Traverse Theatre Company presents the world premiere and the Highlands & Islands tour of I was a Beautiful Day by Iain F MacLeod during October 2005.

‘You have a lot to share with people. If only you’d share it.’

After the first Gulf War, Dan needed a rest and some peace and quiet. But 14 years on from the end of that war and he’s still living in self-imposed exile in a mainland hospital, away from the Isle of Lewis where he was born and raised.

After an age of isolation, Dan’s peace and quiet is interrupted by two visitors – Lube, a fellow patient intent on escape, the other, Anne Williams, a visiting map-maker assigned the difficult task of updating the Ordnance Survey charts of Lewis.

Frustrated that she’s been left with ‘the bloody French Foreign Legion of cartography’, Anne gradually becomes convinced that Dan’s obsession - making artwork that mapFs the myths and memories of his native island in bizarre, intimate detail - is a treasure-trove for the public good.

Written by Lewis writer Iain F MacLeod, I was a Beautiful Day is a deeply moving, often hilarious tale of resilience, survival and cartography. Displaying Iain’s signature love of language and a style characterised by a wild streak of surrealism, it was commissioned by the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, to open the new An Lanntair arts centre in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, before embarking on a tour throughout Scotland.

In January 2002, An Lanntair was awarded funds from the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery, Highlands & Islands Special Transitional Programme (ERDF), Western Isles Enterprise and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) to develop a new arts centre on a prime site on the sea front in Stornoway. Designed by architects Nicoll Russell Studios, the development is of key strategic regional importance to the arts and culture in the North West Highlands and is the largest arts development in the Highlands & Islands since Eden Court opened in Inverness in the 1970s.

Featuring a highly flexible auditorium that will house theatre, cinema, concerts and ceilidhs, An Lanntair will officially open on Friday 7 October with the first performance of Iain F MacLeod’s I was a Beautiful Day. 

I was a Beautiful Day tour dates  

Fri 7 & 8pm (£10/£8) AN LANNTAIR ARTS CENTRE
Sat 8 Oct Kenneth Street
Stornoway, Isles-of-Lewis
Outer Hebrides, HS1 2DS
Tel/fax: 01851 703 307
Email: info@lanntair.com
Web: www.lanntair.com

Tue 11 Oct 8pm (£9/£5) ST MARY’S HALL, BENBECULA
Griminish
Benbecula HS7 5QA
Tickets available on the door

Thu 13 Oct 8pm (£5/£3) COIGACH COMMUNITY HALL,
ACHILTIBUIE
Ullapool IV26 2YG
Tickets available on the door

Sat 15 Oct 7.30pm (£6/£3) VILLAGE HALL, CAIRNDOW
Cairndow ,
Argyll, PA24 8AQ
Tel: 01499 600113
Email: argyll@fwag.org.uk

Wed 19 Oct 8pm (£8.50/£5) MACROBERT, STIRLING
University of Stirling FK9 4LA
Tel: 01786 466666
Email: ticketsandinfo@stir.ac.uk

Thu 20 Oct 7.30pm (£7.50/£5) TOWN HALL, INVERURIE
Market Place, Inverurie
Tickets: 01467 625 800 (Bookstore)
Online sales: www.neatshows.org.uk

Fri 21 Oct 7.30pm (£7.50/£5) STEWARTS HALL, HUNTLY
Gordon Street, Huntly
Tickets: 01569 768359
Online sales: www.neatshows.org.uk  

Sat 22 Oct 7.30pm (£7.50/£5) VICTORIA HALL, ELLON
Station Road, Ellon
Tickets: 01358 724545
Online sales: www.neatshows.org.uk

Tue 25 Oct 8pm (£8/£6) SABHAL MOR OSTAIG
An t-Eilean
Isle of Skye
Tickets: 01471 844207
Email: info@seall.co.uk

Thu 27 Oct 8pm (£8/£5) THE PAVILLION, STRATHPEFFER
Strathpeffer IV14 9DL
Tickets: 01997 420124
Email: enquiries@strathpefferpavillion.org
Web: www.strathpefferpavillion.org

Sat 29 Oct 7.30pm (£7/£5) EASDALE ISLAND HALL, EASDALE
Argyll PA34 4TB
Box Office: 01852 300 113
www.easdale.org

Tue 1 Nov 2pm (£6/£4) MALLAIG & MORAR COMMUNITY CENTRE
West Bay, Mallaig
Inverness-Shire, PH41 4PX
Tel: 01687 460039
Email: mallaighall@beeb.net

Thu 3 Nov 7.30pm (£7.50/£5) VILLAGE HALL, BALLACHULISH
East Laroch
Ballachulish PH49 4LG
Box Office: 01855 811 866
Email: ballachulisharts@aol.com

Sat 5 Nov 7.30pm (£8/£5) JURA HALL, ISLE OF JURA
Tickets available on the door
Info: shazjura@hotmail.com

8 –19 Nov times vary (£12/£7) TRAVERSE THEATRE, EDINBURGH
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED
Tickets: 0131 228 1404
www.traverse.co.uk