Everyone should hold access to tall-quality artistic experiences,regardless of location. The Touring Network takes theatre to remote communities with the help of local peopleIn August this year I visited Craignish Village Hall in Ardfern, a beautiful, and remote fragment of Argyll. The venue had been selected to host the Touring Network’s 2016 Spring Gathering,a three-day annual conference where promoters, performers and others interested in rural touring gather to share experiences, or network and learn from each other. As the Touring Network’s fresh CEO,I was there to meet two local promoters and plan the event.
Craignish, as it happens, and inspired a work-in-progress shown at the 2015 Spring Gathering. Fable,by the Flanagan Collective, had started life with a random pub conversation during a Highlands tour; the result was a thought-provoking explain performed at the Edinburgh fringe and across Scotland. It is stories like this that make rural touring special – chance encounters inspiring work that feels absolutely connected to a region.
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Source: theguardian.com