Maureen Beattie brings The Carousel to Cumbernauld

ACTRESS Maureen Beattie will visit Cumbernauld later in August with her one-woman play, The Carousel.
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This Stellar Quines production continues the Jennifer Tremblay trilogy which began with The List, which also starred Beattie.

Maureen told the News and Chronicle: “The narrator is the same character as in The List, but here different aspects of her personality come to the fore.

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“It is a melancholy road trip across the rather barren landscape of Canada for her as she has been contacted by her mother who is dying and wants to see her one last time.

“During the course of the journey she thinks about her past and her regrets, and calls upon the spirit of her grandmother. Not in a seance, ghost story kind of way but she talks to her.

“The centre of the story is about the relationship between the narrator and her mother. She was one of several children and was sent to boarding school and over the course of the story we learn why that happened.”

The title of the play refers to the theme of being haunted by the past - having the same issues and events coming up again and again for the characters in the story, all of whom are portrayed b y Maureen.

Maureen also explained what attracted her to this project.

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“I could of course say ‘money’ but the truth is there isn’t a lot of that in a small scale touring theatre production,” she said. “It was the script that really stood out to me. When I first read the first part of the trilogy, The List, I thought it was a beautifully simple and personal drama.”

Maureen and the rest of the Stellar Quines team were able to capitalize on the strength of that script and the subsequent production was very successful, winning several awards. They returned to the Fringe with the List last year, and The Carousel is currently being stagedin Edinburgh before going on tour. Work is also underway on the concluding part of the trilogy, with this year’s Fringe run to also include a rehearsed reading of that script, which is currently titled Deliverance.

“There is actually another actor on the stage with me for Deliverance, Hugh Ross.”

“The ambition for next year is to do all three parts of the trilogy,” added Maureen.

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It is well known that maureen has showbiz in her blood. She is the daughter of the late model/agent Kitty Lamont and popular entertainer Johnny Beattie, who at the age of 87 is still a telly regular with his long-running role on River City.

“My dad is still an inspiration to me,” she said. “He hasn’t seen The Carousel yet but he will soon when he gets time off from River City. He did see The List and loved it”.

The Carousel is coming to Cumbernauld Theatre on August 28 and tickets are available from the box office on 01236 732887.

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