Actors honour bed-ridden Soutar

Young actors in Perth are aiming to spread the word about a famous local poet who spent 13 years in bed with a debilitating disease.

William Soutar, who was born in 1898, was sporty and even spent two years in the Navy. However he later developed a condition which damaged his spine.

He used his time in bed to focus on his poetry writing, composing many pieces in Scots tongue.

A play called The Keekin-gless has been developed about his life.

About 20 young people, aged 17 to 25, from the Perth Youth Theatre have been involved in making the play.

It was commissioned by the Friends of William Soutar Society who want to make his name more familiar to the people of Scotland and beyond.

The play's director Neil Doherty has admitted that he was not too familiar with Soutar's poetry in the beginning, but he was attracted by his story.

"I love biog because I think life plans, and life histories, and life stories are much more interesting than something that's a construct," he said.

Story telling

"The main thing that was really interesting was that a person who was really active goes to somebody who's just totally rigid in a bed.

"And you're not talking about bed-ridden, you are taking about somebody who is totally rigid and has to use a mirror to actually talk to people because they can't move their body at all, their body is totally fused.

"The only escape he gets is through his imagination and through looking out the window."

Soutar suffered from a condition called ankylosing spondylitis. However, it was tuberculosis which killed him in 1943, at the age of 45.

As Soutar was confined to his bed from 1930, the play's writer Ajay Close, the actors and the director had to think of imaginative ways to tell his story.

There are four Williams in the play - William as a child, a student, in bed, and also a character who represents William's imagination.

There is also a character of Pain, who taunts and interrogates William, demanding to know why he does not get up and do things.

Mr Doherty said that, as well as telling Soutar's story, they wanted to share his poetry.

He said: "We have voice-overs, we have people speaking his poetry, we have little vignettes where he talks about Perth life and they come across as quite funny because he's quite a witty poet.

"He didn't just lie down and die, he was quite humorous."

The Keekin-gless runs at Perth Theatre until Saturday.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Perth Theatre
William Soutar
Writing Scotland - William Soutar
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