PART 3

Taking Centre-Stage

In 1956, x96 teams competed in the Highland area in one year as part of SCDA's annual one-act play festival. The rural teams had to travel and were to be commended for their stamina in getting to either Wick or Thurso each year. John O’ Groats put forward a team each year and were particularly successful with great comedy plays, with local Jimmy Shearer appearing in every one along with Alistair Mackenzie from the John O’ Groats Hotel. The Caithness District Festival, or as it was then the 'Preliminary Festival' was held on this occasion for three consecutive days each with three plays every night, and this was held in either in Wick or Thurso. This was a particularly good period for amateur drama with encouragement from SCDA advisors available. Over the next few years, Wick continued to reach both the Highland Division and Scottish Finals on several occasions doing credit to producers and casts, maintaining the high standard expected. ​

SCDA's emblem before being replaced by a modern design in 2023.

Some members of the cast and crew of "Campbell of Kilmhor" posing on the bank of the River Ness.

The first of Wick’s success following the war era was with “Campbell of Kilmhor” (by J.A Ferguson) in 1952, which was produced by George Booth (Manager of BI Calendar Company) who was one of our welcome newcomers. The team for this production included Nan Graham, Graham Dunnett, Jim Mitchell, Wilfred Weir, Alex Boyd, George Dunnet and Kathlyn Harper. These individuals took on the main roles of the twelve people cast. Not only did the team have success in Caithness, but they won the Highland Divisional Final, which was held in the Empire Theatre at Eden Court, Inverness. This round was staged for over three nights and Wick won several trophies, going forward to the Scottish Finals. On that occasion, the club had quite an eventful time in Inverness when two of the cast, Wilfred Weir and George Dunnett, went missing! As the team were third to perform, they had a reasonable length of time to wait so the two characters headed out, and there was no second guessing as to where they might have been... the pub; but, by the time the second play was on stage they had still not returned. Someone went out and met them coming back by the scruff of the neck and in a hurry the cast all chipped in to help dress them as redcoat soldiers with white trousers, red jackets, belts, and full black boots. The tension must have helped for the team had won for the Highland area for the first time! ​Modern scripts and writers were also tried although period and comedy plays proved to be popular, particularly plays in Caithness dialect. These plays had been written by Headmaster, Donald Grant and Willie Wilson (Thurso) and were also entered into SCDA’s One-Act Play Festival. ​​

Kathlyn Harper (nee More) recalls 'a lovely little play' called “Moonlight On the Willow Well” which was a particular favourite of her's. It was set in a Japanese garden; it needed a blossom tree and of course a water well. Kathlyn recalls attempting to paint a back cloth in the Scout Hall, however, Ian Mackenzie came into the hall, took one look at her efforts and with her brush in his hand he “tarted” it up and Kathlyn finally had a beautiful blossom tree along with a water well. From then on, Ian became Stage Manager for many of Kathlyn’s productions. From then, “The Happy Hypocrite”, another lovely set with trees, was produced by Mrs Harper and it was in this production that Marley Robertson made her last stage appearance, which in Kathlyn‘s words “she did so beautifully” and of course in costume with a great supporting cast. Kathlyn and her team won the District Festival that year and they went on to compete at the Highland Divisional Final in Inverness. It was at this stage, Kathlyn was deflated by the theatre’s Stage Manager who made the remark “Are the trees meant to look like a hedge?".

"Moonlight On the Willow Well" with Ian Mackenzie's famous blossom tree depicted on the back cloth.