Theatre Alba

Theatre Alba was a Scottish theatre company established in 1981 by Charles Nowosielski (Artistic Director) and Richard Cherns (Musical Director) with the aim of promoting diversity to Scottish theatre by producing plays in the Scots language and encouraging new Scottish writing.^[1] It was Scotland's longest surviving independent professional touring theatre company.

The company's first production was Edward Stiven's Tamlane, staged in the open air on the Calton Hill, Edinburgh, in 1981. It then moved to The Astoria, a former dance hall in Abbeymount, where it presented The Jeweller's Shop by Karol Wojtyla, The Passion, Part One by Bill Bryden, Swanwhite by August Strindberg, and the world premiere of The Shepherd Beguiled by Netta. B. Reid.^[2] Theatre Alba's production of The Pudock an the Princess by David Purves won a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1985 and was taken on national tours by the company in 1986 and 1988.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

In 1998, the company was invited to mount its Festival Fringe productions in Duddingston Kirk Gardens. It's first production there was a revival of Hettie B. Reid's A Shepherd Beguiled, and it continued to use the gardens as an August venue for more than twenty years.^[7] In 2002, the company introduced work for children under the direction of Clunie Mackenzie and Keith Hutcheon.^[8]

Productions

1981: Tamlane, by Edwin Stiven
1981: The Jeweller's Shop by Karol Wojtyla
1981: The Passion, Part One, by Bill Bryden
1981: Swanwhite, by August Strinberg
1982: The Shepherd Beguiled, by Netta B. Reid
1985: The Shepherd Beguiled, by Netta B. Reid
1985: The Puddok an the Princess, by David Purves
1986: The Puddok an the Princess, by David Purves
1986: The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou, by Alexander Reid
1987: The Warld's Wonder, by Alexander Reid
1988: The Puddok an the Princess, by David Purves
1989: Whuppitie Stourie by David Purves^[9]^[10]
1990: The Time Gairden, by David Swan
1990: The Carlin Moth, by Robert McLellan
1998: The Shepherd Beguiled, by Netta B. Reid
1998: Wallace's Women
1998: Good Morning Mr. Burns, by Donald Mackenzie
1999: Shakespeare at the Sheraton
1999: The Thrie Sisters, play by Anton Chekov, translated into Scots by David Purves
1999: Tamlane, by Edwin Stiven
2000: Josef, by Raymond Ross
2001: Thenew, by Margaret McSeveney
2002: The Tragedie o MacBeth, by William Shakespeare, translated into Scots by David Purves
2002: The Faery Queen, by Howard Purdie
2002: The Carlin Moth, by Robert McLellan
2003: The Burning, by Stewart Conn
2003: The Enchauntit Gairden, by Charles Mackenzie
2004: The Magic Quest, by Clunie Mackenzie
2004: A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare
2008: Little Red Riding Hood, by Eugene Schwartz
2008: Saint Joan, by George Bernard Shaw
2009: The Fairy Queen, by Howard Purdie
2009: A Man for All Seasons, by Robert Bolt^[8]
2009: The Ootlaw, by August Strindberg, translated into Scots by David Purves^[11]
2010: The Seagull, by Anton Chekov, adapted by Jo Clifford
2011: The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekov
2012: Dancing at Lughnasa, by Brian Friel
2013: The Diary of Anne Frank, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
2013: The Garden o' Delight, by Clunie Mackenzie
2016: The Quest for Excalibur, by Clunie Mackenzie
2016: The Shepherd Beguiled, by Netta B. Reid

References

^ The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou theatre programme, Theatre Alba, 1986
^ Little Red Riding Hood / Saint Joan theatre programme, Theatre Alba, August 2008
^ Theatricalia, The Puddok an the Princess
^ The Puddok an the Princess tour listings, 1986, The List, issue 15, 2–15 May, p. 7, ISSN 0959-1915
^ Puddok Prowess, The List, issue 16, 16–29 May 1986, p. 18, ISSN 0959-1915
^ The Puddok an the Princess tour listings, 1988, The List, issue 80, 28 October – 10 November 1988, pp. 21 & 23, ISSN 0959-1915
^ The Quest for Excalibur / The Shepherd Beguiled theatre programme, Theatre Alba, August 2016
^ ^a ^b The Fairy Queen / A Man for All Seasons / The Ootlaw theatre programme, Theatre Alba, August 2002
^ Theatricalia, Whuppitie Stourie
^ Whuppitie Stourie tour listings, The List, issue 107, 27 October – 9 November 1989, p. 52, ISSN 0959-1915
^ Theatre Alba production programme, 2009

[1] The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou theatre programme, Theatre Alba, 1986

[2] Little Red Riding Hood / Saint Joan theatre programme, Theatre Alba, August 2008

[3] Theatricalia, The Puddok an the Princess

[4] The Puddok an the Princess tour listings, 1986, The List, issue 15, 2–15 May, p. 7, ISSN 0959-1915

[5] Puddok Prowess, The List, issue 16, 16–29 May 1986, p. 18, ISSN 0959-1915

[6] The Puddok an the Princess tour listings, 1988, The List, issue 80, 28 October – 10 November 1988, pp. 21 & 23, ISSN 0959-1915

[7] The Quest for Excalibur / The Shepherd Beguiled theatre programme, Theatre Alba, August 2016

[Ootlaw2009-8] The Fairy Queen / A Man for All Seasons / The Ootlaw theatre programme, Theatre Alba, August 2002

[9] Theatricalia, Whuppitie Stourie

[10] Whuppitie Stourie tour listings, The List, issue 107, 27 October – 9 November 1989, p. 52, ISSN 0959-1915

[11] Theatre Alba production programme, 2009

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