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2 September, 2010
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Published: 08 October, 2009
A WRITER and broadcaster with strong Lochaber connections will be taking to the stage later this month with a touring theatre production.
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Hugh Dan Maclennan was brought up in Caol, attended the local primary and Lochaber High School. His working life has been spent in the media and the Gaelic world and, until last year, as director of communications for Caledonian MacBrayne. He will be teaming up with fellow shinty commentator Iain Anderson and culture minister Michael Russell MSP to narrate The flight of the Arctic tern. They will be treading the boards at Caol Community Centre on Monday, October 19. The production follows Alexander Gunn leaving his home in Durness in 1853 en route to Australia, along with many tens of thousands of Scots who left these shores during the Highland Clearances. The journeys were long and hazardous and often ended in tragedy. Moving on 156 years, descendants of Alexander turn up in Durness and meet Mr Anderson, BBC veteran and a distant cousin of the Australians. They are able to chart the journey from Durness to Glasgow and embarkation on the Ivanhoe which sailed from the Clyde. Alexander's journey is likened to that of the Arctic tern which migrates further than any other bird, from the north of Scotland to the southern pack ice of Antarctica and as far as Australia. A newly composed traditional musical suite by Glasgow composer Mark Sheridan runs throughout the piece to illustrate and support the story. Musicians are joined on stage by Gaelic singers Mairi MacInnes and Sineag MacIntyre. The event is being promoted by arts group Caol Artz, along with another big stage production, A Wee Home From Home, on Wednesday, November 11, also at Caol Community Centre. Caol Artz spokesman Benny MacDonald said: "This centres on Frankie as he returns to Glasgow. He knocks on a door. There's no-one in. With time on his hands he wanders the streets of his past and is swept up in the ensuing roller coaster of memories and emotions. "Twenty-one years after this show first played to full-houses and immense public acclaim throughout Britain, plan B is re-uniting the original creative team to update and recreate A Wee Home From Home for a new generation. "Using an eclectic mix of live music from singer-songwriter Michael Marra and energetic dance from choreographer Frank McConnell, they play, act, sing, dance, joke and share a unique partnership on stage." 
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