Arkle and Out
End of an era as Arkle calls time
This Fringe sees the end of an era among Edinburgh’s amateur companies, when the unique Arkle Theatre Company drops the curtain on its final production, at the Royal Scots Club on Abercromby Place.
In a fitting tribute on the evening of Monday 18 August 2025, around 70 people who have been involved with the company over the last 30 years gathered at Fringe Central on Candlemaker Row to celebrate the work of its founders, Michael Mulligan and Rob Mackean.
Rob Mackean and Michael Mulligan with Jack Waygood’s sculpture depicting Puck, holding a moon. Pic: Robin Mair
Many were sporting Arkle “Tour” T-shirts, detailing the 85 different productions the company has staged since its first outing at the 1996 fringe, when it put on Sue Townsend’s Womberang to sell-out audience in St Paul’s and St George’s Church Hall.
Mulligan and Mackean had previously been members of Edinburgh People’s Theatre. Their friendship and interest in theatre led them to set up Arkle as a community theatre group in 1996, to perform plays that they enjoyed.
Arkle for the mountain in North West Scotland – and also because at that time, productions in the Fringe programme were listed by company name.
Unlike the many other Edinburgh amateur theatre groups, this was not to be a club: there would be no members, no constitution, and definitely no committee. Open auditions would be held with the best actors for the roles getting the parts.
light on its feet
Such a structure allowed the company to be light on its feet. Arkle has staged plays by Liz Lochhead, Tom Stoppard, Linda Griffiths, and Lorca – in a new adaptation by Rona Munro. But it does not lend itself to a company that will outlast the involvement of its founders.
So, after 30 years, when over 200 people, backstage and on stage, have helped put on 85 productions, for nearly 500 performances across over 20 venues in Edinburgh and across Scotland, Mulligan and Mackean are calling time on Arkle.
A selection of headshots and portraits of people involved with Arkle over the years. Click on the image for a larger view. Pic Æ.
Since 2009, one venue in particular has become associated with the company. That was when it took up residence in the Royal Scotts Club on Abercromby Place.
“We found it by accident,” Mackean told Æ. “They had had some bad experiences with a couple of Fringe companies in the past and said, never again, we’re not going to do it.
“I’d been using it because the Institute of Directors was based there and I got chatting to Adrian, the manager, who is still there, and said, ‘oh, we haven’t got a home. Can we come and try this?’ He took a punt. And now it’s three or four venues there.”
facilitate
The fact that there are now several rooms in the venue, used by many different Edinburgh-based groups is down to Mulligan, who has helped facilitate the use of the venue by other companies.
“You only get out what you put in,” he says, when asked for his reflections on the last 30 years.
More headshots and portraits of participants over the years. Click on the image for a larger view. Pic Æ.
“So many people just see the actors on the stage and they don’t realise the hours and hours of rehearsal and all the preparation behind the rehearsals that goes on,” agrees Mackean.
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg of what we do. I’ve got used to hearing people saying, oh, are you in this one or are you just – fill in role here? It’s only when you’ve done something like this for 30 years or more that you realise, yeah, people have no concept of all that stuff that goes on behind the scenes.”
“The seven eighths of the iceberg below go unnoticed,” adds Mulligan, “but they keep the one eighth of the iceberg out there in the sunshine.”
sculpture
To commemorate Mulligan and Mackean’s contribution to the theatre arts in Edinburgh, Arkle alumni have clubbed together to commission a sculpture from Edinburgh blacksmith and artist Jack Waygood.
The sculpture is inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Patrick Barlow’s adaptation of The 39 Steps, the two productions which closed out Arkle’s life as an ensemble company when they finished on Saturday. Although George, Don’t Do That… The Joy of Joyce Grenfell, Arkle’s fourth production of this year’s Fringe, runs this week.
The sculpture shows a mischievous Puck, sat atop a step ladder and holding the full moon. It will initially go on display at the Royal Scots Club before moving to the new Fringe Hub when it opens on Infirmary Street in 2026.
Not that you will ever find Mulligan up a ladder on a stage – at least not when there is an audience in.
“You couldn’t pay me to act,” he says. “I can’t act. So I’ve been doing the one thing I like to do, and that is to give talented people a chance to perform. It’s as simple as that.”
A simple formula – which has given Arkle consistent successes over the last 30 years.
Arkle alumni assemble at Fringe Central on Monday 18 August 2025, to celebrate company founders Michael Mulligan and Rob Mackean. Click on the image for a larger view. Pic: Robin Mair.
Over the thirty years, Arkle Theatre company has put on 85 different productions, involving over 200 Edinburgh-based actors, technicians and supporters. Whether working front of house, part of the creative team, on the technical desk or on stage, all are part of the Arkle team. Without any one part of that team the plays would not have happened.
All the Arkle shows…
ENDS
