their melodies echo through the valleys and hills, a testament to the enduring spirit of a community bound together by music.
Fire in the Middle is a Scottish/English/Canadian rock band formed in Berwick-upon-Tweed just weeks before the first lockdown in 2020. Founded initially of members of Duns’ Easter Street and Berwick’s The Warehouse Announcement, the line-up now consists of Canadian schoolteacher Derek Huffman (vocals/guitars/piano), Scott Courtney (guitars), Steven Walker (vocals/bass), and Daniel Dishington (drums).
Their debut EP, The Sound, was released in December 2023, the first of a two-EP adventure. The follow-up, The Fury, arrives in spring 2024. Both are made up entirely of songs written by Derek in memory of his daughter Maggie, who passed away from Spinal Muscular Atrophy in 2017. These are songs of hope and love, and are about finding happiness in the darkest of places.
Debut single How We Spark highlights the band’s mix of rock sensibilities and powerful songwriting.
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"Butter stand out from the crowd, with their own unique, freewheeling, psychedelic spirit. They play a modern kind of kaleidoscopic rock'n'roll that nods to OSEES and King Gizzard, but takes in elements of original 60's freakbeat, jazz and soul. There are inevitable comparisons to The Doors, and that's no bad thing. Strong soulful vocals, boundless energy and wild-man musicianship ensure that they're one of the most exciting LIVE bands I've seen in ages. I've enjoyed their singles so far, and I look forward to a full album - no doubt it will blow all our minds!"
-Vic Galloway - BBC Broadcaster, Author & Journalist.
