Theatre Alba

EDWIN STIVEN (Playwright) Edwin Stiven has adapted themes of Celtic mythology and traditional Scots tales into many of his works. His acclaimed play TAMLANE is based on the traditional Scots ballad of the same name, but incorporates many other ballads in theme, character and plot. It is set in the time and place of its origins, the Scottish Borders of the 12th century. His play, CAULDRON , is based on the few extant versions of the pre-Christian Quest along with later versions, such as "Parsifal", from the tradition of Medieval Romance.The play is set in North Britain at the end of the 5th century AD, and utilises contemporaneous historical references and characters. It is derived from Scottish, Irish, Welsh and French sources, but, like all of Edwin Stiven's work, it is written in Scots. His most recent play, Under the Passing Stars is based on the ancient Irish tale of "Deirdre of the Sorrows", adapted many times before for the stage, most notably by Yeats and Synge. His most recent, THE BULL RAIDERS (1998) is a dramatization of the whole of the Ulster Cycle, "An Tain Bo Cooling". TAMLANE was his first play. Read, below, his account of the first production of Tamlane. LIST OF PLAYS: *THE CAULDRON (Brunton Theatre Co., 1988, and Scottish tour by Theatre Alba). *TAMLANE (Theatre Alba, 1981) *UNDER THE PASSING STARS (Brunton Theatre Company, 1989)