It is a difficult feat, when presenting over an hour of bagpipes, drumming, highland dancing, and step-dancing, to keep from slipping into a tedious and repetitive demonstration of talent. However, in the College of Piping’s latest summer production, “Highland Storm,” there is rarely a dull moment. The show’s mixture of high energy and remarkable musicianship and dancing can be enjoyed by both connoisseurs of highland culture as well as by those whose understanding is limited to their Scottish last name.
Based on the Celtic folktale of “The Grey Selkie,” “Highland Storm” tells the story of a beautiful mermaid princess, played by the perfectly cast Patricia Murray, and her band of mermaids who shed their grey seal skins to sing and dance on the shore. When the princess’s song enchants a village man, he takes her seal skin and coaxes her to come back to his village where they wed. However, seventeen years later on the day of their eldest daughter’s marriage, the princess rediscovers her seal skin and is drawn back to her life in the ocean.
Though the entire production is based around this story, it has no dialogue, instead using music, song, and dance to further the narrative. This can prove somewhat confusing and, therefore, it is important to read the synopsis found in the program before the show. I even found myself glancing at it during the performance to better understand why certain choices of drumming, bagpipes and dancing were being used in the scene.
In the beginning the mermaids and their princess are enchanting the village man with an ethereal dance and the Gaelic song “Oran na Maighdinn-mhara” (The Mermaid’s Song) accompanied by the wonderful harp sounds of Christine Anderson Gallant. It then smoothly transitions to the more mortal and concrete sounds of the talented drum corps as the princess arrives in the village, creating a sense of change from the enchanting ocean to the unknown land.
Comprised of an extremely talented and hard-working cast of mostly young musicians and dancers, “Highland Storm” showcased their skills, which were the highlight of the show. The drum corps, using both ends of their sticks, kept perfect time with their drum leader Jeremy White, while the bagpiper’s fingers moved so quickly it was both visually and musically stunning. The highland dancers changed nicely from the fluid movements of the mermaids to the more classical dancing of the villagers and the young step-dancers, portraying village children, provided even more energy to the large cast.
As the mermaid princess turned village wife, Patricia Murray’s voice was perfectly suited to the traditional Celtic songs sung in both Gaelic and English. With a touch of sadness from the very beginning, her voice hinted at the mixture of emotions felt by the mermaid. Probably Murray’s most memorable song was “Caledonia,” sung to her husband as she decides to return to the ocean.
With an impressive cast of musicians and dancers, and pleasing costumes for both the villagers and the mermaids, “Highland Storm” is worth checking out, if only to see yet another mermaid portrayed as a red-head. The show runs Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from August 14, at the College of Piping in Summerside.
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