I remember when and where the seed was sown for William Shakespeare – Dark Phoenix.  It was in 1967, when my wife and I were sitting on the doorstep of Druimard, the house where we lived with our family of three boys on the Isle of Mull, off the West Coast of Scotland.   We had just launched The Mull Little Theatre, and nothing ventured, nothing gained, had decided to present Shakespeare’s The Tempest.  All around were the magical blue hills.  And while Marianne read a biography of Sir Walter Raleigh, Queen Elizabeth I’s favourite seadog, I dreamt of how just the two of us might present such a complex play. She had got to the chapter describing how King James had had him imprisoned in the Tower of London when she made a link between the biography and William’s fantasy.



To order a copy of Taking Off telling the story of the Mull Little Theatre please contact:-
Mairi McArthur, The New Iona Press, The Bungalow, Ardival, Strathpeffer, Scotland IV14 DS; or, mairimacarthur@yahoo.co.uk; or telephone 07881 92103. Special price including UK p&p: £5. Payment by cheque or Paypal. If you are ordering from abroad please add the appropriate amount for p&p;- the book weighs approximately 315 grms

'Please bring your dining chair with you!'
The setting was a guest house on the Hebridian island of Mull, one summer evening in 1966. The line was addressed to the after-dinner guests. The scene then moved across to a tiny, converted byre. And a unique adventure took off - the Mull Little Theatre.  This is the story of Barrie and Marianne Hesketh's life together - from their early acting careers and the steps that led them to Scotland - to the leap of faith that created the country's smallest professional theatre - through drama on and off stage, at home and on tour - and finally to Marianne's courageous struggle with terminal illness. A story of survival, told with spirit and humour.

'...a story of aristry and perseverance and love' (From the foreword by the late Paul Scofield)

It took a further 42 years of fiddling about with ideas to finish what was begun in 1967. William Shakespeare - Dark Phoenix was completed in 2009 - and thank goodness the recent publication by Arden of a yet another play by WS has not required me to change a word of it!  I apologise that it hasn't appeared yet - I dont yet know how to turn my files into  pdf or, indeed, what to do when I've got them that far. As soon as it is up and running I shall flag it up for sure!