A co-production from The Gaiety, Perth Theatre and Cumbernauld Theatre Company
Written by Ann Marie Di Mambro
Directed by Ken Alexander
There is hardly a town or city in Scotland that doesn’t have its own Italian café, chippy or ice-cream parlour. And it’s in one of these much-loved establishments that the story of Tally’s Blood starts…
Lucia can wrap her aunt and uncle around her little finger, cry to order, and she doesn’t like going to school. She likes Hughie though, so much so that they seal their friendship with a secret ceremony in the shop storeroom – aided by an illicit bottle of ‘ginger’.
Auntie Rosinella loves Lucia like all the children she never had, but will anyone – particularly a ‘Scotch’ boy – be good enough for the girl she loves ‘best in the whole wide world’?
As childhood camaraderie blossoms into romance, Lucia and Hughie face more challenges than the fact their countries are taking opposing sides in the Second World War.
Told with heart and humour, Tally’s Blood follows an Italian immigrant family in Scotland, from the 1930s to the 1950s, in a tale of poverty, passion and prejudice that travels from the west of Scotland to the sun-baked Italian countryside.
This new production marked 20 years since Ken Alexander directed the last professional tour of Tally’s Blood in 2003.
Chiara Sparkes as Lucia Ianelli
Craig McLean as Hughie Devlin
Carmen Pieraccini as Rosinella Pedreschi
Andy Clark as Massimo Pedreschi
Dani Heron as Bridget Devlin
Paul J Corrigan as Franco Pedreschi / Luigi Ianelli
Ken Alexander Director
Fraser Morrison Designer
Wayne Dowdeswell Lighting Designer
Hilary Brooks Sound Designer
Sarah Wilkie Choreographer
Helen Logan Assistant Director (FST Bursary)
Adam Tucker Associate Sound Designer
Riona Gilliland Stage Manager
Heather Wilson Depute Stage Manager
Alex Tosh Assistant Stage Manager
Nicki McLean Touring Wardrobe
Benah Pattison Touring Lighting
Casimira Hayward-Peel Production Manager
White Light Tour Lighting
Stage Hire Scotland Haulage and Trucking
Harry Fearnley-Brown Head of Production
Nina Bossicard Production Assistant
John Pike Head of Technical Services
Louise Robertson Head of Costume
Murray Airlie Head of Construction
Zach Allen Master Carpenter
Paul Falconer Head of Sound
Francois Langton Head of Lighting
Stephen Brook Head of Stage
Martha Steed Scenic Artist
Tally’s Blood was supported by the Hugh Fraser Foundation.
With thanks to Eusebi Deli; Italian Cultural Institute of Edinburgh; The Federation of Scottish Theatre; Pitlochry Festival Theatre; Dundee Rep; New Wolf Productions; A.G. Barr
★★★★ – an epic and heartwarming evening of theatre, delivered with huge commitment and love
The Scotsman
★★★★ – a welcome revisitation to an ever-maturing work that taps into notions of exile and integration with wit, warmth and a huge heart
THE Herald
★★★★★ – immensely heart-warming and authentic
Broadway World
★★★★ – a profoundly human and humorous Scottish classic – served to audiences with charm, laughter and an all too familiar pertinence
The Reviews Hub
★★★★ – timely, touching and whipcrack funny
The Courier
Photos by Mihaela Bodlovik
