Macrae Celebrated
Edinburgh 900 goes to the theatre
By Hugh Simpson
As part of the Edinburgh 900 celebrations, there are a series of events at the Scottish Storytelling Centre this weekend examining the history of theatre in Edinburgh.
Central to the commemoration is A Noble Clown, written and performed by Michael Daviot, a new play about the life and career of Duncan Macrae (1905 – 1967).
Duncan Macrae
Macrae is certainly worthy of celebration; to those of a certain age he is regarded as one of Scotland’s greatest actors – if not the greatest of all – as skilled in tragedy as in comedy, but he is in danger of passing from memory.
He was primarily a stage actor when Scottish theatre was held in less than high regard; indeed, he was a teacher and a performer in amateur theatre until suitable professional opportunities in Scotland presented themselves.
Ane Satyre of The Thrie Esaites
Particularly celebrated for his work in Scots language theatre, he was renowned as the lead in Robert McLellan’s Jamie The Saxt, which he first played at Glasgow’s Curtain Theatre. He was an early member of the Citizens’ company, also performing in Robert Kemp’s Moliere translation Let Wives Tak Tent at Edinburgh’s Gateway, and in Kemp and Tyrone Guthrie’s version of Ane Satyre of The Thrie Esaites.
Duncan MaCrae as Para Handy. Pic Radio Times
Macrae’s film career encompassed such well remembered movies as Whisky Galore! and Tunes of Glory, while his performance in The Brothers is one that is bound to stick in the memory of anyone who saw it at an impressionable age. He was also the original Para Handy in the first television adaptation of Neil Munro’s Vital Spark books.
Those who are able to put a face to the name are most likely to remember him from his performances of The Wee Cock Sparra on television at Hogmanay. While this may have overshadowed his other work to a certain extent, it is perhaps fitting for someone who was firmly in the great Scottish variety tradition, and as likely to be seen in pantomime as in Ionesco.
The solo show, directed by Michael Nardone, is on both Saturday 30 November and Sunday 1 December, and tickets are £12, with Sunday’s performance preceded by a talk by Macrae’s biographer Priscilla Barlow.
Other talks over the weekend (which are free but ticketed) include Helen Graham on her ancestor Charles Mackay (Sir Walter Scott’s favourite actor), Charlotte Di Corpo on the restoration of the King’s, and David Pollock and Donald Smith on Edinburgh theatres and the Festival.
Listings and details.
Edinburgh 900 homepage https://edinburgh.org/900/
All shows at Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High St, EH1 1SR.
Sat 30 November 2024
2pm: Walter Scott’s National Dramas, Charles Mackay and the Theatre Royal
With Helen Graham, author of The Real Mackay: Walter Scott’s Favourite Comedian.
Tickets: Free, but book here.
3:20pm: Restoring the King’s Theatre
With Charlotte di Corpo of the Capital Theatres Trust..
Tickets: Free, but book here.
4pm: Edinburgh’s Theatres and the Edinburgh Festivals
With David Pollock, author of The Edinburgh Festival: A Biography and Donald Smith, author of Edinburgh: Our Storied Town..
Tickets: Free, but book here.
7pm: A Noble Clown
Michael Daviot with his solo show about Duncan Macrae.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Sun 1 December 2024
1:30pm: Duncan Macrae: Writing his Life
(with Priscilla Barlow author of Wise Enough to Play the Fool: A Biography of Duncan Macrae, and Iain Wotherspoon..
Tickets: Free, but book here.
3.30pm: A Noble Clown
Michael Daviot with his solo show about Duncan Macrae.
Tickets and details: Book here.
ENDS
