Shetland MSP Tavish Scott has congratulated Shetland Arts and the National Theatre of Scotland in Parliament on Ignition, their partnership project which ran from October 2012 to March 2013 and explored Shetland residents’ bittersweet relationships with the automobile – how it shapes us, defines us, supports us, frees us, challenges our attitudes towards our dwindling resources and, sometimes, kills us.
The Motion reads: “Ignition Community Theatre Project in Shetland—That the Parliament congratulates the Ignition creative concept theatre project in Shetland, whose aim was to explore people’s love-hate relationship with the automobile; understands that this was a partnership project between Shetland Arts and the National Theatre of Scotland (NTOS) and that it was the biggest, most ambitious community engagement programme ever undertaken by the NTOS, receiving rave reviews in national and local press; understands that the project has brought over £250,000 worth of funding into Shetland since it began in October 2012, and commends the project leaders, Wils Wilson and John Haswell, for creating the opportunity for people of all ages in Shetland to display their talent, creativity and originality through the medium of community theatre.”
Shetland Arts’ Marketing Officer, Lisa Ward, said: “We are delighted that Tavish put forward this Motion in Parliament. Ignition was a hugely ambitious project, and Shetland Arts enjoyed working with the National Theatre of Scotland to make it a success.”
The White Wife
Ignition used a range of workshops/residencies, pop-up events and public events to help gather information from as many of Shetland’s residents as possible. This included Dance and Parkour Workshops exploring travel. The White Wife, an actor travelling round Shetland’s long and winding roads, used a number of methods to gather ‘car stories’, from hitch-hiking, to Sunday Teas on Wheels, to travelling ‘On Da Buses’ exploring the use of public transport. Music was also been used to extract some stories and thoughts about the car. Ignition’s resident composer Hugh Nankivell worked with schools and music groups to write and arrange music inspired by travel.
Ignition culminated with a final series of performances in March that delivered one of the most ambitious, exciting and unique site theatre experiences, and rave reviews in both the national and local press.
