Scottish National Players, founded in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

c.1920 by figures such as playwright John Brandane, was a non-professional touring theatre company which had the aim to pioneer the establishment of a

Scottish National Theatre The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...

along the lines of the Irish model established by

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around twenty years earlier. The company was founded using left-over funds from the short-lived Glasgow Repertory which had folded in 1914. Its first director was Andrew P. Wilson. The Scottish National Players performed early plays by

James Bridie James Bridie (3 January 1888 in Glasgow – 29 January 1951 in Edinburgh) was the pseudonym of a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and physician whose real name was Osborne Henry Mavor.Daniel Leary (1982) ''Dictionary of Literary Biography: ...

, such as ''The Sunlight Sonata'' and Brandane's ''The Glen is Mine'', as well as an ill-fated production of Neil Gunn's drama ''The Ancient Fire''. A number of its productions were directed by the young

Tyrone Guthrie Sir William Tyrone Guthrie (2 July 1900 – 15 May 1971) was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at h ...

. Sometimes criticised for its conservatism, Scottish National Players notably turned down

Joe Corrie Joe Corrie (13 May 1894 – 13 November 1968) was a Scottish miner, poet and playwright best known for his radical, working class plays. He was born in Slamannan, Stirlingshire in 1894. His family moved to Cardenden in the Fife coalfield when Co ...

's early masterpiece ''In Time o' Strife'' in 1927. On the other hand it was instrumental in touring drama around local communities throughout Scotland. The company also provided drama for BBC Radio in Scotland in the 1920s. In the early 1930s, James Bridie, as one of the board members, attempted to push Scottish National Players to professionalise. Although remaining supportive, he resigned after the board chose to retain its amateur status. Soon after this decision, the company began to lose direction and was effectively folded by the mid-1930s.

References

External links

* Theatre companies in Scotland {{UK-theat-stub