This was exactly the sort of thing the Book Festival can provide. The following discussion, chaired by Lyceum chief David Greig, was illuminating and thought-provoking, but the overriding feeling of the audience was that they wanted more of the adaptation – perhaps, as someone suggested, something to be considered for a future Lyceum season. Such tremorous beats were intended to be provided by DJ Cat Reilly’s musical accompaniment, but insufficient volume – probably intended to avoid shocking the Book Festival audience – meant that his was reduced to background colour and (through no fault of Reilly’s) did not have the required impact. This was clearly an attempt to utilise Kielty and Thorburn’s considerable talents in this area, and was certainly effective, even if it did not quite reflect Liptrot’s preference for more extreme dance music. Perhaps the most surprising element – and one that certainly seemed to leave Liptrot nonplussed – was the use of folky, acoustic versions of Eurodance hits No Limit and Rhythm is a Dancer.

There were certainly some present who were wrong-footed by the number of conversations (and characters) that were not in the book, but on its own terms it worked very well, with Liptrot appearing surprised that Smith knew about things that did not appear in the book but could have done. Beautifully performed by Frances Thorburn as the narrator figure and by John Kielty in a number of roles, Stef Smith’s script was no mere following of the book, rather seeking to reflect the text and ultimately ‘outrun’ it. The performance itself – despite being the equal in length of quite a few Fringe shows – had a tantalisingly fragmentary air to it, being based only on the first four chapters, with the definite feeling that there could be more to come.ĭespite having only a couple of days to rehearse, it nevertheless had a compelling air. The book has become a huge word-of-mouth success, winning prizes and clearly striking a chord with many people, as this event’s swift selling out testified.

The three works are all recent, hugely successful Scottish books, the opening offering being playwright Stef Smith and director Eve Nicol’s version of Amy Liptrot’s memoir of nature, addiction and Orkney.

The outrun liptrot