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 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.