Stage set for Scotland's first indie pop '˜jukebox musical'

The band Randolphs Leap is joining Highland-based theatre company Right Lines for a musical. Picture: Euan Robertson

A Highland-based theatre company Right Lines is joining forces with the cult Glasgow band to create a new show exploring the charms of a fictional island location. The musical Isle of Love is  inspired by a song of the same name by the folk-pop outfit Randolph’s Leap, whose singer-songwriter Adam Ross is developing the show with playwrights Euan Martin and Dave Smith.

The pair were previously finalists in a competition backed by West End producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh to find a new Scottish musical with their story of a race to find a bottle of a 100-year-old malt and The Accidental Death of an Accordionist, a murder mystery set at a village ceilidh.

Their other stage shows include Who Bares Wins, which was inspired by the antics of The Naked Rambler, alien abduction comedy From These Parts and Rapid Departure, which explored the impact of climate change on remote communities.

Isle of Love is being developed a decade after Dundee Rep brought the songs of The Proclaimers to the stage in a musical penned by playwright Stephen Greenhorn, which was later adapted into a big-screen movie starring Peter Mullan and Jane Horrocks.

It is hoped the new musical, which is being developed with the backing of arts agency Creative Scotland, will go on tour around the country, including forays to some of the nation’s most far-flung destinations.

Martin came up with the idea of Isle of Love after hearing the Randolph’s Leap song on his car radio on a drive home from his work as a social worker in Moray.

He said: “I thought it was a really funny and upbeat song all about the qualities of island life in Scotland. It painted a slightly romanticised, idyllic picture and it struck me as a really interesting concept to develop a show about. “I got their album Clumsy Knot and became more inspired because it had such great narratives – every song had a story.”

It is hoped Isle of Love will go on the road in 2017 if funding for a tour can be secured.