Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Táin
Young Edinburgh Storytellers
Genre: Storytelling
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Delivered with just the right mix of wit and reverence, Táin’s earthiness is funny and shocking even now and would make a welcome addition to a storytelling festival anywhere. An ambitious and dynamic follow-up to the company’s highly successful Land Under Wave which is also playing 20-25 August.
Review
“It is said, and said truly” the teller begins…but this is an ancient myth, morphed through centuries of telling. It’s thought of as the Irish Iliad but is far more weird than Homer, and sets a challenge to condense into an hour.
So it’s thoughtful of the Scottish Storytelling Centre to provide such sturdy, upholstered chairs in their intimate theatre space. It allows you to lean in, with no wriggling, on an intricate, layered and epic story.
David Hughes and Mark Borthwick are welcoming hosts in Celtic braided tunics, settling us as if around a fire with a tot of Bushmills and shortbread; this after all is a Scottish rendition of an Irish tale. And now we’re sitting comfortably, we can begin.
The ancient myth of Táin Bó Cúailnge has travelled over centuries and like all good stories is altered, interpreted and abridged by the teller. In essence it traces a war against Ulster by clever, sexy and treacherous Queen Medb of Connacht who wants to steal the magical stud bull Donn Cuailnge, just so she can equal her husband in wealth. Easy, she thinks, given that the adult men of Ulster are laid low with birth pangs by a curse. It’s left to the teenager, Cúchulainn, to fight and fortunately he too has a magic power. The performers paint graphic visual images; Cúchulainn transforms from man to beast in gory technicolour.
Whilst the story is complex Mark and David keep us on track with helpful character notes ‘grizzled Fergus’ ‘Queen Mebh.’ Backing each other on electric guitar, fiddle or keyboards adds momentum and menace and when the music chimes with lighting the story becomes totally engrossing. Faces lit from below in red gaze up at us from the battlefield, bird shadows loom across the ceiling.
David and Mark find their own twists, suggesting a love interest between Ferdia and Cúchulainn, who lie in each others arms by the river before their fatal fight. A parallel is made between the conflict of Ulster and Connacht and the still fractious state of Ireland’s borders. With some graphic violence and language here is all the blood and rage war, vividly brought to life, the two performers bringing individual style and tone to the telling.
Delivered with just the right mix of wit and reverence, Táin’s earthiness is funny and shocking even now and would make a welcome addition to a storytelling festival anywhere.
