by Katelin Del Rosario

At the European Parliament Office, Richard Demarco received the European Citizens’ Medal, making history as the first Scotsman ever to receive the award. A group of us were asked by Demarco himself to catch this memorable life event on camera. At 10AM Ali, Xela, Andrew, and I set off for the Parliament office.

           On our way into the Parliament Building, we ran into Dave from Summerhall TV, John Martin, one of the Traverse Theatre’s founders, and multiple people Richard had invited to witness the event. After a few moments of confusion, we figured out the entrance for the European Parliament and were led to the space where Demarco would receive the award by a security guard.

            Earlier in the month, on our first day out in Edinburgh, Ali and I had expressed interest in visiting the Parliament building, so we were fascinated at the opportunity to get our visit. The room was small. With only a three rows of chairs, the event was intimate and seemed to be reserved for Demarco’s friends and family. The formal ceremony would take place in October. Indeed, everyone who was in attendance greeted Demarco with a hug or kiss on the cheek before they took their seats.

            Dave started setting up his camera and equipment in the back and asked for assistance. Since Ali had been given the task of taking pictures, I volunteered to help him. My mission: hold the fuzzy microphone as close to the podium as possible during the ceremony. A small task it seemed, but five minutes into the ceremony, the microphone grew heavy. It did not deter me from listening to the introduction by Struan Stevenson, a Scottish MEP (Member of European Parliament). Stevenson was the man who nominated Demarco for the medal. He gave a small introduction of Demarco before inviting him to the podium to receive his award.

            Demarco smiled and waved his medal around excitedly. “I’ve waited 83 years for this…the great culture that binds us together as Europeans is also the culture of the world. There is no Polish art, or Scottish art, or English art, or Italian art. There is only art." He stated grandly. His speech lasted twenty minutes, and more than once, he asserted his distaste for stand-up comedy at the Fringe. At the end of his speech, he received a standing ovation from the room. As soon as the ceremony concluded, Demarco’s friends and family shook his hand enthusiastically. His face was filled with gratitude, and for the rest of my time there, he smiled from cheek to cheek. I felt honored to witness the occasion.

by Amy Gijsbers Van Wijk

Yesterday’s talk ended with the fact that one of the main reasons for founding the Traverse was the freedom it allowed the “club” in Edinburgh.

Jim Haynes said this great thing yesterday about how the Traverse began because of three love affairs: Jim Haynes fell in love with a student, and then actress, Jane Quigley (later, on Broadway, Jane Alexander), Tom Mitchell being in love with a woman named Tamara, and Richard DeMarco and Jim’s love of art and desire to make art.

DeMarco said, “The idea of the Traverse was a club, where one could drink, not controlled by the Presbyterians. It was a time when things had to happen.”

Sean said, “One of the great attractions of it was there was no censorship.”

The story of getting the actual Traverse space was that Jim Haynes was demobbed in Edinburgh, and then sold his Volkswagen. He went to a junk shop with 300 pounds, and offered to buy the space from the woman that owned it. She sold it to him, and he turned this space into the bookshop that then became the foundation for the Traverse.

The Traverse Theatre was a membership-based club at first, and everyone was trying to sell membership. DeMarco, while teaching, sold memberships for 3,20 pounds (or 3,60 – it was a bit disupted) to seven hundred university students in order to make sure they had enough membership. Then, of course, the students came to the Traverse and were totally thrilled by what they were seeing.

Hearing about the beginnings of the Traverse was absolutely fascinating and inspiring – though the climate is different now, on almost every level, it shows that a passionate group truly dedicated to art can really change the artistic culture around them and create a lasting project and endeavor.

by Amy Gijsbers Van Wijk

Today was the largest panel of the Traverse Through Time series, which featured Catherine Robbins, the moderator; Richard DeMarco, who needs no explanation; John Caulder, who was one of the biggest international literature supporters in Edinburgh when the Traverse began; Jim Haynes, who also needs no explanation; Sean Hignott; and John Martin, who did the design that now marks Traverse’s logo Sheila Caldon was also in the talk, who worked in various roles at the Traverse.

The main question, to quote one of the speakers, was about the origin of the Traverse, and the past of this wonderful city of “Edinburgh in the dark days, before the light of the Traverse.”

Jim Haynes spoke about the time when he first came to Edinburgh, in 1947, after his duty in the military. While in the military in Edinburgh, he was studying at the University of Edinburgh as well. He also recounted – often times with Richard DeMarco, fondly referred to as “Ricky,” – how he met most of the people who became part of the Traverse.

It started when Haynes bought a bookstore, which he then held theatre performances in, and then that developed into a desire to start a larger theatre performance space and become a legitimate club – so that they could banish the “Edinburgh in the dark days” and be able to do things like have a restaurant and drink on Sundays, as well as perform the theatre and performances they really wished to see or participate in.

Hearing the panel speak, but Jim Haynes in particular, was captivating because the passion and desire to really create an artistic space in Edinburgh was fully evident in their memories.