Calum's Road Rolls On

Congratulations to the National Theatre of Scotland's production of Calum's Road which received a four-star review from The Scotsman.


Iain Macrae, as Calum, maps out his plans.
Pic: Richard Campbell

"The story told here is of such wisdom and significance that it sweeps objections aside, and moves many in the audience to tears. Iain Macrae gives a fine performance as Calum, a difficult man of unpredictable opinions, who - when not crofting, minding the lighthouse, working as the local postman, or building his road - spent most of his time writing stroppy letters to council officials. John McGeoch's backdrop video designs are breathtakingly beautiful.


Alasdair Macrae drives the whole 95-minute show forward on a tide of music, often traditional, but sometimes inflected with the hard, electronic rhythms of the world in which we all now live; and which may at last be turning back towards places like Arnish, towards their beauty, their natural richness, and their stories, which tell us so much, and cost so little to pass on."

The play Calum's Road is on tour throughout the autumn, find out more at www.nationaltheatrescotland.com. And if you'd like to find out more about Calum and his road, Roger Hutchinson's original book - on which the play is based - is available in all good bookshops and online. Go to www.birlinn.co.uk. 

The Road to Success for Calum

Lovely to see heartfelt and much-deserved praise for the National Theatre of Scotland's production of Calum's Road in the Guardian. "Lyrical, musical and elegiac," - not bad at all! You can read the rest of the review by Mark Fisher here, and find out more about about Calums' Road on tour throughout the autumn at www.nationaltheatrescotland.com.

 And if you'd like to find out more about Calum and his road, Roger Hutchinson's original book - on which the play is based - is available in all good bookshops and online. Go to www.birlinn.co.uk for more on Roger himself. 

Calum's Road Takes to the Road

by Roger Hutchinson

Calum's Road and Roger Hutchinson’s book of the same name have become the stuff of modern folklore. It is the remarkable true story of one man's single-minded determination to challenge the powers-that-be and is now coming to stages across Scotland for the first time thanks to Scots playwright David Harrower and the National Theatre of Scotland.

Calum MacLeod lived with his wife on the remote island of Raasay, just off Skye. Born there in 1911, he was crofter, postman and lighthouseman until the population of the north of the island dwindled in the 1960s to just the two of them. Determined not to see the area die – and tired of waiting for the Council to do something – he took matters into his own hands. He built a road. Calum’s unpaid labour of love was to dominate the last 20 years of his life and leave behind a legacy – both practical and poetic – carved into the landscape he loved.



Directed by the highly-acclaimed Gerry Mulgrew Calum’s Road is a co-production between Communicado Theatre Company and the National Theatre of Scotland. The play will be touring Scotland throughout the autumn, ending on Calum’s home island of Raasay on 25th November. Further details of performances can be found here.