Alan Wilkins (1969 – 7 September 2022) was a Scottish playwright. His first professionally produced play was ''Ball or Scoop'', which opened at the

Benaki Museum The Benaki Museum, established and endowed in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, is housed in the Benakis family mansion in Athens, Greece. The museum houses Greek works of art from the prehistorical to the modern ...

in April 2004 and then toured the Highlands and islands of Scotland. The play was set in a Highland bothy and featured five hill walkers sheltering from a storm. He received the

Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland The Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) are an annual event awarding performances "substantially produced in Scotland, or developed, rehearsed and premiered in Scotland". Awards ceremony The ceremony is itinerant in terms of location, sw ...

Best New Play Award in 2008 for ''Carthage Must Be Destroyed'', and has since had two other plays produced.

Life and career

Wilkins was born in 1969, and brought up in Edinburgh. Before his professional debut as a playwright, he worked as an actor and taught English as a Foreign Language in Poland and Spain. Whilst in Spain, he wrote his first play, ''Childish Things''. He sent it to the Traverse and it received a public reading. Encouraged, he wrote his second play, ''Cafeteria/Restaurant'', which received a reading at the

Tron Theatre The Tron Theatre is located in Glasgow, Scotland. The theatre was formerly known as the Tron Kirk. It began as the Collegiate Church of Our Lady and St. Anne. The Tron Theatre building is home to the Tron Theatre Company and serves as a prod ...

in Glasgow. The Traverse commissioned him to write ''The Nest'', which became his first produced play. At the time of his debut, Wilkins was working as a drama teacher at Inverkeithing High School, Edinburgh. His next play ''Carthage Must Be Destroyed'', set in a 2nd-century Roman bathhouse, opened at the Traverse in May 2007 and explored the themes of "power, politics, and decadence, set against the improbable background of the Third Punic War, in 149BC." and won the

(CATS) Best New Play award for 2007–2008. The citation said "'A mature, meaty, engrossing drama about power, politics and decadence, Alan Wilkins ''Carthage Must Be Destroyed'' was a gripping indictment of the corruptions of Empire." It was also produced by the Theatre Royal in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. In 2008, Wilkins scripted ''Can We Live With You?'' for Lung Ha's theatre company, which works with people with learning disabilities. The play was performed at the Traverse in April 2008. ''Offshore'', produced by Birds of Paradise, was a play set against the background of the decline of the Scottish fishing industry and its effect on small communities. Wilkins used his own background, working as a barman in

Wester Ross Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to th ...

, as background material. It played in Edinburgh and on tour in the autumn of 2008. Wilkins also taught on the Masters of Literature programme at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and is a doctoral student at that institution. In 2008, he led a play-writing course for inmates at Polmont young offenders' institution, the results of which were performed at the Traverse in December 2008. Wilkins also worked with

Dundee Repertory Theatre Dundee Repertory Theatre, better known simply as the Dundee Rep, is a theatre and arts company in Dundee, Scotland. It operates as both a producing house with some shows co-produced by other theatres and a receiving house – hosting work from ...

, the

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and was funded by the

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...

to represent his country as a tutor / playwright at the 2006 Interplay Festival in Liechtenstein. Wilkins died on 7 September 2022, at the age of 52.

Works

Wilkins had four plays produced.

References

Dramatist Alan Wilkins dies aged 52
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, Alan 1969 births 2022 deaths Scottish dramatists and playwrights British male dramatists and playwrights