Dogstar Theatre Company at the Edinburgh Fringe

The award-winning Dogstar Theatre Company, based in the Highlands town of Inverness, is about to begin touring its two most recent Edinburgh fringe shows throughout Scotland, starting in September. The first, The Tailor of Inverness, is a sensitive, moving and, at times, traumatic story of one man’s journey from his home town in Poland through many years in the Soviet work camps to finally arriving in Scotland and creating a new life for himself as a tailor in the eponymous town. The production, which was first performed on the Fringe in 2008, winning a Fringe First award in the process, was written and directed by Matthew Zajac, who also plays the lead role of the pine furniture maker. The play is actually based on his own father’s life, infusing the script and Zajac’s performance with a genuine raw emotion that only a strong link to the subject matter can bring.

At the other end of the theatrical spectrum is Jacobite Country, an anarchic, wild and comic production about a male stand-up comedian who moves to London and sells out before returning north to his Scottish home town to face his relatives and friends. The play is innovatively performed by an all-female cast and was written by Henry Adam and directed by Matthew Zajac, making its debut at the Udderbelly at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Featuring live music, gags and unforgettable characters, the show was well-received in Edinburgh, earning a three-star review from The Scotsman newspaper.

Dogstar are touring both shows throughout smaller Scottish venues, taking in Aberdeen, Glasgow, St.Andrews, Orkney and the Isle of Skye. The company has just announced the good news that it has managed to secure funding for its next production in 2011; an adaptation by the young Scottish writer Kevin McNeil of the black comedy Heaven’s Honey, a novel by Torgny Lindgren. Look out for this new play from one of Scotland’s most cutting-edge theater companies in spring 2011.