Move~Gluasad is a multi-story performance by Julia Taudevin about migration, loss and the common human experience of grief, which was developed by sruth-mara on Lewis in June 2018 before premiering on the island in January 2020.
In many parts of the world, death is as much women’s responsibility as birth. In many traditions women are the composers and singers of powerful, sophisticated, mischievous and scathing oral lament poetry, providing a musical and verbal accompaniment to individual and communal grief. We know this in Scotland as keening, or caoineadh. In Julia’s powerful show, five women weave multi-lingual storytelling, choral soundscape and Gaelic song to build a picture of the ebb and flow of people across the globe through the ages.
Move~Gluasad premiered at four community centres across Lewis in January 2020 as a co-production between sruth-mara and Disaster Plan, with dates at Kinloch Community Hub (Mon 27 Jan), Carloway Community Centre (Wed 29 Jan), Uig Community Centre (Thurs 30 Jan) and Back Football and Recreation Club (Fri 31 Jan).
This followed an initial period of development at Uig Community Centre in June 2018 with three performers, produced by sruth-mara, that culminated in work in progress performances at Uig Community Centre and An Lanntair.
The Uig Community Centre performance in January 2020 had a four-star review in the Guardian. The show went on to Celtic Connections and the Made in Scotland showcase at the Edinburgh Fringe, ultimately returning to Lewis as part of a 2022 Scottish tour.
The project was supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland, and Bòrd na Gàidhlig, in association with An Lanntair.
‘It’s one of those rare shows that can communicate a specific emotion purely through its theatricality, and the result is, indeed, deeply moving.’ – The List.
‘It is a production at once rooted and outward looking, unsentimental and sincere, with a sound, if not to die for, then at the very least to be reborn to.’ – The Guardian.
Performers Anna Porubcansky, Mairi Morrison and Beldina Odenyo at Uig Community Centre, June 2018.
sruth-mara 