“A Catalogue of Bones and Stars” is a new outdoor immersive theatre adventure with music, based on the lives of two ground-breaking female scientists: the pioneering female astrologer, Caroline Herschel and Mary Anning, one of the most important palaeontologists of all time. One looking up to the sky, one down to earth, both these women bravely delved into the scientific unknown. The piece celebrates these two scientists and their search for their own place within the cosmos as their lives collide. One day while out excavating for fossils, Mary tears a small crack in the earth. Through this crack we are sucked with Mary into a chasm, in which Mary’s and Caroline’s lives tumble together. In this shared universe they drink tea, discuss gender issues and dinosaurs come to life on the surface of the moon. “A Catalogue of Bones and Stars” is an archaeological dig through the past and a voyage into the future. The show will bind theatre with music, using distinct sonic ideas, from the sound of a pick-axe chipping away at rock to the movement of stars in the sky. It will be performed on beaches across the Highlands and each performance will include a community beach-clean as well as workshops with adult literacy learners. Importantly, the performances will be free and educational, encourage the whole community to attend.

(One of Caroline Herschel's comet diagrams)

The show will tour across the Highlands, in particular popping up in towns and villages which have little exposure to arts, or are without a theatre or arts centre, transporting audiences for one night across time and space in a familiar outdoor setting and for them to consider their own potential to reach up to the stars and beyond. The ethos of this project, which is really about creating an extraordinary new experience for rural audiences and spreading the work of these wonderful scientists, will also be a chance for me as a composer and artist to build on my experience of working creatively with communities. My community-based projects last year, the International Archive of Dreams and pop-up cinema in Brora Ice house, were both very educational experiences for me, and at this early stage in my career, I want to push my work further in this direction, creating accessible educational theatre and continuing to seek out community members who have never been to performances before. I'm from the North of Scotland, and I'm very conscious about the lack of theatre and arts visiting the Highlands. The project will also champion female creatives and will be led by an all-female creative team, echoing the themes of the show.

We've been lucky enough to have received £4000 from Sound and Music to create the show. We're now trying to make it up to £10,000 to cover production costs, artist fees, set and workshop materials. We need your help to do so, and appreciate any help we can get...

If you donate 100 pounds, we'll give you a beautiful book at the end of the project with the score and photographs of performances as well as poems from the workshops.

If you donate 500 pounds, we'll perform it in your garden!

Every little donation helps though...

Many thanks!