Dogstar Theatre Company presents
- The Testament of Gideon Mack
- By James Robertson Adapted by Matthew Zajac
- 13 February - 14 March 2025
National tour of The Testament of Gideon Mack from award-winning Dogstar Theatre Company.
Image by Laurence Winram.
James Robertson’s 2006 best-selling novel will be brought to life in early 2025 with a stage adaptation of The Testament of Gideon Mack from Dogstar Theatre Company. The play, adapted by Dogstar Theatre Artistic Director Matthew Zajac, will open at Eden Court, Inverness on 13 February, before embarking upon an 17-date tour around Scotland, closing at Dundee Rep on 14 March 2025.
Published in 2006 and long-listed for that year’s Booker Prize, The Testament of Gideon Mack became an instant Scottish classic. This is a story about grief and the crisis of faith in Scottish society, told through the life of the Reverend Gideon Mack of Monimaskit. A story of late 20th century post-war Scotland, of the manse and the permissive age, a story of a Church of Scotland minister who doesn’t believe in God. Then he meets the Devil.
Dogstar’s vibrant new stage version of this acclaimed novel will evoke the close-knit community of Monimaskit as it grapples with the Reverend’s revelation that he spent three days with the Devil. Full of humour, provocation and the supernatural, The Testament of Gideon Mack presents a microcosm of small-town Scotland with a cast of vividly-drawn characters.
Commissioned by Eden Court and supported by Creative Scotland’s Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance, The Testament of Gideon Mack will be presented by an ensemble of eight actors and an outstanding creative team of Scotland-based theatre makers.
At the forefront of the project is Dogstar’s Artistic Director Matthew Zajac, who first discussed the adaptation with author James Robertson 15 years ago. “James is among Scotland’s greatest living novelists. It was a pleasure and privilege to be permitted by James to adapt this marvellous story. It says so much about Scotland and is perhaps the most theatrical of all James’ novels.”
Author James Robertson adds: “I am so delighted that at long last Matthew Zajac’s adaptation of my novel is to be staged. I have huge respect for Matthew’s work as an actor and writer, and I can’t think of a better team than Dogstar, one of Scotland’s most innovative and dynamic touring companies, to bring this new play to venues across the country.”
Laura Mackenzie-Stuart, Head of Theatre, Creative Scotland said: “The Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance was created to ensure that bold creative ideas can be enjoyed by theatre and dance audiences across Scotland. It’s great to see this theatrical imagining of a story which has rapidly become a Scottish classic now heading off on its travels, taking in Ayr to Inverness via Stornoway.”
Zajac’s previous work includes winner of Summerhall’s Lustrum Award 2017 THE SKY IS SAFE, and the biographical The Tailor of Inverness which was awarded a Scotsman Fringe First and the inaugural Holden Street Theatre Award in 2008 and has been touring internationally since. He is supported in transposing James Robertson’s mysterious Scottish tale into a physical and visually arresting production by director Meghan de Chastelain (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bard in the Botanics 2022). Dogstar Theatre is also working with designer Kenneth MacLeod (Dracula: Mina's Reckoning, National Theatre Scotland / APA 2023), composer Aidan O'Rourke (Macro, Edinburgh International Festival 2022), lighting designer Kate Bonney (Shift, National Theatre Scotland 2018) and movement director Sasha Harrington (The Stamping Ground, RAW Material 2022).
The stage adaptation of The Testament of Gideon Mack will open on Thursday 13 February 2025 at Eden Court, Inverness. It will then embark upon an 17-date tour around Scotland, visiting theatres in Ayr, Dumfries, Dundee, Edinburgh, Giffnock, Greenock, Kirkcaldy, St. Andrews, Stirling and Stornoway.
Further information, tour schedule and individual ticket links are available via www.dogstartheatre.co.uk.
Background
CAST
- Kevin Lennon - Gideon Mack
- Matthew Zajac - James Mack / The Devil Molly Innes - Agnes Mack / Catherine Craigie Rebecca Wilkie - Elsie Moffat
- Blythe Jandoo - Jenny
- Fraser Sivewright - John Moffat
- Antony Strachan - Peter MacMurray / MacInnes Katya Searle - Nancy Croy / Ephie Lumsden
CREATIVE TEAM
- Meghan de Chastelain - Director
- Matthew Zajac - Playwright (adaptation of James Robertson's novel)
- Kenneth MacLeod - Designer Aidan O'Rourke - Composer Kate Bonney - Lighting Designer
- Sasha Harrington - Movement Director
The Testament of Gideon Mack tour schedule
- 13 - 15 February 2025 - Eden Court, Inverness
- 18 - 19 February 2025 - An Lanntair, Stornoway
- 21 February 2025 - Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling
- 22 February 2025 - Theatre Royal, Dumfries
- 26 February 2025 - Eastwood Park Theatre, Giffnock
- 27 February 2025 - The Byre Theatre, St. Andrews
- 28 February 2025 - Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy
- 5 March 2025 - Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock
- 6 - 8 March 2025 - Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
- 12 March 2025 - The Gaiety Theatre, Ayr
- 13 - 14 March 2025 - Dundee Rep Theatre, Dundee
Dogstar Theatre is a European touring theatre company based in the Scottish Highlands around Inverness, one of Europe’s fastest growing small cities. We commission, produce and tour new plays by writers from the north of Scotland and elsewhere.
From its early Highland tours, the company has extended its reach, now touring across the UK and internationally to a wide variety of venues. Our work has been presented in 14 countries to date. In addition to our regular touring schedule, Dogstar has co-produced with theatre companies in Sweden and Denmark. Dogstar continues to tour to village halls in the Scottish Highlands and Islands as well as to city centre theatres.
www.dogstartheatre.co.uk.
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports culture and creativity across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery, which, now in its 30th year, has supported over 14,600 projects with more than £501.9 million in funding through Creative Scotland and its predecessor, the Scottish Arts Council Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot
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