Written by Martin Travers

Artistic Direction by Pauline Lynch

The hooting caws of houlets punctuate the Biggar evening, as their feader-filled sacks leave a maukit scent lingering in the air, as the moot presence of something otherworldly ensnares the audience.

Then again, it may all just be in your heid.

No surprises given the introduction, a rhythm of Scots language is at the bedrock of Martin Traver’s new production Secret Wrapped in Lead, a relatively short, yet monumentally powerful, one-act production which has plenty saicrets to share, and plenty of words to draw out of the earth and conjure an intensely personal story rich in history and folklore.

Set in the village of Leadhills, historically known for its richness in minerals, gold, silver and, of course, lead. Dorothy Wordsworth and her (unseen) travelling cohorts seek shelter in an inconspicuous lodging house. Greeted by a young girl, Primrose, and then mother, the landlady Mrs Otto, Dorothy stumbles into more mysteries than the region’s famous library could have ever shared with her. Of the peculiar pellets littering the doorways, the tolls of the curfew bell, and of the poisonous Grey Glen, an area of the county where the beasts have run feral, and the miners struck down, convulsing, retching, and left for the grave.

Opening in Biggar, Braw Clan’s ambitions to bring more Scottish premieres to local theatres is commendable – especially given the significance in this perfect area, an area of the country known for the underground Lead Mining Museum, and of course, a few daft fools still panning for a spec of royal gold. A monumentally triumphant first show for the group, if anything, the production could strive deeper into the supernatural and mercurial elements of mystery and the enigmatic nature. The score too could use a touch of work, distancing itself from the tone. Otherwise, this is a tremendously important and successful outing for the production company, years in the making, and likely the emergence of many more years of quality. 

A three-hander of women, Secret Wrapped in Lead speaks with an autonomous control from all three of the female leads, and thankfully leaves the male characters as unseen and largely unheard, with recordings of some lines from Robin Laing and Anthony Bowers in the opening moments.

There’s a dominating presence from Fletcher Mathers, the only way Mrs Otto can likely survive – both the harshness of the region and the mental and emotional toll their life has had upon them. It’s an effortless performance, one where the language, so strange and distant to many, rolls off and is spoken with a clarity which punctuates the meaning right through the mist of it all. In ways, Mathers is a titan, a stern force which holds a presence, but the inner turmoil and trauma aren’t shirked and instead channelled directly into the strength of the performance.

It’s met with an equally confident performance from Helen McAlpine, who serves as an interim for the audience – lingually and in curiosity to the entire affair. There are moments of great humour between the two, but one thing which is never played for humour is the tongue, the language, Scots specifically. Humour comes from the pair’s natural collisions and differences, Mathers with brutality for speaking plainly, McAlpine a much more eye-rolling sense of derision.

There’s much trust in Pauline Lynch’s artistic direction, one which manages to offer stretches of natural moments of breathing amidst the tightly compacted script – particularly nuanced moments with McAlpine and Morven Blackadder as Primrose, Mrs Otto’s daughter, who translates much of the emotional integrity of the show with nothing other than a glance, a solitary moment of music, or a touching and bittersweet moment of spoken word. Amidst the lighting which flitters from cold tones to an aethereal paleness, Blackadder becomes the lynchpin of the tone of Travers’ script and carries it.

A fragment in the mirror of history, Traver’s language bleeds into audiences shaped by it. Many have forgotten the tongue – not all, but likely a fair few. With its Traverse-style staging, Secrets Wrapped in Lead is remarkably communal as the audience face one another in this intimate and stripped-back production which brings heart and land together, weaved with a beautiful control of language which offers both antiquity and yet a contemporary voice to the entire affair. Unravelling saicrets for a contemporary audience, Traver’s production finds plenty of gold amidst the stream and rekindles a vital and important reminder to value the Scots language and the necessity of new works to be produced with ‘old’ tongues.