Overview

Heal and Harrow was a musical and visual performance about the Scottish witch trials in the 16-17th centuries CE. The musicians (Lauren McColl and Rachel Newton) were absolutely amazing and deserved 5 stars for their part, however, there were issues with access on the night. I feel that just some small tweaks could make all the difference; the staff were lovely and tried to help as much as they could. Taking everything into consideration though, the overall experience in this beautiful building was fantastic and I would definitely go again. I especially loved the combination of the haunting vocals, commentary, harp and violin standing alone in Part 1, followed by the powerful music and visuals in part 2. It was an outstanding performance and I loved it; without wishing to diminish the horrific and inhuman treatment of these women (and men) I could also relate to it to a certain extent (as could probably many disabled people) having been made to feel cast out of the community at some point in their lives. There was a certain irony in the fact that I've had to contact the organisers of this arts festival over the last few years to remind them of the importance of disabled access in their performances, maybe next year..........!

Transport & Parking

There are buses and trains from Forres to Inverness and there appears to be a local bus service with a bus-stop outside the church but I can't say if the buses themselves are accessible. There is an on-site car-park and an attendant guided us into a space. They make provision for spaces near the back door if needed for access.

Access

There is disabled access at the back door but it is very tight in a powerchair and we were advised to go to the wider front door by a member of staff who was just trying to be helpful, however, in order to reach the front door, we had to follow the pavement alongside the church which unknown to us became progressively more narrow. This meant we had the choice of reversing very precariously all the way back or to try to get off the kerb into the road which was hard as it took three people trying to lift my chair without bumping me or jerking my neck. One person had to then walk in front of me on the road and one behind me to warn the traffic to slow down as there was nowhere for me to go. We were lucky that this road wasn't that busy at this time of night. Once we actually got to the front door, there was a ramped access and staff were welcoming and helpful, going out of their way to ensure that I had a good view.

Toilets

This was a beautiful, old building but it was not that accessible for me in my powerchair as the toilet was located around a sharp corner. There were grab-rails, it wasn't spacious and it was also the gents, it was as you would expect in an old church hall, basic and reasonably clean. I'd say the accessibility in this building really only caters for manual wheelchairs.

Staff

They were really lovely and welcoming and couldn't do any more; thank you to all staff.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Staff apologised to us that people weren't wearing masks in the hall; there was a hand sanitiser available at the entrance but being indoors, I couldn't really say that I felt Covid confident but I judged it to be worth the risk for me. I'm so glad that I went.

Photos