For the 7th year running, Citadel Arts Group is part of the annual Leith Festival with plays inspired by local stories and memories. Their previous work has been well received and this year they will be presenting a double bill under the banner of Leith Doctors and Dockers that reflects the challenges of life in the port of Leith in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Leith Docks: A Way of Life by Laure Paterson tells a tale of a French onion seller, known as an ‘Ingan Johnny’, who is befriended by a Docker’s family facing a crisis where his suggested solutions surprise them.
The Guid Doctor by Elaine Campbell is inspired by the achievements and struggles of the little known Dr Thomas Latta from Newhaven. Latta was a 19th century medical pioneer who honed his skills on a whaling ship, practised medicine in Leith and developed the intravenous drip for cholera sufferers.
The plays will be performed at Leith Dockers Club, 17 Academy Street, EH6 7EE and tickets are available at [email protected] or phone 01875 340 717.
June 24 at 7.30pm and June 26th at 2.30pm and 7.30pm
Earlier in the Festival and with a script by WEA Playwrights Workshop members is The Story of Leith: A binaural historical tour.
The event, supported by Archaeology Scotland, is an hour long soundscape that is a totally new development for the group that uses cutting edge technology to tell the story of Leith in binaural sound. It combines dialogue, cutting edge immersive sound effects and music to take you on a journey round Leith to encounter both famous and the not so famous people, including playwright John Home, Mary Queen of Scots and John Paul Jones, the pirate as well as showing places and events connected to the port.
Tickets are available from [email protected] and the walk begins at Leith Dockers Club from 2-4pm with an MP3 player hired from the Dockers Club courtyard and a route map.
June 16, 17 and 19 June £7/£5