Metagama: an Atlantic Odyssey (Ullapool, Macphail Centre)

This acclaimed 5-star live stage show tells the story of 1920s mass emigration from the Hebrides. Some of Scotland's top folk musicians and singers will carry you aboard the Metagama, through the ebb and flow of fortunes on both sides of the Atlantic.

In April 1923 the SS Metagama left Stornoway with over 300 young islanders onboard, bound for Canada. Within a year, nearly 1500 young people had left the Hebrides on the ships Marloch, Canada and Metagama. Coming on the back of WWI and the Iolaire disaster, this mass emigration would have a devastating impact on the Western Isles, still felt today.

The centenary concert celebrated the lives and stories of those emigrants, many of whom journeyed south to the USA, working in car factories and construction. Some returned home during the Great Depression, but many stayed to establish new lives in the New World.

 This unique journey will take you across the Atlantic to the lakes and plains of Canada, to 1920’s Detroit and Prohibition.

The quality of the music is astonishing. A MUST LISTEN! ***** Folk London magazine

A story full of immense contemporary resonances ****Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman

Top drawer music Gary West, piper and piping podcast presenter

A night of exquisite music and storytelling ***** Inverness Courier

Join award-winning writer Donald S Murray, musician Liza Mulholland, actor and 7:84 Theatre founding player Dolina MacLennan, Gaelic singer John Joe MacNeil, fiddler Charlie Mackerron of Capercaillie, singer-songwriter Willie Campbell, cellist Juliette Lemoine, and visual artist Doug Robertson, in marking this historic event with an evening of music, song and story.

This ensemble toured the show to great acclaim and capacity audiences in the Highlands & Islands in 2023 and followed this with a sell-out show at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections Festival in January 2024. With support from Creative Scotland, Harris Tweed Hebrides, Charlie Barleys and Crowdfunder supporters, the ensemble recently recorded an album of the show’s music and song, and are touring the show throughout Scotland in Spring 2026.

TICKETS

Standard adult £20 / Over-65s plus other concessions £15 / Students and under-18s £12

Audience members aged 14 and under should be accompanied by an adult

Running time 2h 30m; there will be an interval during the performance.