Homage To Caledonia: A Story in Words and Guitar Music

Sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe!

2010-09-02T10:06:00.001-07:00

Homage to Caledonia: A Story in Words and Guitar Music sold out all three of its performances at this year's Edinburgh Fringe and box office staff were in the unfortunate position of having to turn away disappointed customers who were queuing in the hope of returns. The packed audiences who were lucky enough to have bought their tickets in good time gave the show a fantastic reception and the performers had standing ovations.

Homage Show Comes to Edinburgh Fringe

2010-06-09T03:36:00.000-07:00

We're delighted to confirm that Homage to Caledonia: A Story in Words and Guitar Music will be performed at this year's Edinburgh Fringe. Come and hear about an impassioned time when men and women from Scotland had a world to win. Come and be moved by some of the most devastatingly beautiful music at this year's festivals.

With Daniel Gray and Jonathan Prag

August 14th, 21st and 28th:

14.05 - 15.05

Venue 122, St Cuthbert's Church (Entrances off Princes Street and Lothian Road)
Tickets £7.00 (Conc.£6.00) Box Office 0131 226 0000

Live Dates Announced

2010-06-07T14:02:00.000-07:00

Homage to Caledonia: The Show will be touring Scotland's beautiful west in early July. Come along for an inspiring and emotional evening.

Dates

July 5th: 7.30 pm The Astley Hall, Arisaig (Box office 01687 450263) tickets £7 (concs. available)

July 7th: 7.30 pm The Leven Centre, Kinlochleven (Box Office 01855 831119, or tickets from the Leven Centre office and Kinlochleven Library. Ticket price includes refreshments)

July 8th: 7.30 pm The Schoolroom, Isle of Muck (Box Office 01687 460089)

Or, see the show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe:

August 14th, 21st and 28th: 2.05 pm,
St Cuthbert's Church (Fringe Venue Number x) Tickets £7.00 (Concessions £6.00)

Now comes the LIVE STAGE VERSION OF THE STORY!

2010-01-25T12:47:00.000-08:00

The new show is suitable for studio spaces, village halls, libraries or schools and has no special technical requirements. To find out details or, if you are a promoter, to book the show for your venue email Frances Clarke frances-clarke@ntlworld.com

Daniel Gray (left), author of the acclaimed Homage To Caledonia, has teamed up with classical guitarist, Jonathan Prag and the two have devised a format in which to perform the thrilling and stirring tale of the Scots men and women who travelled to Spain to fight against Franco in the Spanish Civil War.

Daniel’s book, around which the STV two-part series was based, is about the extraordinary role of Scottish people in the International Brigades.

In this powerful live performance, Gray’s compellingly told stories and the stunning music of Spain from guitarist Jonathan Prag combine to evoke the atmosphere and tell an extraordinary tale. It is one of sacrifice in battle, sheer belief and drinking too much local vino.

The show will alternate story and music so that as the piece unfolds, stark facts and heroic deeds are echoed in the music of Spain and in the guitar's rendition of the songs the Brigaders used to sing around their fires at night and as they marched. As well as learning more about this unprecedented time in history, the audience will be thrilled, amused and fascinated, enriched and beguiled by the skill of the two performers.

About the two performers

Jonathan Prag trained as an actor, studying drama at Bristol University and working as an actor/musician in various professional theatre companies with whom he toured in Canada, Poland, France and the UK before deciding to leave the theatre and devote himself to the classical guitar. He studied with Adrian Neville in Southampton and with international classical guitarist, Carlos Bonell, in London (with whom he toured in a guitar and poetry show based on the life and writing of the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca).

Jonathan performs solo classical guitar concerts regularly at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe but always enjoys collaborations. In 1994, he played guitar as accompanist to the legendary Eartha Kitt in her one-woman show: Yes, which played at the Edinburgh Fringe and the Liverpool Everyman.

In 2007 he performed with the Orchestra of St John’s, Smith Square in the Grange Park Opera production of Verdi’s Falstaff. He is a member of chamber music group, The Ruskin Ensemble, appearing with them at the Brighton Festival, the Tunbridge Wells Festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Rural Touring Schemes in Nottinghamshire, Sussex, Devon, Scotland and Wales and Music Societies throughout the British Isles.

Outreach work is an important part of his experience as a musician and he works for the charity Music in Hospitals and has worked on the outreach projects of the City of London Sinfonia and taken part in schools workshops throughout the UK.

Daniel Gray (left, in performance at the Glasgow Book Festival, Aye Write, in 2009) is a writer and researcher. As well as being the author of Homage to Caledonia: Scotland and the Spanish Civil War, Daniel is a 2003 Politics and History graduate of Newcastle University. His first book, The Historical Dictionary of Marxism, was published in 2007. He is yet to sell the film rights. He has worked as a researcher, contributor and writer on BBC radio and on STV's mini-series The Scots Who Fought Franco. He has also written on football for When Saturday Comes and Fly Me To The Moon, the fanzine of his beloved Middlesbrough FC, and is a book reviewer for History Scotland and The Skinny. He writes for the The Leither and Scottish Labour Review, and is currently working on a travel book based around lower division Scottish football, entitled Stramash: a Ramble Through Scotland’s Small Towns and Teams. He is proud to be an adopted Leither.

In 2009 alone, he addressed 32 audiences on the subject of his book Homage To Caledonia. Here's some feedback:

"It was fascinating to hear about those from Scotland who went to fight in the Spanish Civil War - a piece of history now often overlooked, which still has incredible resonance for our times." Susan Garnsworthy, Director, Dumfries and Galloway Arts Association

“We got great feedback from the audience. A hard act to follow!” Historical Association, Glasgow.

