Sister Radio is the very first play to take place in Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s exciting new studio.
Enjoying the role of Shirin, actor Nâlan Burgess spoke to the PA about the PFT co-production with Edinburgh feminist theatre company, Stellar Quines.
“Sister Radio is a beast of a new play, in a good way!” so said Nâlan, who plays Shirin, one of the two Iranian siblings making a new life in Scotland in this fresh piece written on the back of the COVID lockdown era by Egyptian playwright Sara Shaarawi.
Following a September run in Pitlochry, the production tours with dates in Perth, Aberdeen and Derby.
“Both Lanna Joffrey (who plays the older sister Fatemeh) and myself have been deeply involved in what has been an evolving process.
“It’s a production that stays within a space, a traditional Edinburgh flat, but we have to demonstrate that there are two distinct time periods -1970 and 2020 - which the action flashes between.
“Obviously in the later period the sisters are forty years older than when we first meet them. They are brought physically close together by a pandemic lockdown, but they avoid talking.
“We didn’t want to caricature it, but a lot of that aging is shown through the way the women move around the space, much of it without words.
“There’s a lot to express in that later slice of their lives that has to be done without words.
“Sister Radio starts in 2020, the days we all remember when you didn’t want to turn on the news.
“But the necessity of knowing, of tuning in, meant the pandemic was constantly present. Terrifying facts forming everyday normality.
“It has been very challenging, being involved in a brand new play staged in a new space too.
“For the first two weeks of rehearsal we had lots of input from writer Sara Shaarawi and she was back in the fourth week.
“I’ve been really impressed by all the women and what they have brought to bear on this very special, emotionally charged play.
“The sisters are stuck in their relationship with each other, there’s a reason for their hurt, their inability to talk. It’s complex.
“The sound design elements for Sister Radio are really evocative.
“Not giving too much away, but the radio and what it broadcasts, tells us about the world, well it’s a central character.
"With the addition of music, lighting, and a single colour tone set, these helped generate a profound atmosphere in Pitlochry 's intimate studio.
“We all really gained from music composer Farzane Zamen’s input. You can see how the Persian pop music links both sisters with what they have lost, with who they are.
“I’m of mixed heritage myself, I’m half Turkish Cypriot.
“My family left Cyprus, many resented my grandfather for leaving, so I can relate to what happened to Shirin and Fatemeh, the parts that moved into a new country, the parts that remained behind.
“With my own ticket to Pitlochry ’s summer season, I was a bit daunted, I’ve not done theatre outside of London before.
“But being in Pitlochry has been great. It’s absolutely stunning.”
Nalân continued: “I’m also in Private Lives and Round the World in 80 Days, so with Sister Radio now on, those are my three productions for Pitlochry Theatre 2022.
“I’m delighted to be in work and based this summer at PFT. During the pandemic it felt like theatre was not coming back.
"We are running out of shows of Sister Radio at Pitlochry, but we’re excited to take it on tour next.
“Try and see it before then, it’s a play seething with themes so relevant to now.”
Sister Radio, directed by Caitlin Skinner has matinees and evening shows at PFT until September 28. Tickets are available from www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com 01796 484626.
| The production has two nights in Perth Theatre, October 27 and 28, tickets from www.horsecross.co.uk 01738 621031. | |
