WITH the death of Bill Bryden, the world of theatre and film has lost a true giant, a director and writer of class and commitment, while Scotland has lost a patriot who was one of the first intellects to see the real possibilities of a National Theatre for this country.
It will take a while for people to really appreciate the wonderful achievements of Bryden, who went from wartime working-class Greenock to the UK National Theatre where he was an associate director for 10 years. As a writer he was a hit from the off, with Willie Rough a landmark in Scottish theatre in the early 1970s, though a later work, a retelling of the story of executed anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti starring Brian Cox and Kevin McNally was my personal favourite of his plays.
I first encountered his work at The National in 1977-78 when he directed The Mysteries which won him the Best Director award at the Laurence Olivier awards. I had studied the Mystery Plays of Wakefield, York and Chester at college and now I saw Bryden bringing them gloriously to life, with the audience and the cast singing, cheering and clapping at the end. One of the actors that he worked with in several National productions was his fellow Scot, Morag Hood, and it was as an “actors’ director” that he flourished.
READ MORE: Bill Bryden, theatre director and TV executive, dies at the age of 79
My friend Ed Crozier, the former president of the Scottish Rugby Union, introduced me to Bryden when he co-produced The Big Picnic, written and directed by Bill, in that amazing former Harland and Wolff shed in Govan in 1994. I am glad to say we got on well, and more than a few drinking sessions followed. One of them nearly got us barred from The Abbotsford in Edinburgh as Bill regaled the entire pub – not meaning to, but they all listened – with a very naughty story about two thespians.
I had seen Bryden’s epic The Ship at the same venue during Glasgow’s Year as European City of Culture in 1990, and in that elegiac final scene when the ship is launched, more than a few tears were shed among the audience. I would have loved to have seen his earlier work at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh, and in numerous conversations he made it clear to me that he had wanted the Lyceum to be the base for the National Theatre of Scotland.
I always felt Bill was happy to live a split life, with London as his base especially after he fell in love with the actress Angela Douglas, widow of Kenneth More. That was where most of his work was done, including the great world premiere of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross but whenever he came to Scotland he brought inspiration to many. He loved his friendships with Crozier, Peter MacDougall, Morag Fullerton, Dave Anderson and many more leading figures in Scottish drama.
As well as directing operas, his work for the big screen included the screenplay for the underrated western The Long Riders and a segment of the 1987 film Aria, in which 10 noted directors interpreted famous operatic arias. To be selected alongside Robert Altman, Nicolas Roeg, Jean-Luc Godard, Ken Russell and Derek Jarman showed how much he was appreciated.
He produced Tutti Frutti during his period working for BBC Scotland, and that would be sufficient enough on anyone’s CV, but my personal favourite from among his screen work was the extraordinary television movie The Holy City, which he wrote and directed for the BBC in 1986.
It was specially commissioned for Good Friday and this dramatisation of the life of Jesus set in modern-day Glasgow was mesmerising and shocking – many po-faced kirk folks shunned it without even seeing it. But with a brilliant mainly Scottish cast featuring, among others, David Hayman as The Man, Richard Wilson as Chief Inspector McBain, Fulton Mackay, Gerard Kelly and Iain Andrew, The Holy City entranced many, many more people than opposed it.
Ed Crozier summed up his friend and mentor: “He had such a huge impact on so many people’s lives, including mine, and he was a true hero in Sottish theatre and television. I don’t think he will ever be forgotten.”
Certainly not by me.
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