Theatre Alba

DONALD MACKENZIE (d. 1999) In 1983, Donald won First Prize in the Ind Coupe playwrighting competition organised by Assembly Productions with a play called THE WARLD'S TRAIVELER, which was presented three years later by the Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, when Charles Nowosielski was Artistic Director. This led to two more productions in Musselburgh and East Lothian - A ROYAL MATCH (Parts I and II), in which the principal character is Mary Queen of Scots, was premiered in the stately house of Lennoxlove and was described as a "magical triumph", resulting in a highly successful tour of East Lothian using many varied venues and culminating in an outdoor production of the play as a pageant at the ruins of Dunbar Castle. Mackenzie operated in two main areas: modern plays with a significant social bias and plays with historical content. RABBIE BURNS SLEPT HERE is a play about an American tycoon who comes to Scotland to build a factory over the house of Robert Burns, and THE BAILLIE was a play which was presented at the Edinburgh International Festival and told the story of 19th Century Scots actor, Charles Mackay. Winged Horse, a touring theatre company presented Mackenzie's play SHIFT WORK about a female welder, and the Traverse Theatre presented FIGHTING MAC, a play based on a great Scottish Battle hero. In quite another vein, Mackenzie's play about the life of a French schoolteacher who was part of the commune of Paris in 1871 was presented by the Tron Theatre in Glasgow. His play BY WHOSE HAND was broadcast on radio and subsequently bought by television. Donald Mackenzie was a prolific writer and has many scripts as yet unperformed. Sadly, he died in October 1999.