Draft:Hector MacMillan

Hector MacMillan (September 29, 1929 - April 1, 2018) was a playwright, author and luthier, most notable for his award-winning play The Sash, which established him as "...one of Scotland’s finest 20th-century dramatists...".

Early Life and Career

On leaving school, Hector’s first employment offered training to become an Insurance Valuator & Assessor, but constant sight of the adjacent Anchor Line offices brought about a change of plan. After obtaining the necessary certificate he became a sea-going Radio Officer.

Following his marriage he came ashore to work as an electronics technician with Glasgow University, going on to work in Nuclear research at CERN in Geneva. After four years in Switzerland he returned to Scotland to work in Oceanographic research, followed by some years in Nucleonics with medical and industrial applications. The sale of a first television play then launched a new career as full-time Playwright.

For over forty years now he has combined the life of a freelance dramatist with research into Luthery. Making full use of developments in acoustics and psycho-acoustics, his new Violins and Violas continue to attract professional attention.

1929 Born Tollcross, Glasgow

1943 Terminated Secondary School education.

1948 Qualified as sea-going Radio Officer. 1949-50 National Service in Royal Signals. 1950-54 Radio Officer in Merchant Navy.

1954-56 Technician (Glasgow University)

Building stabilised power units and electronic circuitry for research projects was the initial function. Eventually seconded to a Carbon-14 dating project devised by Dr Samuel Curran, FRS [later Sir Samuel Curran, Principal of Strathclyde University] who had just left Glasgow for AWRE, Aldermaston, to work on development of the Hydrogen bomb.

The project, designed to extend the accuracy and range of Carbon-14 dating, was led by Dr Moljk of Ljubljana University and centred on a specialised version of the ubiquitous Proportional Counter invented by Dr Curran. His function in the team was to build the electronic circuitry required to minimise unwanted background counts arising mainly from cosmic radiation. If memory serves, Dr Curran's project extended Carbon-14 dating by something like 6000 years.*

This work was by far the most interesting period of his time at Glasgow University, in very large measure due to the learned, often sardonic, and always humorous east-European views expressed by Dr Moljk on science, politics and life in general.

Towards the end of the project MacMillan applied for a post with the newly-formed European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Geneva. Dr Moljk's refusal to provide himwith a reference for the job at CERN took himgreatly by surprise - till MacMillan saw the amusement in his eyes. He arranged that the reference be provided by Dr Curran.

• 1957 Proceedings of the Royal Society, A239, 433.

Moljk, Drever & Curran.

1956 - 60 Technician

A main attraction of CERN was the nature of the new international co-operation there; open research, pursuit of knowledge, results freely available to the world. In a 'cold-war' era fuelled by Pontecorvo spy-incidents and Los Alomos Project paranoia, this seemed to offer a sane outlet for energies.

The bulldozers still working on site at Meyrin, the electronics team was at first housed in wooden workshops behind the terminal building at Cointrin Airport. His first assignment was the design and construction of prototypes for a range of stabilised power supplies that went on to be standard use with much of experimental circuitry at CERN. Later MacMillan worked on a Current Integrator for use with the Synchro-Cyclotron machine, aimed at measuring down to the millionth of a milliamp level. Typical of such projects, it involved making components that weren't commercially available, learning along the way about engineer's lathes and the electrical properties of interesting new materials like Teflon.

The biggest project, with Dr H.I. Pizer, was to build and test a transistorised control-drive for the Tuning Fork, the heart of the Synchro-Cyclotron. Given that the massive Tuning Fork [engineered in the Netherlands] would be a very expensive item to replace, that MacMillan was working on the only spare, and that transistors could be unpredictable when irradiated, it proved an interesting experience.

The education that resulted from working at CERN wasn't restricted to technical matters. Being part of an international team greatly improved awareness of other cultures and languages, while at the same time providing the opportunity to observe, quite closely, a number of individuals who were world-leaders in their field; scientists such as Cockroft, Oppenheimer and Heisenberg. Though unaware of it at the time, all this was 'grist-to-the-mill' of the future playwright.

1960 - 61 Technician

Oceanography was the prime interest of Dr Clifford Mortimer, FRS, when he was Director of the SMBA. For this work he needed an electronics assistant who would also operate aboard a fishing-boat. The project involved developing a temperature/salinity probe for deep-water surveys to detect oceanographic waves of a period that might be measured in weeks. Such a 600-fathom survey was carried out on the edge of the Continental Shelf, west of Ireland, before the Skipper hurried us all towards some much-needed shelter in Loch Swilly, County Donegal.

While with the SMBA MacMillan had the memorable experience of meeting Sir Alister Hardy, FRS, and with the rest of the staff had the opportunity to read a printer's proof of The Open Sea, Harry’s fascinating book illustrated with his own brilliant watercolours. He had been Chief Zoologist to the 1920's RRS Discovery expedition to the Antarctic and in the 1960's remained a scientist whose infectious enthusiasms simply seemed to increase with the passing years.

Despite his enjoyment of working with the SMBA we couldn't remain long there. A promised Council House had failed to materialise and with the family living in holiday digs, furniture still in a Glasgow store, a decision to make an early return to the mainland was unavoidable.

One thing of great value went with himfrom Cumbrae - admiration for Sir Alister Hardy's infectious enthusiasms - and this alerted himlater to the published versions [The Living Stream & The Divine Flame] of the Gifford Lectures he gave at Aberdeen University.

A neo-Darwinian fore-runner of much recent debate, Hardy's philosophical works continue to stimulate thought. There is much to admire in his advocacy of informed speculation in all aspects of human endeavour, just as there is in his warnings and examples of mistaken assumptions of objectivity in science.

In conversation recently with a scientist who knew him at SMBA, this later work was dismissed and attributed to a sad decline towards senility. Hardy, of course, saw it coming when he good-humouredly acknowledged it might cause some to declare that Old Hardy had entirely lost his marbles.

Sir Alistair Hardy remains the most likeable, memorable and influential scientist MacMillan had the good fortune to encounter.

