Lung Ha’s Theatre Company went to Paris

On the weekend of 24 and 25 of January 2009, while many across Scotland commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, a special Burns Supper or ‘Grande Fete Ecossaise’ did take place in Paris to celebrate a residency at Chapiteaux Turbulents by Edinburgh-based Lung Ha’s Theatre Company.

Since 1984 Lung Ha’s Theatre Company has been one of the leading professional theatre companies in Scotland providing opportunities for adults with learning disabilities to become actively involved in the performing arts.

Its actors are currently completing final rehearsals before they take their current production Il Panico di Pantalone to Paris to take up a week-long residency at Chapiteaux Turbulents, an arts centre for autistic adults.

The residency, which is supported by the Scottish Arts Council, consisted of two days of joint workshops with the resident French company Les Turbulents followed by a performance on Friday 23 January of Il Panico di Pantalone which toured Scotland in autumn 2008.

The residency culminated with a traditional Burns Supper or ‘Grande Fete Ecossaise’ on the evening of 24 January with haggis, neeps and tatties especially brought over from Scotland, a ceilidh and addresses and recitations in French and Scots.

The residency offers Lung Ha’s the opportunity to take its work to a new European audience and to share the knowledge and skills with a similar company in France.

Lung Ha’s has gone from strength to strength over the last 24 years with a catalogue of nearly 30 original stage productions.  The company receives flexible funding from the Scottish Arts Council and recently appointed a new full-time Artistic Director, Maria Oller.

Further details can be found at www.lunghas.co.uk and www.turbulences.eu