Andrew Gunn traces his highland roots

Andrew Gunn's Scottish forebears lived though the notorious "Highland clearances" before his grandfather was one of thousands of children illegally deported to Australia from Scotland. Rich pickings for the Kiwi actor and singer, who's not only found out a lot more about his family tree, he's starting to learn to speak Scots Gaelic for his solo play and song cycle called Violent Bloom. Andrew tells Lynn Freeman that while genealogy is a huge business these days, many pakeha - including him - are uncomfortable about their links to Aotearoa New Zealand's colonial history. That's why, he says, he's focussing on his Scottish roots: Violent Bloom premieres at Auckland's Basement Theatre on Tuesday.