26/03/2008

It was the night when another dream came true for journalist, author and broadcaster, Jack Webster.

Last night, he stood on the stage at His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen, and took a bow to thunderous applause -  acknowledging his first stage play.

‘Grassic Gibbon’ celebrated the life and works of J Leslie Mitchell, who under his pseudonym, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, immortalised the rolling farmlands of the Mearns countryside of Scotland and its people in his classic A Scot’s Quair - Sunset Song, Cloud Howe, and Grey Granite. He was just 34 when he died, having written 17 books on subjects as diverse as archaeology and exploration.

In his review in this morning’s Press and Journal newspaper, Roddy Phillips writes: “In this sparsely-staged, yet highly effective recital, Grassic Gibbon achieves his rightful place as one of the country’s great prose writers. The facts are there yet the man still seems to elude us - perhaps because his work is more interesting and compelling. Essentially a two-handed eulogy, it is at its most effective when [actress, Vivien] Heilbron tells the story of [the heroine] Chris Guthrie and brings to life Gibbon’s most enduring character.”

For Jack Webster, this play represents the culmination of a lifetime’s admiration of Gibbon. Jack began a glittering journalistic career on the Turriff Advertiser weekly, graduating through the reporters’ room in the Press and Journal to achieve notable success on the Scottish Daily Express and The Herald.

All three of his sons are journalists. And Geoff, who works with the sports department of BBC Scotland, and Martin, a news producer with BBC Southampton, were in the audience last night. Keith, now a production sub-editor on the Daily Mirror and The People, unfortunately couldn’t make the trip north because of work commitments.

Grassic Gibbon concludes its run tonight, but Jack already has plans to tour it in smaller venues across Scotland.

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