The tailor of Inverness – In English

Guest performance by Scottish Dogstar Theatre. See Matthew Zajac in an acclaimed storytelling performance that leaves no one unmoved. The Tailor of Inverness is undoubtedly Dogstar’s most successful show. It premiered in 2008 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has since toured the world. And audiences in Ireland, Scotland, Ukraine, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Australia and the US agree; This IS a brilliant and very strong performance. Nowadays, the text is also published in book form and a documentary about the tour in Eastern Europe was completed in 2017. Only the puzzle is missing…

This is a story about travel, about how a boy who grew up on a farm in Galicia (Eastern Poland, now Western Ukraine) came to be a tailor in Inverness. His life story is marked by war, cruelty and exclusion. In the roles of prisoner of war, soldier and immigrant, he also had to adapt in order to survive. He sewed clothes. Lots of clothes. And disguises. To survive.

There are plenty of reflections on the Second World War and connections to today’s Ukraine, but the story is above all personal and intimate. It is rooted in two cultures; Galicia and the Scottish Highlands. Here are songs, poetry, live violin music and effects. But above all, a Matthew Zajac in top form.

SOME PRESS QUOTES: “One actor, one fiddler, one brilliant and moving piece of Never spent $25 and 75 minutes so well. See it, friends.” April Alliston, New York

”…proves that theater is indispensable as a meeting place, a guarantee of enchantment and of the human spirit.” Pia Huss, Dagens Nyheter Sweden

“An ardent, deeply personal play…compelling, impassioned…a fine actor” New York Times

In English.

By: Matthew Zajac Music/musicians: Jonny Hardie or Gavin Marwick

Arr: Nordic Storytelling Centre, part of Västerbottensteatern

Part of the Storytelling Festival 2024