In a new series introducing the work of Eden Court Connect members, Rebecca Martin shares her creative process and discusses her latest work in progress.
I always view typing, once I get into the flow of an idea, as if I’m playing the piano. My fingers lightly tap each button, striking up a rhythm. I am on a journey that no one else can see. I am taken away by the burst of creativity, letting it rule me as if I am a puppet to my thoughts and words spill onto the document before me. The fire still burns as I notice that dusk has turned into darkness. My stomach rumbles. My eyes burn from staring at the computer and my watch tells me it’s no longer 6pm but midnight, 1am, 2am - and now the witching hour has descended upon me. Everything remains still but time and the flurry of my fingers. The only sound around me is the click, click, click of my keyboard. Only I know what worlds I have created with each one.
What worlds have I crafted? My mythical story Rabbit Catcher tells the story of a girl murdered on Ord Hill in a world half otherworldly and half our own - where legends are formed, devils rule, deities are birthed and the dead talk. In The River Goddess of Clootie Well we meet the goddess who resides in the Black Isle’s Clootie Well. Traditions, rituals and ancient beliefs that are still with us today.
Highland stories and Highland voices are important to me. I'm also motivated to produce work that represents mental health issues, uplifts women and tells stories that celebrate the neurodiverse experience.
I’m currently working on a piece called In Darkness He Calls, a drama centred around Boleskine House by Loch Ness. A dark and dramatic tale of seduction, innocence, forbidden love and an examination of Scottish superstitions.
It was dreich, and I was drenched, and the mist stilled the land into order. But it was wild on the loch this eve. Aye, my heart was wild too.
Set in the 1900s, it fictionalises the events that occurred in the house owned by the infamous occultist Aleister Crowley. But this is not his story.
Instead, it is about the servants who worked, lived, loved and feared in Boleskine House. It asks the question: who were the people that served in the shadows?
The motivation behind the piece is to explore the dynamic and complex topic of the supernatural in the Highlands, contrasting the beauty of our landscape and the harsh reality of its people. I’m inspired to tell a different piece of Highland lore and history.
Together we’ll wander around our lonely hills missing pieces of ourselves that are hidden under a bramble bush or buried deep in a rabbit hole.
The great thing about writing for theatre is the creative collaboration. The writer pieces together the bones of the story, maps out the veins and places the heart in the chest before sending it onto the next stage. The director, dramaturg, producer, costume designer, stage designer, lighting tech, flesh out the body and shock the heart into pumping. And the actors breathe life into it. Once the audience is seated and watching the show, that is when the body stands up and walks around and becomes real. Everyone has a part to play in producing a play. No role is too small.
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