***ATTENTION!***

The following news is likely to greatly upset Andy, much to my delight…

Greg Hemphill, famous in Scotland and the UK for his comedic creations in Chewin The Fat and Still Game, has, along with Donald McLeary, written the play An Appointment with The Wicker Man, based on one of Andy’s all time favourite horror movies The Wicker Man and the novel Ritual by David Pinner.

The following information has been provided by the National Theatre of Scotland about the production:

“On a remote Scottish island, the Loch Parry Theatre Players mount their am-dram version of The Wicker Man. When their lead actor goes missing in mysterious circumstances, they call on the services of a television cop from the mainland to step in and save their production. . .

It is at once a deliciously wicked homage to, and a tender celebration of, a piece of cinema history that reveals for us the spooky undercurrents lurking just below the surface of Scottish village life.
The Loch Parry Players are messing with forces they can’t possibly comprehend but at the end of the night, only one thing is for sure . . . someone’s going to burn for this.”

Hemphill himself has stated, “There will be humour in it but we are not making fun of the film…I would call it a celebration of the movie. It is to The Wicker Man what Mamma Mia is to Abba, bearing in mind The Wicker Man is a horror…We want to give the audience frights, laughs and a good time and celebrate the music, score, story and fantastic ending…It will play like a horror comedy. The Wicker Man is all about the ending. You want people to come and enjoy the ride.”

If this sounds like your kind of thing, tickets are available from the National Theatre of Scotland site and performance dates and locations are as follows:

His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen, 21st- 25th February 2012.

Theatre Royal Glasgow, 28th February- 3rd March 2012.

Eden Court, Inverness, 6th- 10th March 2012.

Alhambra, Dunfermline, 21st-24th March 2012.