We have a new name!!

'Stoirm Òg'

I'm super excited to announce our new name...... 'Stoirm Òg', which is Gaelic for 'Young Storm'. It's pronounced 'sturum og' ('stuh' as in 'sturdy'!).....eeazzee peezee! 

So how come this happened....?! I really liked the name 'First Bicycle', which Angie and I hit upon (in a mad hurry!) last year - it was inspired by a line in 'The Idiot at the Wall' which talked about the first bicycle coming to the island, and then it also made us think of risk, trying new things and such :-) However, having lived with the company and thought about what we are, what we're doing, and what we hope to do, I wanted to listen to instinct and find a name which I will love saying a hundred times a day, and which I've found through the brainstorming, faith, and rigour with which I like to work. I've settled on a Gaelic name because I'm in the midst of what I hope will be a long love affair with the language, because I feel totally at home speaking it, and because I'd like to honour that by combining it with this other thing I love like crazy, which is theatre. A massive thank you to all those I consulted (including some esteemed Gaelic scholars I was able to hassle about it) - thank you for your wisdom, honesty, encouragement, and brilliant anecdotes :-) I arrived at this name through tons of exploration, and in the end gave most consideration to words that would sustain and inspire me through ups and downs! The challenging business of producing art is such that it has the potential to kill the youthful spirit of adventure and wonder essential to making the art in the first place, and I wanted a name that would remind me to retain my sense of humour, and loving approach, even in the wildest tempests :-) Also, the word 'storm' is awesome because it reminds me so much of the mood which often envelops ideas....when they're forming, when you start to nurture them, when they won't do what they're told etc - and it'll be great to remember that ideas are like wild little storms crashing around, and they just need some structure and love to let them develop into amazing work. The brilliant director, and my dear friend, Lisa Milinazzo once said to me: 'Remember that nothing is ever created - no matter how huge or impressive - that didn't begin as a tiny, tiny seed' I thought of that loads on my journey to a new name...thanks Lisa :-) What was also tricky, was anticipating the many ways various Gaelic words might be pronounced by those with no knowledge of Gaelic - and I am very keen not to exclude people or scare them off from talking about us 'n stuff ;-) What I've arrived at, though, is super easy to pronounce, and feels nice to say, too....who doesn't like Scottish 'r' sounds??! So don't be scared of messing it up....no big deal :-) Gaelic is brilliant and might even be lodged somewhere in your unconscious memory of a past life.....

Oh, and I kinda like how 'young storm' sounds like the coming-of-age name of someone in an ancient, indigenous tribe.....so that's sweeeeeeet.

Enough rambling already....anyways - that's why I'm taking us forward with a shiny new name! I hope you like :-)

Now back to tour-planning.....

Slàn!

Elspeth xo

Artistic Director
Stoirm Òg