1961 - 67 Technician

COMMERCIAL ELECTRONICS

Employment as Technical Representative of an English electronics company, with a territory covering Scotland and all of Ireland, quickly helped restore the family fortunes though at times it did keep himtoo long away from home. Some aspects of commercial practice began to prove not entirely to his taste and since MacMillan had now embarked on an embryonic writing career it was not long before MacMillan tendered his resignation. A few months spent writing some unsaleable stuff on spec drove himback to 'gainful employment' - as the Labour Exchange expressed it.

A small Glasgow company, acting as Scottish agent for Nucleonic equipment with Research, Medical and Industrial applications, had lost its founder. MacMillan applied for and got the vacant post.

This work, involving some of the latest technology, was interesting. Radiation-counting equipment could be dealt with in the Renal Units of hospitals one day, the next spent commissioning Nucleonic gauges for a tyre manufacturer or servicing an EEG machine in the State Mental Hospital. The first Gamma Camera was installed for assessment at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and nucleonic Density-gauges were fitted in a suction-dredger built at Stephen's Yard, Linthouse, on the Clyde. In a way this last job seemed to bring matters full circle, involving as it did commissioning trials in the Firth of Clyde.

Towards the end of this period the writing bug had bitten so deep that, after STV bought the television play To Stand Alone, the directorship was returned to the Nucleonics company.

Playwright & Writer - 1967 onwards

“When we talk of the revival of Scottish Theatre, the name of Hector MacMillan must be at the front of our minds. His seminal work in the 1970’s included such plays as The Rising or The Royal Visit, which re-opened our minds to our own history, and the satirical and still apt dramatic exploration of sectarianism, The Sash. His translations of Molière too attract well-deserved praise. In fact, Hector has been a key figure in Scottish theatre for over forty years.”

“.... Hector is now, following the great figures of Robert McLellan and Ena Lamont Stewart, appointed by his peers as the Scottish Society of Playwrights’ Honorary lifetime President.”

In addition to a large number of drama scripts [1967-1987] for educational Film, Television and Radio, work completed includes: 1966 To Stand Alone [TV].

To Stand Alone (1966)

Written on spec. Bought by Scottish Television and broadcast 1966. Director, Brian Mahoney.

A 60-minute play involving three graduates of Glasgow University who have a disastrous reunion in South Africa at the height of apartheid.

'.. gripping drama with an unexpected ending'. TV Times.

'..courageous and heartening' Daily Record

'A powerful piece ... there you are STV, we always knew you could do it!' Glasgow Evening Citizen.

Land Without Children. [TV] (1968)

Written on spec. A 75’ TV play on the subject of and some of the reasons for depopulation in crofting areas.

My time with the SMBA on Cumbrae had made himaware of growing dangers to local fish-stocks, so when serious conflict between Hebridean inshore-fishermen and illegal trawlers [some, but not all, foreign] was increasingly reported MacMillan went over to Skye to talk with people who knew both the history involved and the evidence behind the immediate dispute.

It was clear that much illegal trawling was taking place, mainly at night. MacMillan was reliably informed that after trawlers had been detected sweeping local inshore bays, they left behind so much damage to the seabed that little of any value to local fishermen was available for an increasingly long time afterwards. Since the Fishery Protection Service was judged largely ineffective against such illegal activity, some crofters had resorted to using their legal 'anti-marauding-deer' 303 rifles to put shots across a few illegal bows.

The play was submitted to BBC TV Scotland but got lost at first among petty internal politics. After retrieval it was sent to the Wednesday Play unit at BBC TV London, who liked it but thought something so rooted in Scotland really should be produced in Scotland. On re-submission, it was bought by BBC TV Scotland, with hope of an early production.

After two years, production-finance still being unavailable, the original 2-year option was renewed. By 1972, the financial position still apparently unchanged, BBC TV Scotland abandoned the project.

The Rising. [Radio] (1970)

A 90-minute play commissioned and directed by Gordon Emslie, BBC Radio Scotland. Broadcast 1970.

Deals with the 1820 Insurrection in Scotland which ended in trials for Treason under English law. James Wilson was executed in Glasgow, John Baird and Andrew Hardie at Stirling Castle. All three were hanged and beheaded.

A blend of traditional and specially written songs was used to link scenes and advance the action.

[The McCalmans folk group and singer Lesley Hale].

'..weaves folk music into the warp of historical detail.' Nithsdale Observer.

'..several telling scenes .. folk music merely impeded dramatic development.' The Scotsman.

This Radio script was later used as the basis of the Stage play of the same title, directed by Stephen MacDonald at Dundee Rep in 1973. The Radio version was re-broadcast by BBC Radio Scotland, 1980.

The Resurrection Of Matthew Clydesdale. (1971)

Stage play, written on spec. Produced by Glasgow University Arts Theatre Group. 1971. Director Ida Schuster.

In Glasgow, 1818, a condemned murderer was sentenced not only to be hanged but thereafter to be 'publicly dissected'. The fact that his body was first of all used by University staff for a medical experiment, utilising bellows and a galvanic battery, is not disputed; the intention and outcome of the experiment remain controversial. Peter MacKenzie's Old Reminiscences of Glasgow published his eye-witness account [almost certainly during the lifetime of others such] and MacMillan was unable to locate any contemporary refutation of MacKenzie.

In the Burke & Hare era of body-snatchers, medical men were wary of both Law and vengeful mobs, so the official version of the story has to be judged alongside MacKenzie's account. The question as to why the particular equipment was used if possible resuscitation was never envisaged still has to be answered convincingly. His own experience of working in what then might well also have been termed cutting-edge research has made himaware that scientists can be no more nobly motivated, or honest, than the rest of us.

Amongst many, a pleasing aspect of the production was that the 18th-century Professor of Anatomy was played by Terence Nonweiller, then Professor of Aeronautics.

'thrilling, compelling play .. not to be missed' Glasgow Evening Times

'audience on the edge of their seats' Scots Independent

'hair-raising climax' Glasgow Herald

The Ecumenical Corpse. [Radio] (1971)

Commissioned by Gordon Emslie, BBC Radio Scotland.

Based on an actual incident in England when a young woman was found to be alive some time after her body had been deposited in the mortuary. The play is set in Glasgow to take advantage of the conflicts that could arise out of the city's then custom of giving Catholic last rites, just in case, to any unidentified cadaver.

