Plays

Pantomimes

Ghost Walks

The Story of John Macdonald is a new play, written and directed by resident dramatist Jenny Chapman, and based on the Memoirs and Travel Journal of a remarkable 18th century Scot, originally published in 1790. The production involves a quite amazing range of community involvement in Tweed Theatre, including a large cast of actors ranging in age from 5 to 70, film made in the beautiful Manor Valley, in locations selected by a local farmer and thespian, participation by the staff of Peebles’ Prince of India restaurant and specially commissioned incidental music.

John Macdonald, had a very chequered start to life. Orphaned by the death of his father, a bloodthirsty Jacobite captain, at Culloden, he was brought from Glen Urquhart to Edinburgh as a child by his intrepid teenage sister, Kitty, in a vain search for their irresponsible parent. Reduced to begging in the streets of Edinburgh, he eventually found work as a child postilion and then was taken into the household of a kindly Ayrshire laird and his flighty young wife. Unfortunately, this lady fell disastrously in love with John when he grew up; he had no choice but to leave and find his own way in the world, a history in which his Jacobite connections would always play a part.

The picaresque tale of John’s adventures, which he published in 1790, reveals some startling parallels with modern times. It ranges from his youth as something of a Jack-the-Lad in Scotland, through his travels as a manservant and chef in Europe and India, to his eventual marriage and settlement in Spain.

John was an admirable man in many ways. His great ambition in life was to see the world and see how other people live: he brought to this a keen eye for the natural beauty of the landscape and the people he encountered, as well as a frank and tolerant attitude to other cultures, customs and beliefs. The passages of his journal dealing with his years in India are particularly vivid and engrossing. He had his weaknesses as well, of course – a touch of vanity was one of them! And he never lost the insecurity created by his tragic descent from ‘gentleman’s son’ in the Highlands, to growing up as waif and stray in the highly stratified society of Lowland Scotland; John was never either ‘upstairs’ or ‘downstairs’. This position as perpetual outsider may have been uncomfortable in many ways, but it is one of the two main sources for his open-minded and illuminating observations; the other is his charm and naturally egalitarian outlook.

Of course the play cannot convey the whole scope of his life and character. It is necessarily selective for reasons of space as well as drama, and aims to please. The author recommends that John’s well-wishers read his book and judge him for themselves.