Wee Betty oral history play

Wee Betty is a one-woman play exploring rural voices across the generations, and the push and pull that forces many young people to leave rural areas to seek out better opportunities, even if they’d prefer to stay.

The story is told through two characters – an older man who had spent his whole life among the hills and rivers of Dumfries & Galloway and a young woman faced with the decision of whether to leave the region. It was based on my own experiences growing up in D&G as well as the stories of Langholm resident Kenneth (who has since become a dear friend).

The set was built out of reclaimed materials and Wee Betty, the little red tractor, was provided by a local farmer. The play had two outdoor performances as part of Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival 2014 – one in Dumfries and one in my hometown of Moffat.

I developed Wee Betty as part of Electric Theatre Workshop‘s MAKE Performance project, which supported emerging rural theatre-makers to develop new work.