After completion and acceptance, Gordon Emslie was instructed by 'superiors' to abandon the project. Despite long-lasting attempts to have that decision reversed, Gordon finally had to accept that the play had no future at BBC Radio Scotland and regretfully returned the script.

When Hamish Wilson of Radio Clyde heard of this he asked to read the script and almost immediately planned a production.

Broadcast Radio Clyde, 1980, director Hamish Wilson.

'one of the funniest Scottish plays in years' Glasgow Herald

'took on the Scylla of race and the Charybdis of religion .. raw, rumbustious satire' The Scotsman

Radio Clyde's production was joint runner-up that year in the Pye Radio Award for the best original play. 1972 Royal Visit. [Radio]

Royal Visit (1971)

Commissioned and directed by Gordon Emslie, BBC Radio Scotland. Broadcast 1971.

George IV was the first Hanoverian monarch to visit Scotland. For his ludicrously tartanised presentation in Edinburgh, 1822, Sir Walter Scott had written 'Carle, and the King Come' a piece of third-rate sycophantic rhyme. In answer to this, and to the same old Scots air, the Radical poet Sandy Rodger penned a rather different picture. Scott threatened legal action on a charge of Seditious libel if the author could ever be identified.

The play uses the conflict between these two writers to highlight the chasm between privilege and poverty, and in doing so reveals much of the schizophrenic political thinking in Scotland of the time, and since.

'deliberate imbalance did not work - the bias was too obvious' The Scotsman

As had happened with The Rising, this radio version of Royal Visit went on to become the basis of the stage play of the same title, directed by Stephen MacDonald at Dundee Rep in 1974.

Solidarity. [TV] (1972)

Bought by BBC Scotland TV. Broadcast BBC1 TV, London, 1972. Director Pharic Maclaren.

Written on spec at the time of the historic Upper Clyde Shipbuilders 'work-in', the 30-minute play set out to focus issues and develop arguments beyond contemporary news-media coverage. It envisaged what might happen in a later, post-UCS dispute, in the run-up to a television programme featuring opposing leaders.

Submitted to the Drama Department of BBC TV Scotland, who passed it to Alistair Milne, the new Controller. Bought within weeks and immediate production planned.

On the morning rehearsals were due to start MacMillan arrived at Queen Margaret Drive, Glasgow, to be told by Reception that the Assistant Controller [Alistair Milne was off-work ill] would like to see himin his eyre. In a rather bizarre interview MacMillan was advised that the production was being rushed, the play would suffer, and that MacMillan really should welcome a proposed postponement. Subsequent enquiries lower down in the building established that His agreement to this delay was not at all required. Before their flight from London was due to leave that morning leading actors had been advised not to bother travelling. MacMillan learned that the director for the play had, by 10.30am, also called it a day and gone home.

Some time later a new production date was set. Minor modifications to the script were requested [the unions, it seemed, were threatening action if they were to be misrepresented] but finally rehearsals did take place and a recording completed. Then the problems of a possible Transmission date arose, and for a time these seemed insoluble.

Frustrated by the delays, Alistair Milne finally took the can of video-tape with him the next time he went to London and asked the Controller there, Paul Fox, to look at it and if he liked it provide a transmission date. Paul Fox arranged for the play [originally scheduled for BBC Scotland-only transmission] to have the prime Sunday TV Omnibus slot from London two weeks later.

'Excellent example of the half-hour TV play - tight, concise and immensely absorbing. It was another feather in the cap of BBC Scotland' Birmingham Post

'half an hour of hard-hitting drama' Daily Record

'It's a long time since I've been so totally immersed in a play' Evening Express.

'too crudely portrayed. These pressures come in discreet memoranda well before the programmes get on the air' Listener.

Ayrshire Lang Syne. [Film] (1972)

Film commissioned by Ayrshire Education Authority to mark the centenary of the Education [Scotland] Act, 1872. Director Mike Alexander. Camera Mark Littlewood.

The remit was that the film should deal with Ayrshire about the time of Burns and involve the maximum number of pupils and teachers in its production.

I decided to let the story evolve around one professional actor [David Steuart] playing the local minister as he toured the parish collating information for his submission to the first Statistical Account of Scotland. Such reports could cover topics such as coalmining, farming, smuggling, and fornication.

Over 100 pupils and teachers, both primary and secondary, had acting parts in the film. The costumes and sets were the result of much hard work by an equally large pupil/teacher crew drawn from all over the county's schools. Originally commissioned for 20-minutes, it finished up a 40-minute epic on a production budget of £3500.

'of interest far beyond Ayrshire and should be widely shown' The Scotsman

'a fascinating picture of Ayrshire's past.. stands securely on its own, quite apart from its didactic purposes .. often beautiful to watch' Times Educational Supplement

'not only informative - also dares to entertain and enthral' Daily Express

There may be a copy in the Scottish Film Archive.

The Ballad of Harvey's Dyke. [Radio] (1973)

Commissioned and directed by Gordon Emslie, BBC Radio Scotland. Broadcast 1973.

In the first decade of the 19th century "Lang" Tam Harvey was a humble horse-and-cart man. By the end of the second decade he was one of the wealthiest of Glasgow's nouveaux riches; to be seen in his own box at the theatre or lum-hatted in the grand coach carrying him to and from the rural estate he had purchased at Belvedere, to the east of the city centre. A whisky distillery at Port Dundas and a string of taverns in the city [Harvey's "Divans"] had worked the transformation. Tam's subsequent reversion from riches back to rags arose out of his desire to own the land of Belvedere right down into the waters of the River Clyde itself.

A right-of-way along the riverbank, from the villages of Tollcross and Parkhead to the city centre, had existed from time immemorial. Tam, now not desiring even distant sight of the hoi-polloi, had it cut off at his estate by a stone dyke built right down into the water. Coalminers from the two villages most affected used picks and crowbars to demolish the dyke. The dyke was rebuilt, bigger and stronger, with broken glass embedded in the coping. This time the coalminers used gunpowder to re-open the right-of-way. Tam Harvey's friends in high places called in the cavalry.

A company of Enniskillen Dragoons, billeted in the city, had no option but to obey orders. They duly arrested the ringleaders. The Irishmen, however, were probably showing their true feelings when they raised their helmets and cheered the prisoners into the Tolbooth. From that out, matters could only escalate.

