Gerda Stevenson
Encyclopedia
Gerda Stevenson is a Scottish actress, director and writer, described by The Scotsman
in 1999 as "Scotland's finest actress". She has played a vast range of parts in the theatre, including both Desdemona
and Lady MacBeth
, and has appeared in many television dramas. She was Murren's mother in the Mel Gibson
film Braveheart
, and her voice is familiar to listeners of British radio, as a reader of short stories and adaptations. In particular, she has performed several poems and songs by Robert Burns
for the BBC
.
As a writer she has adapted a number of works for radio: Self-Control by Mary Brunton
in which Gerda played the part of Laura Montreville; For the Love of Willie by Agnes Owens
in which Gerda played the part of Liza; The Heart of Midlothian
by Sir Walter Scott for BBC Radio 4
, nominated for a Sony Award in 2008, in which Gerda played the part of the heroine Jeanie Deans
; and most recently Sunset Song
by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
. She has written radio plays including: Island Blue, Secrets: The Punter's Tale, Secrets: The Escort's Tale and The Apple Tree. She directed the Afternoon Play
The Price of a Fish Supper.
Gerda Stevenson's partner is the Scottish Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail
and she has published poetry and stories herself.
Her father is the musician and composer Ronald Stevenson
. Her sister Savourna Stevenson
(born 1961) has recorded many works on the Scottish harp.
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
in 1999 as "Scotland's finest actress". She has played a vast range of parts in the theatre, including both Desdemona
Desdemona
Desdemona is a character in William Shakespeare's play Othello.Desdemona may also refer to:People* Desdemona , a soprano role in the 1816 opera Otello by Gioachino Rossini...
and Lady MacBeth
Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth may refer to:*Lady Macbeth, from William Shakespeare's play Macbeth**Queen Gruoch of Scotland, the real-life Queen on whom Shakespeare based the character...
, and has appeared in many television dramas. She was Murren's mother in the Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
film Braveheart
Braveheart
Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...
, and her voice is familiar to listeners of British radio, as a reader of short stories and adaptations. In particular, she has performed several poems and songs by Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
As a writer she has adapted a number of works for radio: Self-Control by Mary Brunton
Mary Brunton
Mary Brunton was a Scottish novelist.-Life:Mary was the daughter of Colonel Thomas Balfour of Elwick, a British Army officer and Frances Ligonier, daughter of Colonel Francis Ligonier and sister of the second earl of Ligonier. She was born on 1 November 1778 on Burray in the Orkney Islands...
in which Gerda played the part of Laura Montreville; For the Love of Willie by Agnes Owens
Agnes Owens
Agnes Owens is a Scottish author.She was born in Milngavie and spent most of her life on the west coast of Scotland. She has been married twice and raised seven children, also working as a cleaner, typist and factory worker....
in which Gerda played the part of Liza; The Heart of Midlothian
The Heart of Midlothian
The Heart of Midlothian is the seventh of Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley Novels. It was originally published in four volumes on 25 July 1818, under the title of Tales of My Landlord, 2nd series, and the author was given as "Jedediah Cleishbotham, Schoolmaster and Parish-clerk of Gandercleugh"...
by Sir Walter Scott for BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, nominated for a Sony Award in 2008, in which Gerda played the part of the heroine Jeanie Deans
Jeanie Deans
Jeanie Deans is a fictional character in Sir Walter Scott's novel, The Heart of Midlothian. "Jeanie Deans" is also the name of at least two pubs,at least three passenger ships, two railway locomotives, an opera, a play, a poem, a song, a hybrid rose, an antipodean potato, and a geriatric unit in a...
; and most recently Sunset Song
Sunset Song
Sunset Song is a 1932 novel by the Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon. It is widely regarded as one of the most important Scottish novels of the 20th century...
by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
Lewis Grassic Gibbon
Lewis Grassic Gibbon was the pseudonym of James Leslie Mitchell , a Scottish writer.-Biography:...
. She has written radio plays including: Island Blue, Secrets: The Punter's Tale, Secrets: The Escort's Tale and The Apple Tree. She directed the Afternoon Play
Afternoon Play
The Afternoon Play is a long-running drama programming strand, broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm on BBC Radio 4. Each play lasts for 45 minutes, and roughly 190 new Afternoon Plays are broadcast each year....
The Price of a Fish Supper.
