Review by Tom Muir.

Stromness Town Hall, Saturday 6th June 2026.

In a thought-provoking solo show, Aine King displayed her incredible versatility as an actor and writer as she took us on an emotional roller-coaster of a journey in her play ‘Lost Property Hotel’.

It took us through the lives of a group of people whose families were torn apart by war. Two orphans, one from Scotland and one from England, are sent to live in Canada in 1913, with the promise that their younger siblings would be joining them in a year or two. But World War I, and the utter indifference of the orphanage, meant that they would never see their brother and sisters again. The young couple meet and marry, but it is not happy ever after. Meanwhile, back in the present day, a flustered staff member at a small, rural Scottish hotel goes through the list of lost property, which includes a scarf with a strange looking brooch pinned to it and an old biscuit tin filled with ashes.

Our journey, jumping back and fore between the present day and the past, sees the marriage in Canada fall apart, as the husband, suffering from PTSD after the loss of his parents, turns to drink and violence. His wife flees to Scotland with the money that she secretly made as a writer. She finds one of her sisters and agrees to look after her son, as it is now World War II and the Blitz is raging in London. Staying in Glasgow seems a safer option, until that city faces the same dangers.

Back at a small Scottish hotel, three guests come seeking different things. All three have an image of what Scotland should be. The ageing gentleman, whose romantic ideas and impressively long family tree, has brought him here to scatter his grandfather’s ashes. They are kept in the old biscuit tin that his grandfather clung to as a child when he was sent to Canada. A woman from Australia is in search of a fantasy Scotland, brought to life for her by the TV programme Outlander. A struggling writer also comes in search of inspiration carrying the portable typewriter case that had belonged to his great grandmother, or great-aunt, he can never remember which.

The story twists and turns as the threads of these peoples lives intertwine, unknowingly. We hear of a young man, who was never sent to Canada to be reunited with his brother, ending up in Orkney during World War II, where he guards Italian POWs. Talk of building a chapel is in the air, although that sounded impossible. Here he falls in love with an Italian prisoner. ‘I know the Bible says Love thy Enemy, but it’s against regulations. It’s also against the law.’ A hand made brooch is a parting gift. A young woman who has lost the capacity to speak due to the personal trauma that she has experienced in Syria, then in Gaza, works at the hotel. A silent presence that few pay attention to. When the young writer sees her he feels drawn to her, but he cannot understand the suffering that she has endured. Until he finds a false bottom in his typewriter case, where his great aunt had recorded the terror that she felt by the falling bombs in Glasgow. It gives him a slight insight into the horrors of impending death from the skies.

The three do not meet, nor know of each others existence, despite that incredibly long family tree, which only goes backwards. The ashes and the brooch of the brothers may well be requested, but the woman who was looking for fantasy found love with another woman. The would-be writer tries to reach out to the traumatised maid, in a gentle way. Maybe they will find love here too. It seemed appropriate that these elements of love were covered in such a powerful play on the day of the Pride celebrations in Kirkwall.

While it was a solo show, music was contributed by Antony Hodgson and Ross Thomson, which greatly added to the atmosphere of the performance. It was a play that had you laughing out loud one minute, then being incredibly moved the next. Talking to audience members afterwards the general impression was stunned awe-struck emotion, deep and profound.

It was writing and storytelling at its finest. Not only were we treated to top quality theatre, it was a fundraiser for Medicine Sans Frontiers, who provide medical aid globally. Congratulations Aine, and I look forward to seeing what other wonders you have in store for us in the future.