List of plays

The face at the window                         Maria Marten

Grannie’s hielan hame                           East Lynne

Nurse Cavell                                           Sweeney Todd

In a monastery garden                           Over the hill

Robinson Crusoe                                    Burke and Hare

Snow White and the seven dwarfs        The end of the road

Old Mother Riley (various editions)       Uncle Tom’s cabin

The Laird o’ Cockpen                             Ship Ahoy!

Smilin’ Thru’                                           Jeanie Deans

The Rose  of Tralee                               Should they marry?

Mill o’ Tifty’s Annie                                Jamie Fleeman

The Broons                                             Aloma

Peg o’ my heart                                      Grannie’s hielan hame                        Cinderella                                               Bonnie Prince Charlie

The company normally moved on after a three to four week season. But if the next ‘date’ was difficult to find, a longer stay would be made and the repertoire extended, occasionally presenting:-

The Bells                              Dr. Crippen                    Jane Eyre

Red Riding Hood                  Caste                             Trilby

Charlie’s Aunt                       Night must fall               Westering Home

Wuthering Heights              The Great McGuffie

Alternative titles

Most titles attracted audiences in their own right (e.g. East Lynne, Maria Marten and Sweeney Todd, but titles like ‘If four walls told’, ‘Jerry the tramp’ and ‘Hindle Wakes’ didn’t mean a lot to rural Scottish audiences.  So, ‘Jerry the tramp’ became ‘The end of the road’ and ‘If four walls told’ moved from Cornwall to the Western Isles and became ‘Westering home’, both taking Scottish songs as their titles. ‘The rosary’ was renamed ‘In a monastery garden’ and ‘Donnybrook Fair’ became ‘The rose of Tralee’ after popular music of the day. ‘Grannies’ Hielan Hame’  was also from a well loved Scottish song and was probably written to ‘cover the billing’.  It was very popular.

‘Hindle Wakes’ became ‘Should they marry?’ and was billed ‘For adults only’.  This gave the show a bit of daring, although it was still the perfectly respectable, ‘Hindle Wakes’.  The billing ‘For adults only’ was not to keep children out but to bring adults in.

A play from an unknown source called ‘Wee Curly, the Glasgow Waif’ had a strong resemblance to Oliver Twist, with Fagin replaced by a character called ‘The Dandy’. This was a regular with the West Highland Players but only played once or twice by the Kinloch Players.