The Devil to Stage: Five Plays by James Bridie (ASLS Annual Volumes) by James Bridie

by James Bridie

Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

James Bridie was the pseudonym of a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and surgeon whose real name was Osborne Henry Mavor. He took his pen-name from his paternal grandfather's first name and his grandmother's maiden name.

The Sunlight Sonata (1928) was performed by the Scottish National Players but it was The Anatomist (1931) which really began his writing career. Other plays include Jonah and the Whale (1932); A Sleeping Clergyman (1933); Marriage is No Joke (1934); Colonel Wotherspoon (1934); The King of Nowhere (1938); One Way of Living (1939), an autobiographical drama; Mr. Bolfry (1943); Dr. Angelus (1947); and The Queen’s Comedy (1950). Towards the end of the 40s, Mavor used another name, J.P. Kellock, when he co-wrote The Tintock Cup (1949) with George Munro.

He was the main founder of the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, with his cousin, the author Guy McCrone and was also instrumental in the establishment of the Edinburgh Festival.

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bridie's plays are somewhat undervalued today, and this volume presents a good selection for becoming reacquainted with this highly original and always interesting writer. The play that was most familiar to me was The Anatomist, about the 1828 Burke and Hare scandal, which I saw performed at the Royal Lyceum in Ediburgh in the 1970s and which is itself worth the price of admission.