With funds generated by a public fair in Glasgow's Saltmarket, radical lawyers fought Tam Harvey to the highest courts in the land. They finally had to take their case to the highest court of all, the House of Lords, but they won there and Tam Harvey's Dyke was demolished for the last time.

That fiercely defended right-of-way now forms an essential part of the city’s River Walkway.

The play made use of specially-written songs to help the story along and Gordon Emslie's production again featured The McCalmans folk group. Repeat broadcast 1979.

Krassivy, Krassivy. [Radio] (1973)

Commissioned and directed by Gordon Emslie, BBC Radio Scotland. Broadcast 1973.

A radio portrait of John MacLean, by far the most notable of the "Red Clydesiders".

Dramatic reconstructions were intercut with important live interviews with the poet Hugh MacDiarmid and John MacLean's closest colleague, Harry McShane.

The Rising. [Stage] (1973)

Commissioned and directed by Stephen MacDonald. Dundee Repertory Theatre. 1973. This was the stage version of the previous radio play, again featuring The McCalmans folk group.

"The best blend of folksong and drama that MacMillan have come across." The Scotsman.

Stephen and MacMillan then formed the Glasgow 800 Theatre Company to present the play at the Citizens' Theatre, 1975, featuring many of the original cast and again with The McCalmans.

"a memorable tribute to the men who never got into the history books" Morning Star

"historical reconstruction given the added power of verse and song" Glasgow Herald

"a fine play full of dignity and outrage that tells its lesson better than a shelf of history books" The Scotsman

Over the next fifteen years or so the play had a number of successful revivals, including a notable one by the Scottish Youth Theatre, directed by John Haswell, with an all female cast. Published in A Decade's Drama. Woodhouse Books. 1980. [ISBN 0 906657 06 7]

Also in Scots Plays of the Seventies. Scottish Cultural Press. 2001. [ISBN: 1 84017 028 X]

The Sash. [Stage] (1973)

Commissioned by Pool Lunchtime Theatre. Premiere Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 1973. Director Phil Emanuel

This stage play arose out of a 20-minute script commissioned by BBC Scotland Schools Broadcasting. The theme of the educational script was religious prejudice in Scotland. It was set in a folk club where a choice of songs, Scots and Irish, led to dramatic confrontation. Some confrontation arose in BBC Scotland about having a play on that subject at all but after having been rejected by the Schools Radio department a production for Schools Television was commissioned and broadcast.

To gauge the validity of that decision a Catholic observer monitored the response of pupils in a non-denominational school, whilst debate in a Catholic school was monitored by a non-Catholic observer.

The level of interest generated and the quality of the subsequent discussions apparently justified the risk that had been taken by those involved. It seemed a good time to begin planning a play - The Sash - for theatre, on the same theme.

The new Pool Lunchtime Theatre in Edinburgh was looking for one-act plays and MacMillan undertook to let them have first sight of the stage version. Halfway through the first draft, when MacMillan told the theatre it was proving too big a subject for a short play, they decided to consider their first 2-act production. Described as "five Celts caught in Two Acts", the play is set in Glasgow on the morning of the annual Orange Walk. Rather than the usual tragi-comedy, MacMillan asked that it be categorised as a comi-tragedy.

"must rate as one of the outstanding contributions to this year's Festival" The Stage

"The character of Bill MacWilliam, played with swinging magnificence by Andrew Keir, recalls O'Casey at his tragi-comic best. A cause for joy" The Times.

Some local critics were less impressed. "Keir hints at the tragedy within this man .. but he is ultimately a caricature of all that the Orange Order represents to its opponents" The Scotsman

"it is sad to see Mr Keir, in one of his too rare appearances on the Scottish stage, with nothing more than this cartoon-image to spend his talent and experience upon" Glasgow Herald

In the close confines of the Pool Theatre - literally a back-shop in Edinburgh's Hanover Street - the critics were themselves almost on-stage. Attitudes changed after the production went on its first tour.

"in the more spacious Citizens' Theatre the drama and the humour open up gloriously .. has poured out of the Pool to refresh theatres throughout Scotland" The Scotsman

"Andrew Keir's performance .. remains a tremendous piece of bravura, and can now stretch itself to its full height as a really stunning display. It is something not to be missed" Glasgow Herald.

There being no organisation in Scotland capable of exploiting the success, Tontine Productions was formed. This partnership between Andrew Keir and the author mounted several successful revivals in Glasgow's Pavilion Theatre over the following two years, as well as a run at Hampstead Theatre Club, London.

Since then the play has been revived by a number of theatres, amateur and professional, and went to give 7:84 Theatre Company a highly successful tour of Scotland in 1989.

Another successful revival, directed by the author, was organised in 1991 by the specially-formed IPB Productions [Eileen Nicholas, Hamish Glen, Hector MacMillan] A performance of The Sash at Glasgow's Pavilion Theatre was commissioned by BBC Television Scotland and recorded in 1974. It was never broadcast. It is unknown whether the video-tape survives or not.

Radio Telefis Eireann bought the rights to broadcast a production in 1979. MacMillan believe the play was recorded and broadcast from Dublin some time after that date.

Published Molendinar Press, Glasgow. 1974.

Royal Visit. [Stage] (1974)

Royal Visit Commissioned and directed by Stephen MacDonald. Dundee Repertory Theatre. 1974. As was the case with The Rising, the radio script was the starting point for a stage version.

"large implications are concentrated with masterly economy in a handful of persons and little more than a couple of hours .. makes pungent and pertinent comment on historical themes, and brings certain historical characters to most persuasive life" Glasgow Herald.

"Has succeeded in mixing mockery with anger, and has poured ridicule on Scott and the king without destroying all respect for them. ... The fiddle music provided by Angus Cameron is one of the beauties of this production" The Scotsman

"Mr MacDonald's subtle direction motivated the play like a moving tapestry that constantly impressed" The Stage

A new production of the play was directed by Stephen at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 1976.

"the play .. still seems to be torn between lampoon and history." The Scotsman

"the satirical extravaganza Hector MacMillan made out of this grotesque royal charade - hardly requiring to use exaggeration - remains the funniest and in many ways also the most hard-hitting to date of his dramatic comments on Scottish history"

The Gay Gorbals. [Stage] (1976)

Written on spec. Bought by Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. Premiere 1976, director Chris Parr.

