Theatre Gu Leòr is delighted to announce that we will be supporting five Gaelic artists through our new professional development programme, LAS.

After advertising the opportunity in August, we have awarded bursaries to five artist to develop their projects with specialised support from experienced professionals from the theatre sector.

Between September 2021 and March 2022, the LAS associate artists will be researching and developing ideas for new theatre projects. They all come to the LAS programme with different skills and experience, such as writing novels and poetry, historical research and stage management work. Read below for a taste of what they’ll be doing over the coming months.

LAS associate artists 2021

Calum L. MacLeòid

Calum will be working on a new play where five people are trapped by a winter storm in a remote hotel in Canada, at the end of the 19th century. It will be based on the stories of the Megantic migrants, but with a very different perspective from that of his second novel.

Calum lives in Dingwall and is a news reporter with the BBC. He has had three books published: two novels and a collection of poetry. He received a New Writers Award in 2014 and in 2019 he was awarded a New Playwrights Award from Playwrights’ Studio Scotland.

Déirdre Ní Mhathúna

Déirdre will be drawing on the work of female poets and ‘ban-tuiridh’ or mourners to develop a script with video and sound as her LAS project. She aims to create connections which respond to the crises facing us today, as we struggle with the anxiety and uncertainty of huge global changes.

Déirdre has worked in the arts since the eighties, both at a community level and in developing her own projects. She is originally from Ireland but has lived in Edinburgh for many years where she an active member of the city’s Gaelic community.

D.S. Murray

Donald (D.S.) will be developing a new play based on an incredible story that flits between Scotland and South AFrica, among several other places. ‘A Storm in a Tea-Clipper’: the life, times and early death of Captain Donald Mackinnon, native of Tiree, the winner of the Great Tea Race, 1866. 

Donald is originally from Ness in Lewis but now lives in Shetland. He was an English teacher for thirty years but today is a full-time writers. He works across different forms of literature; from poetry to novels and plays. His book As the Women Lay Dreaming (Saraband) won the Paul Torday Memorial Prize in 2020 and was shortlisted for many other awards. His book In an Veil of Mist (Saraband) was published in March 2021 and was the Times Historical Book of the Month.

Katharina Siebert

Katharina’s project will look at a world after Brexit and the impact on immigrants. She will bring together voices from the migrant communities in Glasgow and exploring what it means to make your home in another country.

Katharina is based in Glasgow and works as a stage manager from various different companies, such as Theatre Gu Leòr, National Theatre of Scotland and Halo Arts. She is Scottish, German and Italian. She learned Gaelic at university.

Màrtainn Mac an t-Saoir

Through LAS, Màrtainn will be developing an idea and a script, based on the character of Bampot Joe - a man on the edge who finds, through struggle, the voice and self-respect that is hidden deep in his heritage and his heart.

Màrtainn Mac an t-Saoir is a writer who has published many books. Until now, he has had one short play, ‘Beul na h-Uaghach’, staged professionally. Through the radio drama project ‘Rudeigin ri Ràdh/Something to Say’ with Theatre Gu Leòr in 2020, he gained skills in writing radio drama and his script, ‘Rùintean Màiri Iain Mhòir’, was commissioned, and subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal.