John Wyndham's sci-fi classic novel The Day of the Triffids features millions
of walking, thinking, homicidal plants that roam the planet swatting humans into
extinction.
That's the way some people feel about amateur bagpipers, fiddlers and bodhran
players: That they are uninvited hordes swarming parties across the region.
But while bad playing (particularly bad bagpiping) may feel life threatening
at times, the popularity of these instruments speaks to the renaissance of
traditional culture via house parties and ceilidhs.
Great musicians start out as poor ones, of course, and the inherently
democratic nature of the ceilidh is the well-spring of new players.
Indeed, the ceilidh, by definition, blurs the lines between audience and
performers - everyone is a potential entertainer and potential audience
member.
The Confederation Centre's and the College of Piping's co-production of
Ceilidh on the Road pays homage to this community fusion - where
through an informal party atmosphere the performers and audience become one
group.
Led by Patricia Murray, the production establishes this participatory premise
early. All the performers are on stage at all times, whether they
are performing or not. They sit around a stone hearth as spectators until their
pieces begin.
Further supporting this atmosphere is a striking directorial choice - the
innately charismatic Murray spends about 10 minutes chatting with the
audience, asking them where they are from, what's the weather like back home,
etc.
You'd think that would get a little boring, but it has an opposite, even
essential effect on the usually docile fall bus tour audiences.
They get all hepped up, shouting out their provincial and state names,
laughing and kibbitzing with Murray. They accept the invitation to the
party.
Once this mood is established it allows the performers to take us through a
virtual seminar of Gaelic entertainment as College of Piping
instructors of piping, dance, percussion, etc. introduce us to their respective
arts.
They give us a little background to place their performance in context and
then demonstrate why they are among the best players/instructors
around.
This approach brings the audience further into the show; they understand the
world that they are now part of. (It's also a sly and effective
infomercial for the College of Piping. But who's surprised?)
Modern day ceilidhs for the tourist market are by default a form a pageantry.
Such formalizing of an organic event brings with it the risk of the
show becoming stale and lacking modern relevance.
Ceilidh on the Road looks again to the communal aspects of the ceilidh to
overcome this danger by not limiting itself to strictly traditional
performances.
This is perhaps most evident in the inclusion and featuring of Mark Haines in
the show. While Haines is a fantastic traditional fiddler, he is also a
gifted comic - and much of his material is decidedly not traditional in nature.
But that's OK. Everyone and every performance is supposed to be
welcome at a ceilidh, and Haines helps bring the show a contemporary vitality.
In the end, Ceilidh on the Road affirms why there are so many amateurs
sprouting up like musical triffids at practically every Atlantic Canadian
social gathering. Our heritage is not something that was, it is, in fact,
on-going. It's why I've often thought I'd like to make a short film about these
party players called, The Day of the Bodhran Players.
You might be in it.
Ceilidh on the Road completes its season tonight and tomorrow night at the
Lecture Theatre of Confederation Centre of the Arts.
Campbell Webster runs an arts management company in Charlottetown and reviews
theatre for The Guardian. He can be reached at cwebster@isn.net
