$33313 LIST
On a bitter cold night in
January 1963. Britain‘stirst
tringe theatre was born: its
aimto maintainthe Fringe
spiritol exciting
experimentation allyear
round. It made headlines
pretty promptly. when in the
lirst production. Sartre's
Huis Clos. the actress
Colette O'Neilwas _ accidentally stabbed on _ _~ ' ' w-
stage and hadlo berushed ,I , ‘ _ (0 hospital. . n _ Lindsay Kemp sLegend.1973. Tom McGrath's Laureland Hardy. 1976. The inimitableJim Haynes
I
Thetheatre's name came . x ~ ~. tromtheshapeotits (cem'e)‘th°:R'°ky 5 ' — -
l i
auditorium where the stage Demarco' ‘traversed' two blocks ol seating. This original. tiny 60-seaterauditorium was housed not inthe present building. but in the suitably spicey premises olalormer . brothel called Kelly's .2 .. The Seventies saw several Paradise.Thetheatre had -_ f . new developments. Max closelinkswithJim Haynes‘ k . Slallord-Clarkemphasised Paperback Bookshop and , the importance at new he. togetherwith Ricky g \ A writing within aworkshop Demarco. Terry Lane. John ‘ i ‘ context. while. Michael Malcolm and Tom Mitchell. _ . -. Hudman. substantially playedaleadingroleinthe ‘ “ " _ . : reducedthelheatre s Traverse'sbeginnings. . —' g , ’ll‘nanclaldellctlza
ltis hard now toimagine a .. The originalTraverse Signilicantmove. the novelty and excitement ' building. establishingthetheatrein , olthis newlittletheatre. In the mainstream. He also . g 1963 the Lord Chamberlain premiered a remarkable g“: -. .. h .g n I. couldslill censorwhatwent numberolyoung writers, f: a; E i " *
1978. Photo: David Liddler'l",
§lab Boys.
John eyroe s
onthe British stage. andlhe I Who "3"? Since become ' ‘ f~ Traverse becameaclubto 3. . . ' “W003 names-“OWN” 3 presentdaring new plays_ I . r t Bfenion. Howafd Baldker. . Oven)", next few yam. * _ Trevor Griftlths and Lindsay underLane,Haynesand .- Kemp amongmem-Wke then Gordon MacDougall as OCk'ems'mssedme directors. productions ‘ I ’g a. - impedance oldeslon and at " ' European writing. while Chris Parr. madeapolicyol g doing new Scottish writing. ; Awealth olnew Scottish 5 talent cameto lightzlrom
TJ'fO.
rangedlrom the British premieres olJarry'sUbu Rot (1963) and Brecht's Happy End (1964). tolhe more idlosyncratic: You'll
‘
Hector MacMillan‘s The Gay
Cometo Love YourSperm Test(64)‘theViemam jGorbals(T6)and Donald Hearings(66)and Please Campbell SThe JBSUNUG): I
to Tom McGrath’s The Hard Man (77). and Animal (79); to John Byrne's gloriously tunny The Slab Boys(78) and Billy ConnollyinAnd
Renew YourMembership (68)a|l say something aboutthe mood olthe times! In 1969 the theatre moved to its present studio
.m
Happy End. 1964. Photo: Alan Davidson
inthe Grassmarket. Me Wi'ABad LegTae(76)! ~ - ' : p .3 “.2, I 0 a.
Aluwam'vm m ‘2 or”
I
CW
‘zrfi‘t-‘_Q:v_.. ~ V,
9 ‘3}.
'. ‘r Mth' o. 197‘s“; 'Phot’ozbavid Liddle‘.
G'I‘hc List 18 -« 3] March 1988