Sylvian Productions Sylvian Productions -

I know you’re there. You’ve been there all this time. Watching.

Woman Walking by Sylvia Dow, is inspired by the life of Nan Shepherd, her love of the Cairngorms and her connection with the mountains.

Woman Walking is a beautifully poignant play imagining several interactions over a period of time between Cath, a modern woman carrying the guilt and trauma over the death of her mother, and Nan, long since deceased and brought back by Cath to help her find resolution through her dialogue with Nan and through the Cairngorms themselves in all their rough beauty, light and weather. Sylvia Dow’s play has both humour and pathos and brings themes of grief, resolution and the healing power of nature.

Woman Walking had a performed reading at Perth Theatre in February 2022.

Thanks to Perth Theatre for their continued support of this project with provision of rehearsal space and artistic and technical support.

This production is supported by Creative Scotland.

Cast

Pauline Lockhart – Cath

Pauline has worked extensively with some of the UK’s leading theatre companies including:

National Theatre Scotland, Grid Iron, Hampstead Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Improbable Theatre, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Stellar Quines Theatre Co, Suspect Culture, The Tron Theatre, Thickskin, Communicado Theatre, The Traverse Theatre and Manchester Royal Exchange, (with whom she was awarded The TMA Award for Best Supporting Actress and The Manchester Evening News Best Supporting Actress Award for her role in, An Experiment with An Airpump.)

Just before the pandemic she co- wrote and directed Strange Tales, an adaptation of traditional Chinese ghost stories – a co-production between Grid Iron Theatre Co, The Traverse Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Theatre Co and the Confucius Institute. Her most recent play Forever Home is currently touring with A Play, a Pie and a Pint. Pauline is co – founder of Wildfire Theatre.

Fletcher Mathers – Nan

Fletcher was born in Scone and trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.

Recent theatre productions include; Castle Lennox (Lung Ha Theatre Company), To Begin, The 306 Day, The Reason I Jump, Shift and First Snow, Medea, (National Theatre of Scotland), Stiff, Whisky Galore and The Duchess of Malfi, (Royal Lyceum Theatre) and has enjoyed a wide and varied career in theatre all over the U.K. and overseas as an actor, writer and musician.

She is a founding member of the Scots language theatre company Braw Clan and, for eighteen years, has been the on-train announcer for all trains in Scotland.

Creative Team

Writer - Sylvia Dow

After a long working life in a variety of roles in the arts, Sylvia embarked on a career as a playwright. Her first play A Beginning, a Middle, and an End toured the UK in 2012 with Greyscale Company, and Where is Otto premiered at the Visibility Festival, Turkey, in the same year. She has had short work performed in Scotland, London and Mexico and is a member of playwriting collectives Village Pub Theatre and Thrawn Craws, her work often featuring in their readings events. She was dramaturg /writer on Rendition (Tragic Carpet). Full-length plays include Blinded by the Light (Traverse) It’s Only Words (Oran Mor) Threads (Stellar Quines) and STUFF (SYLVIAN Productions)

Director - Becky Hope Palmer

Becky is a Scottish theatre director, facilitator, and writer from Edinburgh. She trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, was a finalist for the prestigious JMK Award in 2019/2021 and worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company from 2017-2019.

Recent productions include; God Catcher (Prickly Pear Productions/Underbelly) The Steamie (Dundee Rep), Seven Against Edinburgh (Royal Lyceum Theatre) and a variety of productions at A Play, a Pie and a Pint including Bloodbank by Meghan Tyler, Not Now by David Ireland, and He Who Opens the Door by Neda Nezhdana.

Becky is an Associate Artist for She Productions, based in East Yorkshire. She also works extensively across a variety of educational institutions and creative engagement departments in Scotland.

Sound / Music - Philip Pinsky

Philip Pinsky is a composer, sound designer and sound artist. Before starting in theatre, he was a founder member of electro-acoustic group Finitribe, releasing five albums and performing around the world. Since 2000 he has provided over 100 scores for theatre companies throughout the UK, as well as site- specific work. This includes 5 years as Associate at the Royal Lyceum, Theatre, Edinburgh. International work includes several large-scale shows for the Juste Pour Rire festival in Montreal and the quirkier end of the TV and art- scene in Tokyo. Winner of CATS 2005 (Best Music and Sound). Previous work includes Pressure (National tour/West End/Toronto), SHIFT (NTS), Kiss of The Spider Woman (Menier Chocolate Factory), Dr Stirlingshire’s Discovery (Grid Iron/Lung Ha), Lawrence After Arabia (Hampstead), The Jennifer Tremblay Trilogy (Stellar Quines).

Set / Costume Design - Karen Tennent

Karen lives in Edinburgh, Scotland and is a graduate of Edinburgh College of Art. Her work as a theatre designer has toured all over the UK and abroad from village halls to Sydney Opera House. She enjoys collaborating with other artists exploring live performance in its many forms.

Recent designs include; Thrown ( National Theatre of Scotland ), The Celtic Story (Regular Music)) Sean and Daro (Traverse Theatre) Castle Lennox ( Lung Ha Theatre Company /Royal Lyceum Theatre) , Educating Rita (Perth Theatre) Field- something for the future now ( Curious Seed /Edinburgh International Festival / Festival Cultura Inglesa Sao Paolo, Brazil ), The Children (Dundee Rep) , And if not Now ..When a film installation by Philip Pinsky and Karen Lamond in the National Museum Edinburgh for COP 26, Lots and Not Lots (Greg Sinclair)

Lighting Design - Laura Hawkins

Laura trained at Rose Bruford College, graduating with a BA (Hons) in Lighting Design.

A selection of recent design credits include: Lena (Feather Productions/ Glass Handbag) Thora (St Magnus Festival) Shrill, Two in a Barrel (Scissor Kick) The Steamie (Dundee Rep) Awaken (Cheryl Prince) Summer on Stage 2022 and 2023, The Multiverse is Gay, Seven Against Edinburgh (Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh) Bill McLaren: Fighting the Enemy (Firebrand Theatre) The Comic Tragedy, By the Seat of your Pants (Plutot la Vie) Clybourne Park (Rapture Theatre Company) Obvious Unrest, Torn (Faux Theatre) and By a Thread (Kat and Dawg Productions)