Brilliant Beasts provide end of term delight at St Magnus Festival

The Bestiary of Brilliant Beasts went down a treat at the Stromness Town Hall this morning.

The musical show created by David Knotts and inspired by John Gallas’s poems on endangered species, saw eight members of the Assembly Project offer a jazzy take on a variety of colourful critters.

Bold, bright and creative images of ten animals were projected on the back drop, each accompanied by their own tune.

Anchoring the 50 minute show was John E Rhymer who masterfully introduced the animals before the music — playful, jazzy and infectious — swung between looney tune frantic foolery and inventive atmospherics bringing broad smiles to the audience.

And none more so that the thirty or so pupils from Stromness Primary School who made it along.

Organised as end of term trip, primary one pupils were escorted by their the primary seven buddies as a special farewell before they left for Stromness Academy in the summer.

Not only did many of them delight to the music and cartoon imagery, at the end of the performance the musicians shared with them many of the wonderful instruments (including a rain stick larger than some of the children) to let them experiment and make music with.

Something they took to with a joyful relish.

For the rest of the audience it was one of these magical festival moments where a event is no longer just a show but a sharing of music and midsummer wonder.