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.

by Emily Selke

At the beginning of this past weekend, Fringe University hosted a meet and greet for university students to mingle and network with one another. It was held in Summerhall in the early afternoon, most certainly conducive to the young adults' sleeping schedules.  The room was bustling and full of goodies, ranging from coffee and tea to cookies and donuts. Fringe U. business cards and flyers for the big Fringe University project of the summer, the Traverse Through Time lecture series, were scatted on the counters amongst the sweets and treats. Several people wandered in during the hour and a half we were there. Some were students and others were there to present work at Summerhall. Regardless of their origin, we were happy to meet with and speak to them about their projects and goals.

One woman who seemed to just happen upon us, Maria, spoke with many of us about her project called Long Distance Affair. The effort is a cooperation between directors, producers, and actors worldwide who have never met before. The exhibit is interactive, as visitors walk around a room to various computer screens where different plays are acted out by one person from and in a different country. Over 30 artists from five continents are participants, and it is on at Summerhall through the 25th with five performances daily. Two girls came in about a half hour into our event with huge bags, grasping everyone's attention. After settling in, they spoke with me and told me they had just arrived in town. They saw the event in the Fringe book and wanted to check it out! It turns out the two are from a town just outside of Glasgow. The one I was mainly talking to, Kim, had recently completed a program with one of Edinburgh's theater companies. She has had and is also planning some awesome adventures for being just 16 years old, and speaking with her was truly fascinating.

Though there weren't a large number of people, the event seemed successful. People were able to come in and share their experiences and knowledge with others. The cool part was that even people who had no idea what Fringe University is found the event attractive enough to come, creating a very thrilling environment.

by Julie Mercik

After the intense TTT session #2 with Steven Berkof, academic and Scottish theater authority, Ian Brown, seemed to be the perfect speaker for TTT session #3. Ian is a playwright, poet and Professor in Drama and Dance at Kingston University, London. Formerly Arts Council of Great Britain Drama Director (1986-94), he was, until 2002, Professor of Drama and Dean of Arts at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. He is President of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies and Chair (until June 2013) of the Scottish Society of Playwrights of which he was founder Chairman (1973-75). Ian’s tall, yet gentle, frame took a relaxed stance behind the podium that was set center stage.  He surprised me by not bringing any written notes, but supplied a steady stream of history on the Traverse Theater from its creation up until the 1970’s.  Ian provided an objective view on the Traverse and was not afraid to point out that the work it produced wasn’t always “on the cutting edge”, but rather, it was the seemingly impossible space it resided in that made it a completely unique theater.  There was time for a few questions at the end, to which Ian took great consideration and care in answering.  Although he did not shy away from offering his opinions, Ian made it clear that there is no, one, definitive answer when it comes to theater. 

by MC Sokolowski

For our second installment of the Traverse Through Time lecture series, we hosted English actor, playwright, director and author Steven Berkoff. His lecture began the early days of his career and how that interacted with the Traverse Theatre. He found his unique voice for theatre by observing a defunct British theatre scene. Audiences like watching shows that were reflections of themselves; Berkoff described them as “sterile”. At the time, theatre was returning to stories that were easy to watch.

            The level of acting that dwelled within the Traverse impressed Berkoff. In 1975, he debuted his first original stage play, East, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Berkoff described the play as “very rude” and “scatological”. He combated the offensive dialogue by writing the play in verse to give it a more beautiful feeling.

            One of the founders of the Traverse, Richard DeMarco, gave a copy of East to Scotland’s most notorious convict Jimmy Boyle. Berkoff stated that there is dynamic in the criminal mind and their actions are acts of frustrated creativity. This idea tied into the show we saw the Traverse Theatre, The Events. David Greig’s play centers around a mass shooting and a survivor’s search for answers. Claire attempts to get inside the mind of the killer to gain peace of mind but discovers that is near impossible when you are inside the head of a psychotic person.

            As an American audience member, I think I had a different perspective in light of the recent attacks of gun violence. I think the story was not as shocking to me than others because of desensitization in the American media. I do not want to make this a post about my political views but rather an invitation to think about how our current history is tied to the past and how theatre is used to tell these stories.   

by Amy Gijsberg van Wijk 

The first Traverse Through Time talk featured Peter Licthenfels and Gordon McDougall, moderated by Noel Witts. It focused largely on the difference between the incarnations of the Traverse Theatre. As someone who wasn’t super familiar with the Traverse company, but was highly interested in learning about the company, I enjoyed the talk immensely.

McDougall was involved with the Traverse from 1966-1968 as the artistic director, when it was on Lawnmarket Street, its original incarnation. He also worked with Max Stafford-Clark, a very famous and respected director, before Stafford-Clark took over.

Describing the Traverse, McDougall said that, “The Traverse was up a long flight of stone steps at James Court, and the staircase was quite slippery.” The room was 12’ x 50’ x 12’.

One of his first productions with the Traverse was in 1963 when they did Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry, which I was excited to hear about because I sincerely enjoy Ubu Roi.

The highlight of McDougall’s thoughts on the Traverse Theatre, for me, was when he said that the original space – due to its construction and small size – had this, “friction between impossibility of doing a show in that theatre and the fact that you were actually doing theatre there.”

Licthenfels spoke about being involved with the Traverse from the fall of 1975 to the fall of 1985.

“I was unusual,” Lichtenfels said about being the artistic director of Traverse. “I was training director, associate director, assistant director, then I came back and was artistic director.”

Licthenfels qualified himself as much more interested in international theatre than pervious artistic directors. Chris Parr, the previous artistic director, focused on new Scottish work. Peter tried to bring in international works, largely by going to the sites of the work and courting the talent.

“The time was when Margaret Thatcher was in power,” Licthenfels said of his new ambitions for Traverse Theatre when he was the artistic director. “Thatcher was getting at labor councils, money was being taken from the arts. So my take on that was I wanted to do new plays. I wanted writers to do plays that were wider in a Euro-American sense.”

The talk was really interesting, not to mention inspiring! As someone who dreams of the future incarnations of good, ambitious, experimental theatre, I think the Traverse Through Time talks are going to be some of the best places for information and contagious passion.