Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Fit Ye Sayin’ Quine?
Ailsa Shepherd
Genre: Solo Performance, Solo Show
Venue: Greenside @ Riddles Court
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Doric is delivered with melodic skill through both word and sang. Ailsa Shepherd chants and sprakes wi skill and joy in equal pairt. Ye get lifted and laid by the tongue o yer mither and her mither afore her, wantin mair and mair by the finis.
Review
To hear your own leid is a joy. Whilst mine is Lallans, Doric is not a distant cousin but such a close family relation that to hear it given joy, and not apology, to delight in more than its humour, is special. The songs of Burns with traditional songs alongside like Mhairi’s Wedding does more than raise your heart to celebrate your culture. It is given such poignancy – I have never heard Ae Fond Kiss so acutely resonate with a tale before.
Ailsa Sheperd as Ava has a presence which, having just lost her grannie, tugs at your heart strings but only to make you pay closer attention to the women to be celebrated.
When I attended, she was not helped by a minor costume malfunction which halted the show for a few short moments, but this gave pause and not interruption to the flow. Shepherd was able to pick up because of the authenticity in her voice and the passion in her commitment. (If she splits her trousers in every performance, I just want to pretend I was at the first such occasion…)
It’s her voice that carries such emotion when she sings. It is not raw but cultured, giving heart to the words in her mouth. Added to that is a storyline of a lost granny that could become more kailyard and shortbread tin than relevant and we make haste towards dangerous territory. Shepherd can nod to its acquaintance but steer us very clear. Sure, there is sentiment aplenty but there is a voice here, of a no-nonsense woman who can still believe and more importantly make you believe in fairies.
And so, from the joy of finding Broonies, to the danger of meeting a Kelpie, to the oft told tale of a Selkie Wife to the strong women that were told tae a wean who would become the next strong woman was inspiring.
Perhaps the genius of the whole event was the intimacy in which we found herself. Emily Macdonald has directed with this in mind and the high stage, meaning nobody struggled to see with 18 or so seats only available meant that Shepherd though she towered, drew us in like weans at a fireside ready tae clamber on a lap tae listen. It matched perfectly and had both tone and pace to the right level of intimacy and reflection.
From the beginning of Will Ye Go Lassie, Go which Shepherd began outside to the final reimagination of granny this hits the colloquial, modernises the folklore, intertwines the women we should heed and the dangers and perils of the mythical to avoid whilst the lines are obliterated nut blurred to allow us to access the warmth and the joy of just hearing the legacy and birthright of us all. Stories. Thanks be to the oral tradition and lang may it flourish.
