Andrew Dallmeyer

Andrew Dallmeyer (10 January 1945 – 21 May 2017) was a Scottish playwright, theatre director and actor. He wrote over 75 plays, including the Opium Eater and directed more than 50 productions. His plays have won a number of awards, including a Scottish BAFTA, and they have been played on BBC Radio.

Some of Dallmeyer's plays have been considered controversial, for example Wanted: Dead or Alive which focused on Osama bin Laden's motives and was released on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Some of his other plays celebrate the life and works of historical figures such as John Muir and Salvador Dalí. As an actor, Dallmeyer had a recurring role in Scottish cult comedy, Rab C. Nesbitt.

Early life Dallmeyer was born on 10 January 1945 in St Boswells in Roxburghshire, Scotland. He spent most of his childhood in Aberlady, East Lothian where he was a keen Hibernian F.C. supporter (later inspiring his interest to write Playing a Blinder). Dallmeyer learnt drama at the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, London. His father served in the British Army during the Second World War and was twice awarded the Distinguished Service Order. began his theatre work in the 1960s as an actor in Bristol Old Vic and Nottingham Playhouse performances. At the age of 26 he was the artistic director at Liverpool Playhouse, although he didn't enjoy it and instead wanted to focus on writing his own plays.

As a playwright, Dallmeyer has written over 75 plays despite admitting he is unable to type He was commissioned by the Baron of Prestongrange and has written a number of plays for him. He won three Fringe First awards as well as a BAFTA Scotland Award for the Best Radio Play of 1985 in Scotland. In 1982, The Times pointed out that he was able to put on three separate successful Fringe shows each year. Much of Dallmeyer's work has not been published or put into print and therefore he holds the only copy of many plays.

1980s

The Opium Eater, based on Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey, The play was published by Capercaillie Books, made into a television production (featuring Peter Mullan) and a radio version directed by Stewart Conn.

The Boys in the Backroom was part of a series of plays, produced by Salamander Press, called The Traverse Plays. The plays were written in celebration of Scottish playwrights and Dallmeyer's play was fifth in the series. Following a performance in Los Angeles in 1987 it reviewed by the Los Angeles Times as "sophomoric and forgettable." and Neil Cunningham. It has been performed in many countries including: Scotland, England, United States, Belgium, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. The play was described as a "scatological, emotional and artistic biography". Despite the Lyceum being praised for commissioning a new play with regional importance Dallmeyer defended the play, stating "I am not trying to create a sensation; it is just that I feel the piece is strong".

His stage play, Playing a Blinder, which attempted to re-create the 1940 Edinburgh Derby's New Year's Day match, in which the commentator improvised what was happening on the pitch due to severe fog, was aired in 2002 on BBC Radio 4. The cast included Andy Gray and Gavin Mitchell. The play took Dallmeyer two years to create

Dallmeyer wrote the musical Burns Supper, in collaboration with composer David Todd, inspired by the bard Robert Burns. They then donated the script to schools around the country and a competition was held, in conjunction with charity 'First Scottish Film Features', to find the best school performance. Some of the work was then presented at the Fringe festival.

2010s

Dallmeyer wrote the play Thank God for John Muir based on the life of John Muir and specifically based on the period in Muir's life when an industrial accident left him blind. It was reviewed in 2011 as an "emotional and sensory journey", yet Alan Chadwick, from The Herald, described it as "too static" and the ending was "underwhelming". The play was scheduled to be a part of the 2015 John Muir celebrations in East Lothian.

Plays written by Dallmeyer

Plays directed by Dallmeyer Title Year Broadcaster Notes References Miss Julie 2012 Vagabond Productions

Acting roles Title Year Broadcaster Notes References The Watchers on the Shore 1971 BBC Radio 4 Old Alliances 1986 BBC Radio 4 Tartuffe 1986 Royal Lyceum Theatre Foreigners 1987 BBC Radio 4 City Lights 1988 BBC Two England A Man Flourishing 1988 BBC Radio 4 Shadow on the Earth 1988 BBC Two England The Tales of Para Handy 1994 BBC One London Bad Boys 1996 BBC One London The Secret Commonwealth 1996 BBC Radio 3 Rab C Nesbitt 1993199719982011 BBC Two Waiting for Godot 2003 The Arches (Glasgow) Krapp's Last Tape 2005 The Arches (Glasgow) As part of The Basement Tapes Stonehurst Asylum (Eliza Graves) 2014