A serious comedy with specially-shot film and songs integrated around an attempt to establish a Gay Club in Glasgow’s Gorbals district. Submitted, unsuccessfully, to a play-writing competition organised by the Citizens’ Theatre in Glasgow.

"I doubt if any new play has provoked such hilarity at the Traverse" The Observer

"a romp of a play .. robust and earthy comedy" Glasgow Herald

"the flow of song, dance, sardonic humour and good-natured fun becomes irresistible" The Scotsman

"a happy play, written by a craftsman" The Stage.

"stale beyond belief .. production is as square and old-fashioned as the play deserves" Financial Times

Blithe Spirit. [Film] (1977)

Working title Blithe Spirit

Filmscript commissioned, based on an idea by Laurence Henson of IFA [Scotland].

The starting point was that the many millions of pounds worth of maturing whisky, routinely lying in remote highland glens, must eventually be the focus for some serious criminal planning. With "Whisky Galore" and "The Puffer" as inspiration, the drama was to be of a humorous nature, if possible involving foreign mis-management of an ancient Scots craft.

A 90-minute working script was completed but production backing was unforthcoming.

Oh What A Lovely Peace! [Stage] (1977)

Oh What A Lovely Peace!

Commissioned by the newly-formed Scottish Youth Theatre. Premiere 1977. Director Denise Coffey.

The script-outline was designed to involve contributions from the maximum number of Scottish dramatists, co-ordinated by H.MacMillan. It took as it's model Joan Littlewood's production of "Oh What A Lovely War", using song, dance and drama to highlight the follies of subsequent European politics, particularly as they were likely to affect contemporary youth.

Prior to and during rehearsals the young cast was encouraged to question the script freely, and the Director and myself did our best, acknowledging bias, to give honest answers.

"acted with as much spirit as the 7:84 Theatre Company but .. even more blatantly propagandist" The Scotsman

"Ought the new Youth Theatre to be tackling themes like these? Yes it ought, no other theatre has a better right to do so" Glasgow Herald

Clann A Cheo [Stage] (1980)

Commissioned by Fir Chlis Theatre Company, Isle of Harris, 1980. Director Mairead Ross. Gaelic translations by Tormod Domhnallach. Music, dance, poetry and song blended with drama to suit the capabilities of the new company.

Some years earlier MacMillan had the intention to write a play for Dundee Rep around the story of Rob Ruadh MacGriogair, but some unexpected changes in circumstances caused that project to be abandoned. Much of the research material then amassed was used to inform this play.

Clann A Cheo [Children of the Mist] uses the history of the persecuted Clann Griogair as a short-hand symbol for the Celts in general, particularly in relation to repressions by invading foreign ideologies intent on cultural and ethnic cleansing.

The story of Rob Ruadh MacGriogair's wife, Eilidh Mairi MacGriogair, has been much overshadowed by the exploits of her famous husband. There has been very little historical research into the verifiable facts of her life and the pen-portrait by Sir Walter Scott almost certainly conveys a highly distorted outline.

During her husband's outlawry the Duke of Montrose ordered his factor, Grahame of Killearn, to take troops and evict her from the family home at Craigrostan. That Eilidh Mairi was badly abused is not disputed. She possibly was raped. One account used a phrase in Latin to suggest more than rape was involved.

The play puts one psychologically-possible interpretation on events when, much later, Rob Ruadh eventually captured Grahame of Killearn, had him prisoner on an island in Loch Katrine, yet seems to have turned him loose without any revenge recorded.

It was a very ambitious project for the recently-formed Fir Chlis [Northern Lights] Company and they rose to the challenge.

The production had a successful tour of the Western Isles as well as performances in Edinburgh and, MacMillan think, London.

The material of the basic script has all the ingredients for a Scottish Opera.

Capital Offence [Stage] (1981)

Commissioned by Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 1981.

Directed by Denise Coffey. Choreography Rita Henderson.

The starting point was the closure [factual] of Edinburgh's most notable brothel after the death of "Madame" Dora Noyce. It is not known how true was the report that the City Fathers used planning regulations to enter the building in search of "unauthorised erections".

A group of very talented musicians formed the resident band. Songs were written to music selected by the author from pan-Celtic origins - Scots, Irish, Manx, Welsh, Asturian, Basque and Galician - and all given an early "Salsa Celtica" flavour by the musicians involved.

Through no fault of the performers, the project was in difficulties from the outset. For what was a very ambitious production, involving new live music, a very relevant and state-of-the-art slide show quoting William Blake, and a tilt at Edinburgh’s "fur coat and nae knickers" elements, MacMillan had accepted little more than two-and-a-half weeks rehearsal time.

Once under way, the production was further damaged, almost nightly, by unexplained "errors" of a technical nature. That these events were the work of some impoverished mentality [there is long-standing theatrical history of such] was confirmed many years later when a senior figure involved told him that there had indeed been deliberate sabotage. On opening-night there was even an ostentatious [and very amateurishly staged] walk-out from the Grand Circle. The fault was his - MacMillan should have seen it coming.

The music and songs were generally much appreciated. With time for second thoughts and rewrites MacMillan believed Capital Offence could yet make a good evening in some theatre, despite a critics chorus typified by that of The Scotsman and Edinburgh Evening News.

“it is he [H. MacMillan] who has committed a capital offence by slaughtering a potentially exciting and important subject” The Scotsman

“In the interests of objectivity it should be pointed out that much of the packed house appear to lap up every excruciating minute” Edinburgh Evening News.

One dissenter only.

“.. it will be a long time before anything half so good is seen again at the Lyceum” Times Educational Supplement.

Eine Kleine NachtmŸtze [Stage] (1981)

Eine Kleine Nachtmutze

Commissioned by Tron Theatre, Glasgow. 1981. Director Ida Schuster.

The newly-opened and short-of-funds Tron was in the market for one-actor one-act plays. Not being particularly attracted to writing 30-minute monologues, MacMillan set out to write a two-actor piece for the price of one. Director Ida Schuster and actor Eileen Nicholas accepted the technical challenge of pre-recording half of the play on video-tape then dovetailing the “live” performance into the recording.

