The Silent Weaver: The Extraordinary Life and Work of Angus MacPhee

Roger Hutchinson - Author

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Was ace to hear Gaelic; singing was lovely. These stories need telling. Superlative storytelling — fantastic use of projection and puppetry. Magical, innovative, captivating, moving. A beautiful piece of theatre that will linger in the memory forever. Loved the puppets in particular and the masks.

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Brilliant to see how human they were in the emotions they displayed. So glad I came! That was amazing — what initially appeared to be a simple set revealed itself as a complex and well-coordinated piece — bit like the man himself I suspect — thank you. A beautiful piece of art and a great reminder of the power of theatre. Thanks for sharing this powerful story. Well worth making a long and involved journey by bus, train, and bike — so glad I caught this wonderful show. So imaginative, observant and using different media, sound, light and movement to full effect without ever letting them take over.

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Magical, poetic, thoroughly fascinating! Amazing costumes, masks and puppets. Wonderful show — so inventive, thought provoking, subtle and trusting in its audience. Absolutely brilliant set, acting, everything. You thought of every detail. A Mhairi — abair gutt alainn — sgoinneil! Came from Stonehaven just for this show and am so glad! I have never see such a beautiful play — so sensitively produced even using technology to enhance the dialogue I do not speak or understand Gaelic but felt every word and gesture.

Please come to Aberdeen sometimes. Thanks is not enough. Horse and Bamboo do it again! Totally captivating, moving in extreme.

Their extraordinary skills of acting, singing, mime, film projection, masks and puppetry took us into the mind of the man from South Uist, who expressed himself in the clothing he made from grass. This true tale revealed how soldiers who survive war service might return alive — but damaged.

Angus McPhee - Wikipedia

On being diagnosed with schizophrenia, his 50 years in an Inverness psychiatric hospital were spent in silence but his active brain was creating the most beautiful hats, suits and shoes woven from grasses collected in the hospital grounds. He endured electroconvulsive therapy, was taken off medication and became institutionalised. The lilting Gaelic singing of Mairi Morrison and score of Loz Kaye, the magical animation and lighting of Christina Eddowes, the beguiling integration of sophisticated marionettes by Alison Duddle, the powerful mime aided by deeply expressive full head masks, the works of art that were woven and worn replicas made by Joanne B Kaar and the creative director Bob Frith made this performance speak with a thousand voices, as perhaps Angus had feared to do.

As The Stage put it: Just to let you know about a very beautiful, astonishingly imaginative show that I saw yesterday on the Fringe, which is coming to the CCA in Glasgow on 15th September: As a fellow theatre maker, I just wanted to thank you for such a wonderful experience. Visually stunning — brilliant integration of puppets, masks and performers, and a really exquisite, incredibly accomplished use of video.

The sound track was also absolutely fantastic — detailed, subtle, constantly evoking and probing the psychological space. And, to me, not the least surprising aspect of the production was its commitment to Gaelic — you found a highly original and brilliantly effective way of incorporating the language.

Angus Reviews

Amazing to think that here is a Lancashire theatre company creating a work of Gaelic language theatre which is completely comprehensible in a wonderfully universal way. Mairi Morrison — WHAT a voice — superb — and the use of her singing and narration was so effective and unusual. Many thanks for creating such a powerful work of theatre.

Born to a crofting family in , he was diagnosed as schizophrenic whilst serving in WWII. Although nowadays we realise he was probably disoriented by the transition from peaceful sights and sounds of island-living to hectic life in the army and on the mainland. Eventually he was consigned to Craig Dunain where he remained fifty years. Treated initially by Electroconvulsive Therapy and various drugs, he became further disoriented, retreating into silence, passing the endless years pulling grass from the grounds and weaving it into hats, boots trousers coats, which have become recognised as works of art.

Childhood and boyhood, cleverly, even humorously conveyed with the help of puppet and cut-outs, merged into departure from a cherished, familiar way-of-life as he becomes increasingly distressed by having to live away from the island.

Angus McPhee

They donned a marvellously realised sequence of enlarged false heads which aged as the years passed. Dramatisation of the story was exceptionally well-realised, individual incidents carefully judged, neither too long nor too short. The terrifying mimed enactment of now abandoned ECT was every bit as dramatically chilling as the words of Aston recalling his own treatment in a mental hospital at the end of Act II in The Caretaker. No one knew what caused this illness. He returned home on the croft, but he became mute, sullen and self-absorbed.

His family noticed his animals became neglected, and soon he was moved to Larbert Asylum. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia in , and spent much of the rest of his life in Craig Dunain Hospital. Whatever, the fact seems to be that he remained largely silent for 50 years. Described as 'the quiet big man', he was admitted to the farm ward of the hospital, Kinmylies House.

There he tended the animals and worked on the lands. He was a steady and hard worker and had a particular affection for horses. During his free time, MacPhee wandered the hospital grounds in search of materials and created objects woven mostly from grass, sheep wool and beech leaves. He made garments, hats, caps, pouches, harnesses and the like, which he liked to hide under the bushes. He was completely silent as to their purpose.

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In the s, as part of the movement to return psychiatric patients to the community, Angus was moved back to South Uist, and lived until his death in the Old People's Nursing Home in Daliburgh [7] within an hours' drive of his remaining family. Joyce Laing recalls visiting him and showing him a photograph of a favourite horse. To her surprise Angus briefly spoke, commenting on the horse. She hoped that he might eventually reveal his story to her but within a short time he died.

In he was found as an inmate of Craig Dunain by Joyce Laing, an art therapist. Laing was able to rescue a number of pieces of work by MacPhee which are now in the collection of the Pittenweem 'Art Extraordinary Gallery'. She wrote the book Angus McPhee: In Roger Hutchinson's 'The Silent Weaver' he develops a case for seeing MacPhee's weaving as a way of Angus finding his way back to a kind of health or mental equilibrium by creatively using traditional craft skills and developing them into a unique form of expression.

In the Mackenzie Sisters included a self-written song 'A'fighe le feur' Weaver of Grass on their first album Camhanach, inspired by the unusual story of Angus MacPhee. Sung in Gaelic the English translation of the opening is "Have you ever heard a stranger sound than Angus MacPhee knitting with grass?

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