(Morning Star, Thursday 22 December 2005)
PANTO: The Marsh King's Daughter, The Byre Theatre, St Andrews
A HANS Christian Andersen story has all the magic that one could want from a festive performance and the Byre's nice line in magical Christmas theatre is well documented.
With two comical storks as narrators, there is silliness there from the start for the youngsters in the audience, but the darkness and depth of the tale is always close to the surface.
Billed as a legend, The Marsh King's Daughter is set in the wild moors of Scandinavia and the far-off shores of ancient Egypt.
An Egyptian princess is tricked by her jealous sisters and left for dead in the marshes.
She is taken in by the mythical Marsh King, to whom she bears a child, but the king allows the child to be given to a human family in return for the princess's continued residence with him.
Baby Helga is rescued by one of the kindly storks and taken to live with the Vikings, but she has a secret which leaves her turning into a toad every evening at sundown.
Raised as a young warrior by her Viking foster father, Helga's mother tries in vain to connect with her often quite brutal daughter. Only when Helga appears after dark in her other form does her mother see her as a loving and caring creature.
This Byre production, written by Stephen Wrentmore and Rita Henderson, is a sweet and touching tale and well acted by the cast, including newcomer Alex Tegear as the menacing Helga with many life changes to go through.
Geoff Hennessy and Justine Balmer bring their paper storks to life and invent a real relationship with the viewer, chatting about married couple concerns as naturally as any soap actor.
The music features some excellent Disney-style bombast, with Sion Lloyd giving a roaring performance as both Bodil the Viking and the Pharoah.
The only weak point seems to be Kristian, played by Simon Masterton. An actor with range and skill he may be, but, here, he comes across as uncomfortable and wooden, a situation only exacerbated when he and Helga take the stage alone, as his nerves seem to rub off on her.
A wonderful show as always from the Byre, it would be hard to say that any weaknesses mar the show, so infused with magic and sweet sentiment it is. A lesser-known story, but all the more special for it.
Thursday 22 December 2005
Monday 12 December 2005
Russian tycoon pays £6.8m for sporting estate in Scotland
(The Scotsman, 12 December 2005)
A RUSSIAN billionaire has bought a Scottish sporting estate for £6.8 million.
Vladimir Lisin, one of Russia's wealthiest oligarchs with an estimated fortune of £5.4 billion, has splashed out on the 3,300-acre Aberuchill Castle Estate, near Comrie in Perthshire, just days after it went on sale.
Lisin, 49, a steel tycoon, was so eager to have the 16th century property that he offered £800,000 over the asking price.
He is one of several Russian businessmen who made their fortunes during Russia's privatisation of state industry, and is said to be second in wealth only to Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, an oil and gas businessman with £15.7 billion to his name.
However, unlike other oligarchs, Lisin retains a place in the favoured circle of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
As president of the Russian National Olympic Shooting Association, Lisin is likely to have chosen his new estate for its extensive recreational resources, as it offers grouse shooting, deer stalking and game fishing.
The price is the highest amount paid for a Scottish estate this year, but the popularity of such property is being put down to the relative low cost compared with similar land in the south-east of England.
Aberuchill has been described as the perfect Highland retreat, and offers five reception rooms, a billiards room and 13 bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. There also are around twelve estate dwellings, a farm and 704 acres of forest.
John Coleman, of estate agents Knight Frank - which was not involved in the sale - said: "Ten years ago it was Hong Kong expats coming home. Then there were the Dutch, and now the Russians. There is always a group of new buyers coming in with more money, and that's great for investment for Scotland."
Scottish Land Registry documents show the sale was made by Aberuchill Limited, a company which lists Edward Thiele, an oil executive from Houston, Texas, among its directors.
Lisin made the purchase through Forestborne Limited, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Russian company Novolipetsk, of which Lisin owns a 90 per cent share, is the country's biggest steelmaker, valued at £8.7 billion, and plans to sell shares on the London Stock Exchange for the first time this week, with an expected profit of more than £400 million.
As a married man with three children, Lisin is well known in business and shooting circles. His rags-to-riches story has seen him work his way up from a welder just 30 years ago, but he has kept his private life out of the spotlight.
Andrey Sidorov, Lisin's personal spokesman, said he could neither "confirm nor deny" the purchase of Aberuchill.
Gordon McCartney, chairman of Comrie Community Council, said: "There seems to be plenty of money being spent on the estate, but we haven't seen much of the new owner.
"All we see are black limousines with dark windows coming through the village."
Local councillor Colin Crabbie added: "Aberuchill has always been a bit of a mystery, but there have been a number of planning applications to do up houses on the estate.
"Hopefully that will be a good thing."
A RUSSIAN billionaire has bought a Scottish sporting estate for £6.8 million.
Vladimir Lisin, one of Russia's wealthiest oligarchs with an estimated fortune of £5.4 billion, has splashed out on the 3,300-acre Aberuchill Castle Estate, near Comrie in Perthshire, just days after it went on sale.
Lisin, 49, a steel tycoon, was so eager to have the 16th century property that he offered £800,000 over the asking price.
He is one of several Russian businessmen who made their fortunes during Russia's privatisation of state industry, and is said to be second in wealth only to Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, an oil and gas businessman with £15.7 billion to his name.
However, unlike other oligarchs, Lisin retains a place in the favoured circle of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
As president of the Russian National Olympic Shooting Association, Lisin is likely to have chosen his new estate for its extensive recreational resources, as it offers grouse shooting, deer stalking and game fishing.
The price is the highest amount paid for a Scottish estate this year, but the popularity of such property is being put down to the relative low cost compared with similar land in the south-east of England.
Aberuchill has been described as the perfect Highland retreat, and offers five reception rooms, a billiards room and 13 bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. There also are around twelve estate dwellings, a farm and 704 acres of forest.
John Coleman, of estate agents Knight Frank - which was not involved in the sale - said: "Ten years ago it was Hong Kong expats coming home. Then there were the Dutch, and now the Russians. There is always a group of new buyers coming in with more money, and that's great for investment for Scotland."
Scottish Land Registry documents show the sale was made by Aberuchill Limited, a company which lists Edward Thiele, an oil executive from Houston, Texas, among its directors.
Lisin made the purchase through Forestborne Limited, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Russian company Novolipetsk, of which Lisin owns a 90 per cent share, is the country's biggest steelmaker, valued at £8.7 billion, and plans to sell shares on the London Stock Exchange for the first time this week, with an expected profit of more than £400 million.
As a married man with three children, Lisin is well known in business and shooting circles. His rags-to-riches story has seen him work his way up from a welder just 30 years ago, but he has kept his private life out of the spotlight.
Andrey Sidorov, Lisin's personal spokesman, said he could neither "confirm nor deny" the purchase of Aberuchill.
Gordon McCartney, chairman of Comrie Community Council, said: "There seems to be plenty of money being spent on the estate, but we haven't seen much of the new owner.
"All we see are black limousines with dark windows coming through the village."
Local councillor Colin Crabbie added: "Aberuchill has always been a bit of a mystery, but there have been a number of planning applications to do up houses on the estate.
"Hopefully that will be a good thing."
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