The last day of February saw the inauguration of a new festival in the Killin calendar. Killin Drama Club, veteran performers on the competitive circuit, were the hosts of this year's Scottish Community Drama Association's Stirling district finals for one act plays. This was Killin's first opportunity to showcase its skills, abilities and facilities on a larger stage, and the Drama Club rose to the occasion with its customary style and panache.

The festival was held over two days. Initially, starting line-up was to have been a field of five contenders presenting seven short plays, but cancellations by St. Blane's and Fintry reduced the field to three very serious contenders, and what can only be described as an ad hoc assemblage of kamikaze thespians bridging the gap.

The curtains opened on Killin's first entry, the world premier, no less, of 'No Hiding Place' by Joe McDonagh. This was a highly abstract and minimalist presentation, which relied on the use of sound, light and disembodied dialogue to convey a starkly horrifying tale of child abduction and murder. It was an ambitious presentation, demanding impeccable timing and clarity, but we felt it was let down by a slightly confusing ending. Despite this, the production had some very memorable moments, and set the pace for the rest of the field.

No Hiding Place was followed by Till The Petals Fall, presented by Riverside Drama Club. This was a more conventional production of a play by Abigael Danielle set in a women's refuge, and a strong cast performed this play with confidence and enthusiasm. The storyline, however, was pretty bleak, and was only partially relieved by fine performances, and the characters' genuine warmth and resilience. Domestic violence was the issue here, and the play was one of only two entered for the category of "best depicting Scottish life and character", for no other discernable reason to us than its subject matter.

Murdering Mum by Mike Tibbets was the last offering on the Friday evening. Like No Hiding Place, this was also an ambitious presentation, with off-stage action relayed to the audience through live video link. There were other daunting technical challenges ranging from remotely controlled curtains to serial brain scanning, but despite, or perhaps because of this, Murdering Mum was very clearly focused, coherent and well directed. It was also enlivened with a cleverly underplayed, deadpan humour, which came as a welcome relief after two fairly depressing presentations.

Saturday, thankfully, brought a slightly lighter touch. There were two cleverly structured one-act dramas, not comedies perhaps, but charming and warmly observant pieces underpinned by a rich vein of humour. Both of these were hotly favoured contenders for the big prizes of the weekend.

The evening began, however, with a tragedy, or more appropriately perhaps, a travesty. The Old Stagers Theatre Company had been hastily assembled from various spare parts, supernumerary props and out-and-out buskers, to fill the void created by St.Blane's late withdrawal from the competition. This was a brave performance, some would say rash or even ill-advised, but full credit must be given to the said assemblage for turning the Tram-Track Tragedy by Michael Kilgarriff into one of the most glorious and entertaining farces ever to grace, or disgrace, the Killin stage. We could mention certain well-known individuals who should have known better, but sympathy for their effort and fear of litigation deter us.

Moving on quickly to the main contenders, the first of which, The Paper Aeroplane, by James Quinn, was the second of Riverside's entries of the weekend. A wistfully nostalgic play with a marvellously wry sense of humour, it was brilliantly performed and was a huge hit with the audience. Riverside kept it simple, playing on the strengths of a small but obviously very experienced cast, and a clever script that brought out the all quirky individuality and warmth of the characters.

Next and last was Kids, by John Morgan, a 'toddler's eye' view of the weird and wonderful world of larger children. Our own Glenda Mardon was the toddler, and she played the part in the way that only a 'proven' mother with a wickedly observant sense of humour could. The rest of the cast were marvellous, playing a range of variously aged and demanding 'weans'. We thought this was a delightful presentation, and a perfect end to a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.

So who won and who lost? Well the truth is everyone won. Thornhill took the District Trophy with their cyber murder extravaganza. Riverside took the Runners Up spot with their dramatisation of domestic violence. They also took the 'Scottish' award for their other entry, The Paper Aeroplane. Killin took the prize for 'best moment in theatre', for their daringly abstract production of No Hiding Place. And the Old Stagers took the biscuit.

Killin, however, were the real winners. The SCDA were so impressed with the venue, facilities and hospitality they found in Killin, that they took the liberty of telling us they were coming back next year, not with the District Round, but the Divisional Round of the one act play festival, which will feature the best of amateur drama from Stirling, Fife and the Lothians.

This is quite a prize - virtually a hop, step and jump into the Premier Division, after only one season in the League. It says a lot about Killin, but particularly about the Drama Club, that the SCDA can make this decision so confidently and, apparently, so easily. Congratulations then to KDC, and to all its members, past and present, because this is their achievement, and in the great scheme of things, we think that this is the best prize of all, a worthy recognition of their standing on the national stage, and of their contribution to Killin and its community over many years.

Andy Aitken & Douglas McRobbie
Courtesy of the Killin News (issue 74)