Life is stranger than fiction at Montrose Playhouse

The programme of events will be held over Friday and Saturday.

The weekend begins tomorrow (March 31) at 7.30pm with ‘Nae Pasaran!’, which tells the extraordinary story of a group of heroic Rolls Royce workers from East Kilbride, who down tools and refuse to service Chilean Airforce jet engines that arrive at their factory for repairs.

The workers had witnessed horrific TV footage of aircraft bombings during the coup by General Augusto Pinochet in 1973. The film is one of the most successful feature documentaries ever released in UK cinemas, and director Felipe Bustos Sierra will be present for a Q&A, describing how he made the film more than half a decade.

It went on to clinch the top award at the Scottish BAFTAs.

Then on Saturday at 3pm, Dr Who Composer Dominic Glynn will give an illustrated big screen talk about writing music for film and television.

As well as penning music for the world’s longest running sci-fi TV show, Dominic has also composed scores for everything from The Simpsons and Red Dwarf to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and a growing list of feature films.

Dominic will take the audience inside his studio to describe the process of writing music and how he creates whole orchestras from his keyboard.

Anthony Baxter, Montrose Playhouse patron, also spent five years making his feature documentary ‘FLINT: Who Can You Trust?’, which will get a special screening in the filmmaker’s hometown as part of the weekend, on Saturday at 7.30pm.

The explosive documentary goes behind the headlines to investigate the escalating betrayal and deceit by government officials who decide to save money by switching the water supply in Flint, Michigan, USA from the Great Lakes to the local, polluted river in a bid to save money.

Anthony will also be present for a Q&A to talk about his film’s difficult journey to cinemas in America – where its release was originally derailed by the Covid-19 pandemic and then the tragic on-set shooting involving FLINT narrator Alec Baldwin.

The film has recently been acquired for screening by NBC’s Peacock channel in the United States.

David Paton, Montrose Playhouse Project SCIO chairman, said: “The Montrose Playhouse has proven such a hit with audiences since its opening and it’s a great privilege to be asked to show the feature length version of this film here. We’ve got ambitious plans for an environmentally themed film festival here in Montrose for later this year and this is just the start!” said Baxter of the Stranger Than Fiction weekend.

“We are so lucky to have such a passionate patron and lover of the Playhouse as Anthony, who continues to support us with these fantastic screenings that really open up the cultural offering in Montrose and surrounding areas.”

The weekend’s events are the latest in a continuing programme of high quality offering which the playhouse has offered since opening in October 2021, as a three-screen cinema, community and arts venue in the town’s derelict former swimming pool.