Gerda Stevenson's partner is the Scottish Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail
Aonghas MacNeacail
Aonghas MacNeacail , nickname Aonghas dubh or black Aonghas) is a contemporary writer in the Scottish Gaelic language. Born and brought up in the Isle of Skye, he was registered at birth as Angus Nicolson, but has changed his official name to his native Gaelic...
and she has published poetry and stories herself.
Her father is the musician and composer Ronald Stevenson
Ronald Stevenson
Ronald Stevenson is a British composer, pianist, and writer about music.-Biography:The son of a Scottish father and English mother, Stevenson studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music , studying composition with Richard Hall and piano with Iso Elinson, graduating with distinction...
. Her sister Savourna Stevenson
Savourna Stevenson
Savourna Stevenson is a Scottish clarsach player and composer. While she is identified as an interpreter of Scottish traditional music, she has also made inroads into world music, blues and jazz....
(born 1961) has recorded many works on the Scottish harp.
Radio
| Date | Title | Role | Director | Station |
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| Fair Kirsten | Marilyn Imrie Marilyn Imrie Marilyn Elsie Imrie is a Scottish radio drama director and producer.Marilyn Imrie has worked in drama and broadcasting in Scotland and England for over thirty years as a producer and director, for BBC, ITV and the independent companies Absolutely, Bona Broadcasting, CBL, CIM, Kindle and Sweet Talk... |
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation... |
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| The Interview | Reader | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... Morning Story |
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| Blood and Ice Liz Lochhead Liz Lochhead is a Scottish poet and dramatist, originally from Newarthill in North Lanarkshire.-Background:After attending Glasgow School of Art, Lochhead lectured in fine art for eight years before becoming a professional writer.... |
Marilyn Imrie Marilyn Imrie Marilyn Elsie Imrie is a Scottish radio drama director and producer.Marilyn Imrie has worked in drama and broadcasting in Scotland and England for over thirty years as a producer and director, for BBC, ITV and the independent companies Absolutely, Bona Broadcasting, CBL, CIM, Kindle and Sweet Talk... |
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... The Monday Play |
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| The Secret Commonwealth | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... |
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| Tam o'Shanter | Hamish Wilson Hamish Wilson Hamish Wilson is a Scottish actor from Glasgow, and is best known for briefly taking over the role of Jamie McCrimmon for part of two episodes in the 1968 Doctor Who serial The Mind Robber when series regular Frazer Hines was ill and unable to attend the recording... |
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... |
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| (Recorded on 22 February 1998) |
Camelot Camelot (musical) Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King.... |
Nimue | BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres... |
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| – | Last Days of Mankind | Giles Havergal Giles Havergal Giles Pollock Havergal CBE is a Scottish theatre director, actor, and playwright. He was artistic director of Glasgow's Citizens Theatre from 1969 until he stepped down in 2003, one of the triumvirate of directors at the theatre, alongside Philip Prowse and Robert David MacDonald.-Early... |
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation... Sunday Play |
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| – | Telling Liddy | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... Woman's Hour Drama Woman's Hour Drama The Woman's Hour Drama is a BBC Radio 4 Arts and Drama production. It consists of 15 minute episodes, broadcast every weekday 10.45-11.00am , repeated 7.45-8.00pm. These tend to be plays which extend over a week, or multiple of 5 episodes... |
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| Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off Liz Lochhead Liz Lochhead is a Scottish poet and dramatist, originally from Newarthill in North Lanarkshire.-Background:After attending Glasgow School of Art, Lochhead lectured in fine art for eight years before becoming a professional writer.... |
Mary, Queen of Scots / Marian | Marilyn Imrie Marilyn Imrie Marilyn Elsie Imrie is a Scottish radio drama director and producer.Marilyn Imrie has worked in drama and broadcasting in Scotland and England for over thirty years as a producer and director, for BBC, ITV and the independent companies Absolutely, Bona Broadcasting, CBL, CIM, Kindle and Sweet Talk... |
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... |
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| Every Bit of It | Georgia | Susan Roberts | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... |
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| – | Self-Control | Laura Montreville | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... Woman's Hour Drama Woman's Hour Drama The Woman's Hour Drama is a BBC Radio 4 Arts and Drama production. It consists of 15 minute episodes, broadcast every weekday 10.45-11.00am , repeated 7.45-8.00pm. These tend to be plays which extend over a week, or multiple of 5 episodes... |
| The Whole Story and Other Stories The Whole Story and Other Stories The Whole Story and Other Stories is a short story collection by Scottish Booker-shortlisted author Ali Smith, first published in 2003 by Hamish Hamilton.It contains twelve stories :-... : Gothic by Ali Smith Ali Smith Ali Smith is a British writer.She was born to working-class parents, raised in a council house in Inverness and now lives in Cambridge. She studied at the University of Aberdeen and then at Newnham College, Cambridge, for a PhD that was never finished. She worked as a lecturer at University of... |
