Haining takes trips to culinary underworld

The Haining opens up The 
Devil’s Larder in a four-day show this Hallowe’en.

Grid Iron Theatre’s show, which explores the impact of food on human society, is based on Jim Crace’s Booker Prize nominated novel The Devil’s Larder, composed of 64 fictional stories all based on the subject of food.

“Crace’s teasingly dark novella is the basis for a journey into a culinary underworld; an uncanny, uncomfortable examination of the envy, love, revenge, hypocrisy, loss and lust which seethe beneath the false calm of the menu, the shopping list and the recipe,” Grid Iron’s website explains.

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The production, adapted into 14 short stories and directed by Ben Harrison, “weaves a sinuous and treacherous path from narrative episode to story-telling, from installation to song, with live music performed by David Paul Jones and The Poozies harpist Mary Macmaster,” the company continues.

“Grid Iron examine how food can act as a catalyst for unleashing our fears, desires and taboos.”

Performances will be promenade style, following the players from room to room on the Haining’s ground floor.

The performances start with evening shows on Thursday October 29 and Friday October 30, followed by two performances at 2pm and 7.30pm on Saturday October 31. The 2pm performance on Sunday November 1 has sold out. Tickets, priced at £15, are available on www.eventbrite.co.uk.

After Selkirk, The Devil’s Larder adapts itself to two very different venues on its 2015 tour of Scotland, in Oban’s Rockfield Centre and The Melvich Hotel in Sutherland.