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Grit: The Martyn Bennett Story

An ambitious new cross-form, Scots-Canadian site specific production based on the inspiring life and music of one of Scotland's most innovative, pioneering and influential musicians; the tragically late Martyn Bennett. Directed by multi-award winning director Cora Bissett (Olivier award-winning RoadKill, Creative Scotland award-winning Whatever gets You through the Night and Glasgow Girls.) Read more …

Reflecting Martyn's own Scots-Canadian heritage, GRIT: The Martyn Bennett Story will be an exciting International collaboration with Canada's renowned choreographer Dana Gringas (of 'Animals of Distinction') and some of Canada’s finest circus artists who will both work alongside an ensemble of Scotland's  dance and aerial artists, actors, live folk singers, and classical musicians, whilst of course featuring Martyn's groundbreaking dance music in it's original form.

This production will tell the painful yet inspiring story of a young man's phenomenal musical imagination, and his fierce fight against the cancer which ultimately robbed him of his short life at 33. His passion, his fierce love of life, music, the country and people who inspired his ground breaking creations are evoked and explored visually, physically and immersively in this highly ambitious musical adventure.


The critical consensus

It is flawed, then, but a compelling experience.

***(*)(*)Lorna Irvine, Exeunt, 05/06/2014

The standing ovation is unsurprising – the play aims at the heart, complete with a boy piper finale – but converting grit into glitter makes for a disappointing shallow production.

**(*)(*)(*)Gareth K Vile, The List, 04/06/2014

It is difficult to imagine a more appropriate tribute to Martyn Bennett.

Mark Brown, Scottish Stage (Daily Telegraph), 05/06/2014

With too many indifferent dance sequences, it's left to the very great force of the music itself to give the show its punch.

***(*)(*)Mark Fisher, The Guardian, 05/06/2014

The emotional power of Bennett's story can't be over-stated, especially when illustrated by such high-octane set-pieces accompanied by Bennett's own music. Like its creator, that music remains a force of nature.

****(*)Neil Cooper, Coffee-Table Notes, 05/06/2014

Yet for all its occasional sense of emotional and sensory overload, Grit is an irresistible show, borne along on a fine central performance from the great Sandy Grierson as Bennett.

****(*)Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman, 07/06/2014


Features about Grit: The Martyn Bennett Story

New show celebrates fusion pioneer Martyn Bennett

Susan Mansfield, The Scotsman, 31/05/2014

Where and when?

Tramway, Glasgow from Thursday May 29, 2014, until Saturday June 7, 2014. More info: www.tramway.org

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