Burns in Kinghorn

Wee sleekit cow'rin tim'rous beastie

Another short school show, this time in Kinghorn Primary during their St. Andrew's Day celebrations. They had invited parents and friends in to show off their dancing skills, prior to performing at the Fife Festival next week, and I managed to fit in a short, half-hour presentation to over 100 adults and children. It will be interesting to see who learnt most! Once again the mousey and louse went well. The powerpoint is an excellent aid to telling this story and feedback was very favourable.

Auld Lang Syne

Burns in Bowhill

Last Saturday saw a unique collaboration between myself and Cammy Goodall - another keen Burnsian. We are both members of Bowhill People's Burns Club and joined forces for a two-man show in The Bowhill Hotel, Cardenden. Again, based around Burns' life story, illustrated by Powerpoint and featuring his most loved songs and poems, the show attracted around 60 club members and guests. Cammy added poems such as Death and Dr. Hornbook, and joined in with some of the songs. A generously supported raffle raised a considerable sum for Cancer Research and feedback from those present was very favourable.
For more photos see here

Burns in Burntisland

Another school visit ... Burntisland Primary this time. About sixty P.7 pupils, and associated staff, enjoyed a cut down version of the lunch-time show. They managed to sing along using the Power-point prompts and were keen to interact when invited. Tam O' Shanter with accompanying audio-visuals was well received!

The Twa Dugs, the Mouse and the (cuddly) Louse were also a big hit with the youngsters.

A quick round of questions at the end showed the young folks had been listening well during the show, and we finished with a small group photo.

The variety of poems, songs and powerpoint kept the children's attention very well and there was a lot of useful information given which could be followed up in the classroom. The use of visual aids added to the enjoyment! .... it was very beneficial to children and teachers. (P7 teachers)

Burns in Cupar

On Sat 15th November I delivered a charity show for DebRA - based in Cupar and elsewhere: a worthwhile group helping out children with this dreadful condition. The Lodge in Cupar raised over £600 between ticket prices and the raffle. Sadly the charity itself did little to help.....no mention on their events page on the website and only two reps who turned up.

That aside the show went very well with an audience of around 60 members and guests. Some CDs sold too which is good news! Feedback was that the show was both entertaining and informative: exactly the intention. The photo shows myself in costume next to Bill Dawson the current President of the World Burns Federation who commented :

"I thoroughly enjoyed your show, there were many songs that one does not get to hear, and with you adding the additional information it is surely a very good vehicle to broaden people's understanding of the Burns story. "

Also shown are Dougie Wilson (PM) and George Letham (SM) from the Lodge.