Video Enterprises [Eileen and author] mounted a second production for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 1982.

“technically innovative .. challenging in content” Scotsman

“fluent and witty” Sunday Standard

“black comedy .. a rare treat of good writing and controlled wit” NB Festival Times

Highest In The Forest. [Radio] (1982)

Commissioned by BBC Radio. Broadcast 1982, director Maryllin Ireland.

The play tells the story of Eilidh Mairi MacGriogair, now long a widow, as she awaited news of the fate of her youngest son, Robin Og, on trial for his life in Edinburgh. Robin Og was the son born after events when she was evicted from Craigrostan. Robin Og, youngest son of Rob Ruadh MacGriogair, was hanged in Edinburgh.

Out in the Open

Commissioned by STV, 1982, director Robert Love.

“Wise and kindly .. always tempered by humour” Daily Express.

The Personal Touch

Commissioned by STV. Director Roger Tucker. Broadcast 1985

“Diverting, funny .. but scarcely credible” Daily Express.

“Another good play” Glasgow Evening Times

Out In The Open. [TV] (1982)

Out in the Open

Commissioned by STV, 1982, director Robert Love.

“Wise and kindly .. always tempered by humour” Daily Express.

The Personal Touch.[TV] (1983)

The Personal Touch

Commissioned by STV. Director Roger Tucker. Broadcast 1985

“Diverting, funny .. but scarcely credible” Daily Express.

“Another good play” Glasgow Evening Times

The Misanthrope [Radio] (1985)

Moliere translated into Scots rhyming-couplets. Commissioned by BBC Radio Scotland. Broadcast 1985. Director Stewart Conn.

Some years previously, this was the first of the French dramatist’s works MacMillan had read. MacMillan was disappointed. Literal translations into English, short of humour and poetic phrase as they were, did not seem useful dramatic material. Later, when MacMillan obtained a copy of the original French version, the potential for a translation into Scots seemed quite obvious.

The first essay, translating into English then translating again into Scots, was discouraging; it was taking far too long and the resulting script lacked vitality. The subsequent essay of a direct translation from old French into mainly demotic Scots was remarkably easy, quick, and allowed dramatic purposes to be further enhanced by helpful selections from other registers such as Latin, classical Scots, English, and French itself. At the time, though, there seemed little enthusiasm anywhere for a new Scots Moliere and the project was laid aside for some years.

As distinct from the Moliere plays later commissioned for theatre, Le Misanthrope required only translation, with some editing for radio.

"a close, faithful rendering .. in line and rhyme, a lively replica of the original .. the most elegant of radio” The Scotsman.

Ref: Moliere in Scotland. Noel Peacock. University of Glasgow French and German Publications. 1993. [ISBN 0 85261 392 X]

Alexander, R. Edinburgh Review. 2000.

In 2009 the radio translation was used for The Unco Guid, an adapted stage version, set to music by the 18th century Scots composer, James Oswald.

Jeppe o the Hill [Radio] (1986)

Commissioned by BBC Radio Scotland. Broadcast 1986. Director Stewart Conn.

Some academics had suggested that Holberg, regarded as the Danish Moliere, would translate very well into Scots. Perhaps he would, but a playwright versed in Danish and Scots would be required to test the academic assumption.

Forgetting the lessons learnt from The Misanthrope experience, MacMillan worked from an American translation of the original Danish. It was very hard work, good in parts, but finally unsatisfying.

The Hypochondriak [Stage] (1987)

Translation/adaptation of Le Malade Imaginaire commissioned by the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. Premiere 1987. Directors Gerry Mulgrew and John Matthews.

Following the lessons learned from the The Misanthrope for Radio, the translation was made direct from old French into Scots and reduced to two acts - a decision that allowed extra humour to be developed to end act one and commence act two. With respect to the original, the essence of the impossible Interludes was retained where appropriate and a very talented cast committed themselves unstintingly to the challenges of the production.

Despite years of management forebodings concerning expected audience reactions to plays in Scots, the production got off to a great start, with a young and enthusiastic Preview audience drinking the theatre bar dry.

“brisk, cheerful, utterly natural annexation of French culture” Financial Times

“an evening of uproarious fun” Glasgow Herald

“Rousing, rip-roaring popular success” The Guardian.

The play enjoyed a revival at Dundee Rep, directed by Hamish Glen, who later mounted a very successful production in Finland [Scots translated into Finnish] which ran in a number of theatres.

Published in Serving Twa Maisters. ASLS, University of Glasgow. 2005. Hardback [ISBN 0 948877 63 4]. Paperback [ISBN 0 948877 64 2]

Ref: Moliere in Scotland. Noel Peacock. University of Glasgow French and German Publications. 1993. [ISBN 0 85261 392 X]

Alexander, R. Edinburgh Review. 2000.

The Funeral [Stage] (1988)

Commissioned by Tron Theatre, Glasgow. Premiere 1988. Director Michael Boyd.

The success of The Sash had led to considerable pressure to write Son of the Sash, but at the time MacMillan had said all MacMillan could on the subject. Fifteen years later there was the possibility of utilising the two youngest characters from The Sash to consider how they were reacting to a rapidly-changing world, and so MacMillan responded to the Tron’s offer to commission the work.

On opening night, some audience reactions led to conflict with disciples of the new “political correctness” and demands for changes in the script were immediate. His own much earlier awareness of the “colour problem”, when MacMillan was based for three years in India, had informed the play and MacMillan heard nothing in the protests to invalidate that experience.

The Funeral of Bill MacWilliam was the subject matter, involving Georgina MacDonald and Cameron MacWilliam again, but this time introducing three new characters; Mr and Mrs MacDonald [Georgina’s parents] and the minister. The fact that Mr MacDonald [who had served some time in India under the Raj] was to enter into negotiations with an officiating missionary who was female, black and considerably better informed than himself, guaranteed mixed reactions.

“the play itself is slight, and a shade problematic” The Guardian

“generally a very truthful and enjoyable comedy, offering a full measure of bark with its bite” The List

“fully justified the rousing reception it got from a packed house” Sunday Times

A revival of the play, by IPB Productions at Cumbernauld Theatre, went on to a successful run at Glasgow’s Pavilion Theatre.

