About the Performance
'The Birdmen' of St Kilda
Scaling the sheer cliffs of their rocky home ‘the Birdmen' of St Kilda harvested a living from seabirds and their eggs for more than 3,000 years. The decline and depopulation of their society was a slow process, accelerated by contagions from the mainland. By the time the British government evacuated the island in 1930 there were hardly thirty people left - clinging to their unique way of life and furious landscape and roped to their customs and language.
Living on the edge
St Kilda is the most westerly of Scottish islands and the last landfall before America. It is the UK's only dual World Heritage Site - for both natural and cultural heritage - and the cliffs rise taller than the Empire State Building. Traditional Gaelic song and contemporary music are performed against a backdrop of vintage and modern film as a cast of actors, singers and acrobats tell the story of the ‘Birdmen' of St Kilda.
Memerising Multi-media
Two large screens frame the stage and show archive film from 1908 to1930. Interwoven with these highly emotional images is spectacular contemporary film of the place, its story and dramatic aerial cliff-dancers.
A co-production between Manège.Mons/Centre Dramatique/CECN/Musiques Nouvelles in partnership with Proiseact Nan Ealan - The Gaelic Arts Agency, Eolie Songe and le Phénix, with the participation of the Académie Fratellini and the support of INTERREG IV France - Wallonie - Vlaanderen, and the Conseil Régional Nord-Pas de Calais. 3
Image Gallery
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