The Wound, the Rag, and the In-Between

Dip a rag in the burn, Knot it to the tree, In its decay, Comes the remedy. A lone clootie tree stands between the breathing and the buried, the hurt and the healing, the forgotten and the future. A journalist returns home, determined to unravel a Victorian mystery of a suspicious death. The history she reveals exposes secrets that had been buried for generations. By the clootie tree, in a place meant for recovery and wellbeing, tragic forces are looming, ever-present. This new play brings together Highland theatre-makers to tell a sorrowful story set in the Far North of Scotland, past and present. Commissioned by Vivid Roots Collective to explore gender inequalities in medicine, emerging Highland playwright, Annie MacDonald, offers a poignant and powerful response, telling a story which reaches across centuries. The Wound, the Rag and the In-Between asks unsettling questions about the spaces between trust, belief and recovery.