Tigh na Triubhais [Stage] (1989)

Tigh na Triubhais [House of the Trousers]

Commissioned by The Byre Theatre, St Andrews. Premiere 1989. Director Maggie Kinloch.

Chris Parr of the Traverse Theatre had much earlier suggested that a comedy could be written around an inn on Seil Island, Argyll, where 18th century Jacobites on their way to the mainland are reputed to have exchanged the proscribed kilt for trousers. Despite the fact that the story is set in one of the most brutal periods of highland repressions, such a legend seemed to justify a first essay into theatrical farce.

“breathless merry-go-round of a plot .. strangely beguiling show” The Guardian

“the funniest most varied comedy of mistaken identities” BBC Radio Scotland

“farce at full tilt - farce which has got a lot of meat in it” Glasgow Herald.

As is the case with The Sash and The Funeral, any production of this play requires very tight control to avoid an unforgivable trivialisation of the subject matter. So far MacMillan have licensed only one further staging - with students in London - directed by Eileen Nicholas of IPB Productions.

Noblesse Obleege [Stage] (1989)

Commissioned by The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. Director Hamish Glen. Premire 1989. Moliere’s Bourgeois Gentilhomme translated/adapted into Scots. The new title was not used in the premiere production. Some of the management didn’t know what it meant

“delightedly delves into the ruder aspects of Scots reductive humour” The Scotsman “Colourful and creative .. the sheer musicality of the tongue tickles” Scotland On Sunday.

“a heavy, inflexible-sounding version that slumps depressingly between two stools.” The Guardian

The play had a successful revival at Dundee Rep, 1995, again directed by Hamish Glen.

Ref: Moliere in Scotland. Noel Peacock. University of Glasgow French and German Publications. 1993. [ISBN 0 85261 392 X]

Alexander, R. Edinburgh Review. 2000.

Bridging The Gap [Stage] (1990)

Commissioned by Forth Bridge Centenary Theatre, S.Queensferry, 1990.

Part of a community project to celebrate the Forth Rail Bridge.

Figaro the Barber! (1991)

Commissioned by Perth Repertory Theatre. Premiere 1991. Director Joan Knight.

The intention was to work from the original Beaumarchais play, Le Barbier de Saville, translated and adapted with a more traditional Spanish slant to Rossini’s music; a kind of folk-opera. In the event, the theatre’s resources proved insufficient and Rossini’s music was simply reproduced, in miniature, on a piano.

Whisky Galore (1994)

An adaptation of Compton MacKenzie’s famous novel. Commissioned by BBC Radio Scotland. Broadcast 1994. Director Hamish Wilson.

Figaro The Barber! [Stage] (1991)

Commissioned by Perth Repertory Theatre. Premiere 1991. Director Joan Knight.

The intention was to work from the original Beaumarchais play, Le Barbier de Saville, translated and adapted with a more traditional Spanish slant to Rossini’s music; a kind of folk-opera. In the event, the theatre’s resources proved insufficient and Rossini’s music was simply reproduced, in miniature, on a piano.

Whisky Galore [Radio] (1994)

An adaptation of Compton MacKenzie’s famous novel. Commissioned by BBC Radio Scotland. Broadcast 1994. Director Hamish Wilson.

A Greater Tomorrow [Stage] (1997)

Commissioned by IPB Productions. Premiere Dundee Repertory Theatre, 1997. Director Hamish Glen.

At the time of Franco’s attack on a democratically-elected government many Scots volunteered to fight alongside the people of Spain. As the war went on, the volunteers from many lands were organised into International Brigades, but the early 1936 arrivals engaged in battle as and how they could.

One such volunteer, Joseph Wallace [Jock] Cunningham, from Lanarkshire, was involved in the earliest defence of Madrid before going on to become the hero of the British unit at the Battle of Jarama. His leadership, which saved the day, was recorded by the Irish journalist Frank Ryan, who was marching alongside.

Cunningham later served on Brigade Staff, with the rank of Major [possibly Lt Colonel] but after the battle of Brunete the Communist Party of Great Britain recalled him out of service.

It was known that for a number of years thereafter Jock Cunningham worked as a casual labourer, tramping Britain in search of work, before seeming to vanish in the early 1950's.

There was much speculation as to what happened to him but His researches, though they established that he had a twin brother and was one of a family of twenty-two, could establish little more other than that his father had been a regular soldier who had married a Maltese woman.

That the life of such a leading figure in the early volunteer movement should have remained so unrecorded was the starting point of the play which, though not biographical, is based on many of the known facts of Jock Cunningham's story.

“an important and hugely enjoyable work” Aberdeen Press & Journal

“presents the story brilliantly with the use of songs and music and original films from the Spanish War” International Brigade Association Newsletter.

“for more than two hours, nothing happened” The Observer

The programme for A Greater Tomorrow contains, with a few errors, everything that could be established at the time of writing.

A reference to Cunningham's early days in Spain, by Bernard Knox, who was present at the earliest defence of Madrid University, is to be found in John Cornford, A Memoir. Borderline Press, Dunfermline. 1978. [ISBN 0 906135 05 2]

Handful of Rogues [Book] (2004)

Written on spec. Published by Argyll Publishing, Glendaruel, 2005. [ISBN 1902831896]

Two centuries after his death, Scots historians still having failed to deal with the story of Thomas Muir, the research MacMillan had done for a historical novel was redirected into this work. Neither a biography nor a conventional piece of historiography, it is a partially-speculative piece of writing aimed at breaking a log-jam.

After the book was published, a Scot living in France brought to his attention a recent work about another important figure of the period, only briefly mentioned in Handful of Rogues. The story of John Oswald, with Muir and many others in Paris a “citizen of the world”, is told in Commerce des Lumieres, David V. Erdman, University of Missouri Press, 1986. [ISBN 0-8262-0607-7].

Important to Scots history as Oswald is, this first biography is again not the work of a historian. It had to wait till Erdman, Professor Emeritus of English at the State University of New York, could find time in retirement to bring years of research to fruition.

Both Muir and Oswald are key figures in a much neglected period of our history.

“passionate portrayal of the Scottish reformers clustered around Thomas Muir of Huntershill in the late 18th century” The Scotsman

“history written from a new and Scottish perspective .. the first book on Muir that has been properly researched” Scottish Review of Books.