“Illuminating and thought provoking.” Bill Butler MSP

“A superb session…the panel enlightened and engaged…Daniel Gray argued passionately for the "forgotten heroes”… Fully sold out, this was a truly remarkable event.” Herald review of Daniel Gray’s event at Glasgow’s annual Literature and Book Festival, Aye Write, 2009

“He’s a born storyteller. He held the audience spellbound and the story itself is full of inspiring heroism. The event was packed solid and when he finished was a roar of appreciation.” Frances Clarke, audience member at the Daniel Gray event at the 2009 Edinburgh Book Festival

Then There Was the two-part TV programme...

2010-01-21T10:07:00.000-08:00

In August 2009, Scottish Television screened its two-part documentary series The Scots Who Fought Franco.

The programmes paid tribute to the more than 500 Scottish men and women who fought and nursed in the Spanish Civil War. They included previously unseen, unique archive interviews with Scots who joined the International Brigades.

Filmed in the early '90s, these inspiring interviews are personal and moving, and all the more poignant when you realise that today not one of these men remains alive. The last of them, Steve Fullarton, who joined up aged 18, passed away in 2008 aged 88.

Author Daniel Gray, whose book Homage to Caledonia the series was based on, travelled to Spain for the programmes to revisit some of the major battelfields where these men's comrades still lie.

Daniel's book shows the extent to which the Spanish Civil War exerted a hold on the imagination of Scottish people and tells the story of why so many of them were inspired to join the conflict.

The programmes were screened on August 13th and 20th at 9pm, replacing The Bill!

Comments on 'The Scots Who Fought Franco'

"The programmes used interviews recorded with Scots Brigaders in the 1990s, adding faces and voices to courageous and heartrending words. Filming, I was able to visit the conflict arenas that Scots Brigaders I had written about had fought, laughed and died in. If I came across as emotional in the programmes, then that’s because I was." Daniel Gray

“The Scots Who Fought Franco tells the untold story by the brave men who were there, fighting against Fascism with passion, on the front line. I filmed these never-before-seen interviews ten years ago and this project has been a real labour of love for me. I’m absolutely delighted that STV commissioned the series, to help bring these fascinating and inspiring stories to a peak time audience.” Award winning director Don Coutts, director and producer of The Scots Who Fought Franco

“This is a tale of hope, humour, fear and honour and one which I’m confident will capture the imagination of Scots across the country. We’re delighted to be airing these films on STV: we have a vibrant and content-rich schedule, incorporating strong home-grown productions across various genres, popular acquired series and the best of the network material.” Alan Clements, director of content at STV

Watch the Scots Who Fought Franco on Youtube:

Click hereComments on The Scots who Fought Franco:

First There Was The Book...

2010-01-19T01:58:00.000-08:00

Praise for Homage To Caledonia (Luath Press ltd. Edinburgh)

“Important and powerful” (Tony Benn)

“Told through the words and experiences of those who were there, this meticulously researched and beautifully written book is simultaneously heart-breaking and uplifting”. (Maggie Craig, writer)

"Daniel Gray has done a marvellous job in bringing together the stories of Scots volunteers… in [this] many-voiced, multi-layered book.” (Scotland on Sunday)

“[Gray] has organised a complex story into a well-constructed and compelling narrative. He can write – his prose is unfussy, fluent and warm. Best of all, he has squared the circle of producing accurate history while retaining a deep respect for the men and women who people it… moving and thought-provoking.” (The Herald)

“Excellent… highly effective.” (The Scots Magazine)

“A new and fascinating contribution.” (Scottish Review of Books)

"Excellent… a rigorous, well written and entertaining assessment of Scotland’s contribution to that chapter of European history.” (Jamie Hepburn MSP, in Holyrood Magazine)

“Book of the week… Gray deserves applause for shining a light on a lesserknown aspect of the nation’s character of which we should all be proud.” (Press and Journal)

“A very human history of the conflict emerges” (Scottish Field)

"The latest addition to a line of excellent books detailing the efforts of British men and women in Spain”
(Morning Star)

“An excellent book I would recommend to anyone with an interest in the Civil War.” (Scots Independent)

“Tells the story of those in Spain, but also of the tremendous effort of the Scots at home to raise funds to provide vital food and medical supplies.” (Daily Record)

“Much of the testimony in this important book is new… What is most impressive is the way in which the different characters involved carry the reader along with them. From its pages, the voices of the ordinary Scots who volunteered to fight fascism ring out loud and clear… in no other book will you find yourself closer to them, or more inspired.” (International Brigades Memorial Trust Newsletter)

“Daniel Gray skilfully weaves the words of the Scottish participants in Spain’s struggle for democracy in this excellent and timely book.” (The Citizen)

“Gray weaves a complex, yet highly accessible and personalised narrative...[his] work offers unique insights into the complexity, passions and ultimate tragedy of this conflict.” (Scottish Labour History Journal)

Homage To Caledonia: A Story in Words and Music

2010-01-08T07:07:00.000-08:00

First there was the book, Homage To Caledonia.

Then, an STV series based on the book, The Scots Who Fought Franco.

Now comes a live stage version of the story.

The new show is suitable for studio spaces, village halls, libraries or schools and has no special technical requirements. To find out details or, if you are a promoter, to book the show for your venue contact Frances Clarke: frances-clarke@ntlworld.com

The book Homage To Caledonia by Daniel Gray is published by Luath Press

The Scots Who Fought Franco was produced and directed by Donald Coutts and is a co-production between STV and Cromarty-based production company Move On Up TV.

The performance piece: Homage To Caledonia: a Story in Words and Guitar Music, is produced and directed by Frances Clarke and is a co-production between Daniel Gray and Jonathan Prag.