Return to the Voice (Poland)

Return to the Voice (Poland)
Song of the Goat Theatre Company
Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014
Summerhall @ St. Gile's Cathedral
Jaw-dropping

The show starts with a short concert of Scottish musicians performing traditional songs in Gaelic. Then a short documentary is shown about the process/research that the creative team of the Song of the Goat Theatre Company undertook. Both of these are a nice introduction to the main part of this production: a concert of traditional Gaelic, folk songs interpreted by the company. And here I want to say that for me this isn’t a theatre production and I’m baffled as to why it is included in a Fringe theatre category rather than the music one… It is a concert. Not just any concert, though. It is an extraordinary one! From the very first sounds that come from twelve performers it is obvious we are in for a musical feast of the highest quality. I was amazed by Grzegorz Bral’s precision and meticulousness that enabled a creation of such an impressive unity of the ensemble. The harmony and vibrancy was glorious. I was delighted by Anna Maria Jopek’s solos. Her voice is angelic and it was breathtaking to listen to it spreading around the old walls of St. Giles Cathedral. Whist listening to these perfectly performed Gaelic songs I couldn’t help but wondering about the identity of Scottish people and how it relates to the upcoming Referendum. I was amazed how accurate the title of this project is: Return to the voice is all about the voice. In the context of this production and also, metaphorically to the decision people living in Scotland will have to make soon. It is about the voice of an individual to be heard among many as well as the voice of a collective-a nation that undoubtedly has its own identity within diversity, its enchanting beauty and power that comes from the roots of its creation.  Respectably, putting aside political debates about economic, historic and social contexts, I allowed myself to just feel and listen to my intuition, which in vast majority of decisions is right…Sometimes we get lost in logical analysis and to find the way back to ourselves all we have to do is take a moment and listen to our inner voice-return to our voice. And this production certainly inspires and enables us to do so…

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/return-to-the-voice