Through The Shortbread Tin, National Theatre of Scotland
The story of the greatest literary hoax of all time.
1760 – Scottish poet James Macpherson sets the world ablaze with stories of the third-century Scottish bard, Ossian. This tartan-trimmed tale of Highland history spreads far and wide, capturing the imagination of thousands– but is it built on deceit?
2025 – Scottish poet Martin O’Connor reads Macpherson’s epic and questions his own relationship with Scottish culture. The sporrans, the stags, the shortbread – do these ‘gift-shop’ images of Scotland hold us back or bring us forward? What does it mean to be authentic, and is the truth sometimes better told in a lie?
Through The Shortbread Tin is a brand-new show, performed in Scots with Gaelic songs, which explores Scottish culture, myths, history and identity.
Join Martin and Macpherson on an oral odyssey spanning centuries of Scottish history, exploring the myths we tell each other and the stories we tell ourselves. Because it takes a lot ae imagination tae tell a true story.
Written and performed by Martin O’Connor. Directed by Lu Kemp.
Through the Shortbread Tin is a brand-new show, performed in Scots with Gaelic songs, which explores Scottish culture, myths, history, and identity. The play tells the story of Scottish poet James Macpherson who set the world ablaze in 1760 with tales of third-century Scottish bard Ossian, and examines if the story was built on deceit and the lasting impact it has had on Scottish culture. Written and performed by Martin O’Connor, who was named Scots Performer of the Year in the 2024 Scots Language Awards Directed by Lu Kemp Features three distinctive Gaelic choral singers, Josie Duncan, Claire Frances MacNeil and Màiri Morrison, who will be singing original songs composed by Oliver Searle, and explores Gaelic connections to Scottish culture. Opening in Melrose before touring to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Ullapool, Stornoway, Portree, Dornie, Cumbernauld, Oban, Cove, Lerwick and Inverness.
