Our festival takes place across Scotland, with a diverse programme of events organised and delivered by communities, for communities. Today we shine a light on the exciting programme in the Borders and Dumfries & Galloway.
Coordinated by Live Borders and NHS Borders, the Borders’ programme launches with Shed, a new piece by socially conscious performance company Northern Rascals. Showing at Melrose Corn Exchange (Wed 9 Oct), it uses visual art, spoken word and performance to raise awareness of the issues young people face with their mental health.
Dumfries & Galloway’s programme, led by DG Creative Wellbeing, opens with Keep Turning the Page, a multimedia exhibition showcasing work made through two OutPost Arts creative projects at Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary (14-27 Oct). The artworks on display aim to make participants’ personal journeys visible, amplifying their voices and underlining the important relationship between creativity and mental health.
Men’s mental health is the focus for two of our touring events this year, which both stop by in the south of Scotland. Enjoy a special preview screening of Silent Men at the Robert Burns Film Centre, Dumfries (Wed 23 Oct), with a panel discussion hosted by Outpost Arts. Scottish filmmaker Duncan Cowles’ debut feature documentary is part therapy, part road trip; it follows the deadpan filmmaker as he asks men how they show their emotions and confronts his own struggles in opening up.
Men Don’t Talk, a new theatre show by Clare Prenton, is touring to Heart of Hawick (Fri 25 Oct) and Eastgate Theatre, Peebles (Sat 26 Oct). This poignant, hilarious and thought-provoking play, set in a fictional men’s shed, explores the myths surrounding men’s mental health. Clare is also leading In/Visible Your Stories on Stage, your chance to participate in creating a new piece of theatre over seven weeks (22 Oct-3 Dec). The programme at Heart of Hawick also features Can I Be a Butterfly? (Wed 16 Oct), a semi-autobiographical, part imagined, solo play about Chronic Fatigue.
And don’t miss Crossing Borders to Visibility, a two-part event that sees these two neighbouring regions come together to uncover the shared creative history of two former mental health facilities, Dingleton Hospital in Melrose and the Crichton Royal Institution in Dumfries, and explore new opportunities for cross-border collaboration (Thu 17 Oct, Melrose; Thu 24 Oct, Dumfries).
