Dogstar Theatre is back in Ullapool with this contemporary epic, a mythical tale about plans to industrialise the highlands.

The Macphail Theatre is thrilled to host the premiere live production of this play, as the first venue in a short tour of highland performances in autumn 2024. The Fallen Angels of the Moine was produced during the pandemic; it has been filmed, but never before staged to a live audience.

Written partly in respond to the Sutherland Spaceport, the rocket launch site in the highlands, the play queries how the land and its inhabitants respond to such developments.

The bogs of Caithness and Sutherland have been the source of myth, legend, strange events and sightings throughout history. Kelpies, feachs, fairies and other weird and supernatural tales provide a rich folklore. This is a story about the creatures, the Shee, who have travelled across the universe through time and who have chosen to reside beneath the great bog, the Moine. But this is not a fairy tale.

The Fallen Angels of the Moine is a kind of warning, a contemporary epic taking its audience on an extraordinary journey full of poetry, music and light, full of mystery, humour and hard facts. Its characters are ordinary people, the gods and the earth beneath our feet: Cait Mackay has an ancient bond with the Moine; Cianna Swann observes and analyses it; Robbie Oliphant, its political representative, is corrupted and possessed by the forces which control him - the Council, the Enterprise Company, the US defence contractor, MI5 and the Mad Irishman inside his head. Lucifer, Gabriel and the healer An Slanagher argue over the fate of the Moine while Belle O’ Rangag leads Cait to the bothy of enlightenment. And let’s not forget Feannag, the talking crow!

Cast: Rebecca Wilkie, Tara McGirr, Matthew Zajac

Director Matthew Zajac

Designer Ali Maclaurin

Lighting Grant Anderson

Music Brian McAlpine & Jonny Hardie

“Loved it. Truly local and international subject. It made me laugh and it made me cry - great theatre.” Jean Urquhart, former MSP

“That was magic!” Morna Pearson, playwright

“It was a fantastical experience, a wonderful evening. I would love to see it performed outdoors.” Kiera Smith, Theatre Director & Dogstar Board Member

“It’s a big, big piece in the best sense of the word, conjuring the universe, fantastically theatrical and complicated and beautiful and sometimes very funny! At times last night it felt like the earliest kind of theatre, quite savage and primitive, made to conjure up the gods. The poetry of the words and the atmosphere of the piece are spine tingling.” Ali Maclaurin, Theatre Designer