The Strange Undoing of Prudentia Hart

We went with friends to see "The Strange Undoing of Prudentia Hart", performed by The National Theatre of Scotland, in no less a venue than Carlops Village Hall in the Borders.

It deals with the subjects of Scots folk ballads, folk clubs, the demon drink, the devil and other associated matters. Others may have another analysis, but I think that just about covers it. Oh, and karaoke.

The interaction between the five members of the cast and the audience is a highlight of the play. It started with someone, describing himself (somewhat incredulously) as the van driver, joining us at our table before the show started. After some friendly introductory banter, he asked us to make snow by tearing up paper napkins. For the school teachers amongst us, that was easy. Even I managed. My profuse apologies to him - he turned out, as we had suspected, to be one of the cast (he may be the van driver too) and I didn't catch him in this photograph.

A great piece of drama, from hilarity to silence-inducing moments of great tenderness and passion. Music played an integral part of the play, with all the cast being extremely good musicians. As three of our group play regularly, the painfully accurate observations about local folk clubs were all too accurate. Down to the knitters in the audience. (I thought only Peebles Folk Club had regular knitters, but apparently not.)

The play was so ideally suited to the village hall venue that it is a real testament to the worth of the NTS's Theatre Without Walls strategy.

Long live the National Theatre of Scotland - a national treasure!