“political and historical analyst of very great ability” Glasgow Herald

The Unco Guid [Stage] (2009)

Written on spec. The Radio script [1985] of Le Misanthrope, translated/adapted into rhyming-couplet Scots, is the basis of this new stage play.

Almost unique among Moliére’s major plays, relying as it does on entirely verbal effects, it can seem over-wordy for contemporary theatre audiences. The experiment of actually adding musical interludes seemed worth considering. The music chosen, all by the 18th century composer James Oswald, is delightfully light classical in feel and usually with a recognisably Scot root.

Ideally, The Unco Guid would be treated as a form of folk-dance-opera. The Bal Masqué setting, however, allows production with a small cast, miming to recorded music if required.

As in most of Moliére’s plays, the subject matter continues to have contemporary resonance.

Final draft, completed in 2009, awaits a premiere.

Del Gesu's Viola [Stage or Radio] (2009)

Written on spec.

A light-hearted 30-minute play for Stage or Radio, it incorporates much of what MacMillan have learned about the world of violin dealing - and misdealing.

It features the violin-size viola recently developed.

Final draft, completed in 2009, awaits a premiére.

Luthery - 1977 Onwards

After being greatly impressed with the sound his violins could produce, MacMillan began working with John Brown, of Sanquhar, a guitar and violin-maker then in his eighties. The first task was to have the instruments assessed by players with highly-developed musical skills. The results were startling. John's violins - in terms of balance, tone, dynamic response and projection - were compared to classical instruments. More detail...

This early success, encouraging as it was, had to be seen in perspective. Some of the enthusiasm expressed was a consequence of the very large number of mediocre hand-made instruments then being offered to players. Since many more questions remained to be answered, a study of the history of Luthery was begun, together with a reading of the contemporary scientific papers then available on the subject. The knowledge gained was essential for further progress, though little of it added very much to what John Brown had already outlined.

As the tone and playability of John Brown’s violins continued to be assessed by a number of players, usually positively, one recurring criticism began to hinder progress; the construction was frequently judged to be unconventional and therefor questionable. John had been a highly skilled woodcarver but age, arthritis and lack of mobility had taken their toll; to such an extent that he had to design and make special tools that his hands might still control. On top of that, as a fine judge of wood, he had made several of his violins out of discarded ammunition boxes. It was quality Canadian maple but sometimes required jointing and other expedients before being useful for violin Necks and Scrolls. John’s skills as a guitar-maker ensured sturdy work, but to at least one London expert the construction remained 'suspect'. By this time MacMillan had begun a study of viola-making, because the problems of that particular instrument - long the butt of orchestral jokes - intrigued me. From the history of the instrument, and the available evidence, it was clear that copying existing models was unlikely to prove productive. MacMillan concentrated instead on ways to achieve the maximum possible balance and harmony between the many acoustic resonances involved in all members of the violin-family of instruments.

Received wisdom was that a viola with a body-length less than about 410 mm was a waste of any maker’s time. The first viola MacMillan made, less than 390mm long, won an award for tone-quality in a 1984 London competition and was compared by a professional violist to classical instruments he had experienced. Later, while on loan to a pupil at the Yehudi Menuhin School at Stoke d'Abernon, this viola was used in a number of solo concerts. The next viola, body-length 415mm, was used in a Radio Documentary by a Scots student then at the Juilliard School. Again the judgement was that it had qualities similar to the best Italian instrument the student had till then experienced. Several facts were thrown into clearer focus by these early ventures, not least of which was that a surprising level of ignorance, suspicion, hostility, even intrigue, continues to operate against any signs of success in the violin-making business, just as actively as was the case in previous centuries. On a positive level, the very helpful advice and opinion of some professional players helped clarify a further problem; it is not sufficient to make a good violin or viola, the maker has to learn how to set up each individual instrument to take optimum advantage of its potential. In fact, the more powerfully resonant the basic instrument, the more care and expertise it needs in string-selection and set-up if it is not to startle even experienced players. John Brown had been asking all the right questions, but it was clear by now that he had not always settled on correct answers. The process of achieving some understanding of these ancillary but important aspects of luthery was a time-consuming business. For example, throughout the 1990's many experiments were carried out to investigate classical-period artists' materials and methods and how they might affect violin acoustics if used in Luthery. The outcome of some of these experiments, sent for scientific assessment, finally provided helpfully positive results. At the 26th International Viola Congress, Glasgow, 1998, MacMillan exhibited four violas, the end result of the research to that date. Three were of proven dimensions but one was an experiment to establish if the acoustic theories developed could be applied to a viola constructed as small as a standard violin. This violin-size viola [generally regarded as a contradiction in terms] attracted bewildered praise from some participants but - apart from Les Amis de l'Alto - the instruments were not reported on. Later, a young student at Glasgow's Junior RSAMD used that violin-size instrument to study for the Associated Board examinations for Viola. She achieved 95% pass marks in both grade 7 and grade 8. As work progressed from there MacMillan was reminded of a question that had exercised himfrom the outset. In the 1970/1980s some scientific publications contained dogmatic statements by researchers concerning the so-called Helmholtz resonance of the violin-family instruments. Measurements MacMillan had made about that time, though with very basic electronic equipment, indicated a quite different interpretation. When MacMillan raised this informally at an Acoustics conference in Edinburgh, in the early 1990's, the scientist concerned was disinclined to believe there was anything worth a second thought.

Early in the 2000's, during further experimental work, MacMillan again stumbled over the Helmholtz resonance question and decided to re-investigate it myself, this time with more care and over a much wider range of string instruments. The results were identical to those found twenty years earlier. A number of violins and violas benefiting from these latest findings have been enthusiastically received and are now in the hands of professional players.

Though a great many related parameters must be taken into account when striving to make instruments capable of standing comparison with Italian classics, correct identification of and design around the Helmhotz resonance has proved to be one of the most important factors involved. Properly exploited, even very mediocre instruments can be improved beyond recognition.

When completed, details of the work on making high-quality violins and violas will be made available. In the meantime, the parameters that ensure some much needed improvement in basic, mass-produced string instruments can be defined with accuracy.