Reader | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... Afternoon Reading |
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| – | For the Love of Willie | Liza | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... Woman's Hour Drama Woman's Hour Drama The Woman's Hour Drama is a BBC Radio 4 Arts and Drama production. It consists of 15 minute episodes, broadcast every weekday 10.45-11.00am , repeated 7.45-8.00pm. These tend to be plays which extend over a week, or multiple of 5 episodes... |
| – | The Gowk Storm | Innkeeper's Wife | David Ian Neville | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... Woman's Hour Drama Woman's Hour Drama The Woman's Hour Drama is a BBC Radio 4 Arts and Drama production. It consists of 15 minute episodes, broadcast every weekday 10.45-11.00am , repeated 7.45-8.00pm. These tend to be plays which extend over a week, or multiple of 5 episodes... |
| Wooden Heart | Uta | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... Afternoon Play Afternoon Play The Afternoon Play is a long-running drama programming strand, broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm on BBC Radio 4. Each play lasts for 45 minutes, and roughly 190 new Afternoon Plays are broadcast each year.... |
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| A Breath from Other Planets | Mathilde | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... Afternoon Play Afternoon Play The Afternoon Play is a long-running drama programming strand, broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm on BBC Radio 4. Each play lasts for 45 minutes, and roughly 190 new Afternoon Plays are broadcast each year.... |
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| Christabel's Anarchist | Christabel | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... Saturday Play Saturday Play The Saturday Play is a regular feature on BBC Radio 4 and is described as "Thrillers, mysteries, love stories and detective fiction, as well as an occasional special series."The Saturday Play is part of the BBC's series... |
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| – | Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery | Steve | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... |
| The Madeleine Effect: Mangoes by Joanna Blythman Joanna Blythman Joanna Blythman is a British investigative food journalist and writer and a commentator on the British food chain, covering subjects as diverse as salmon farming, supermarkets, intensive pineapple production, bird flu and the causes of obesity.... |
Reader | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... Afternoon Reading |
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| – | The Heart of Midlothian The Heart of Midlothian The Heart of Midlothian is the seventh of Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley Novels. It was originally published in four volumes on 25 July 1818, under the title of Tales of My Landlord, 2nd series, and the author was given as "Jedediah Cleishbotham, Schoolmaster and Parish-clerk of Gandercleugh"... |
Jeanie Deans | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... Classic Serial Classic Serial The Classic Serial is a strand on BBC Radio 4 in which classics of English literature are adapted into series of one-hour dramas. It is broadcast twice weekly on BBC Radio 4, first from 3:00-4:00pm on Sunday, then repeated on 9:00-10:00pm the next Saturday.... |
| – | Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery | Steve | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... |
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| Distributing Dave | BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle... Drama |
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| The Three Knots | Old Woman | Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams (drama) Kirsty Williams is a radio drama director and producer for BBC Radio Drama at Pacific Quay, Glasgow.Her play Daniel and Mary received a Bronze Sony Radio Academy Award for Best Drama in 2010.-Radio Plays:Notes:-References:... |
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... Afternoon Play Afternoon Play The Afternoon Play is a long-running drama programming strand, broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm on BBC Radio 4. Each play lasts for 45 minutes, and roughly 190 new Afternoon Plays are broadcast each year.... |
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| – | Paul Temple and Steve | Steve | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... |
| The Second Mr Bailey | Margaret | Lu Kemp Lu Kemp She directed How to Tell The Truth by Chris Dunkley for the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough in 2003, and Almost Blue for the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith in 2005 which won The Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award 2005. Previously she worked with TAG Theatre Company, Glasgow on a... |
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... Afternoon Play Afternoon Play The Afternoon Play is a long-running drama programming strand, broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm on BBC Radio 4. Each play lasts for 45 minutes, and roughly 190 new Afternoon Plays are broadcast each year.... |
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| The Book Café | Reader | BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle... |
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| Secrets: The Punter's Tale | Cara | Bruce Young | BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle... Drama |
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| – | A Case for Paul Temple | Steve | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... |