Cordelia Ditton (b. 1953) is an actor, director, playwright, voice coach, and the founder of Glasgay!, Glasgow's LGBTQ+ arts festival.
Cordelia moved from London to live in Glasgow in 1990.[1]
She was well known in London as a performer, writer, and co-director of Gay Sweatshop. She felt that despite the activism in the city the gay and lesbian community in Glasgow in the early 1990s was much less visible than in London.[2]
Theatre
Cordelia is considered a key figure in the development of feminist theatre in Britain. She directed the feminist collective Beryl and the Perils.[3] Collaborating with playwright Maggie Ford, the duo thought that in the absence of women in the theatre, the solution was to "set up your own conventions, and break them all over the place."[3] Cordelia was an artistic director c.1990, along with David Benedict and Bryony Lavery, of the theatre company Gay Sweatshop.[4] She directed Kevin McKidd as Macbeth in a production when he was studying drama at Queen Margaret University.[5]
Glasgay!
Cordelia struck upon the idea of a lesbian and gay arts festival as a means to render the lesbian and gay communities of Glasgow more visible. At the end of 1991, she joined forces with Glasgow-based freelance arts administrator Dominic D’Angelo to produce Glasgay!, which launched 30 October, 1993. She stepped down in 1996.[1]
Selected Works
Playwriting
- The Day the Sheep Turned Pink by Cordelia Ditton and Maggie Ford (1986)
- a response to the crisis of the nuclear age[3]
- About Face by Cordelia Ditton and Maggie Ford (1985)
Directing
- Cuddles, devised with actor-writer Jack Klaff. Won a Fringe First award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (1982)
- Lusty Albert's Timely Passion by Eileen Pollock, at Halfmoon Theatre and on national tour (1983)[7]
Acting
- Ensemble Cast in Wyres Cross by Peta Masters and Geraldine Griffiths at the Late nights Drill Hall with repeats and Omnibus at the Kings Head (1982)[8]
- Rachel in Season's Greetings by Alan Ayckbourn at the Library Theatre, Manchester[7]
- Suffolk Police Horse (and all other characters) in About Face by Cordelia Ditton and Maggie Ford (1985)
- More for Gay Sweatshop (1986)[9]
- Berte in Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen at the Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow (1991)
See also
References
- ^ a b "Two decades of Glasgay! How the legendary festival helped shape LGBT Scotland". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
- ^ Heddon, Deirdre (2007). 'A visitor's guide to Glasgay' in 'Alternatives Within the Mainstream II: Queer Theatres in Post-War Britain', Godiwala, D (ed). Cambridge Scholars Press. pp. 339–361. ISBN 9781847183064.
- ^ a b c d Goodman, Lizbeth (2003). Contemporary Feminist Theatres: To Each Her Own. Taylor & Francis. pp. 104–105. ISBN 9781134906963.
- ^ Aston, Elaine (2003). Feminist Views on the English Stage Women Playwrights, 1990–2000. Cambridge University Press. p. 100. ISBN 9781139441537.
- ^ "THEATRE". Kevin McKidd Online. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
- ^ Peacock, Keith D. (1999). Thatcher's Theatre British Theatre and Drama in the Eighties. Greenwood Press. p. 152. ISBN 9780313299018.
- ^ a b Wandor, Michelene (1982). Plays By Women About Face. Methuen. p. 38.
- ^ "Masters and Griffiths – Unfinished Histories". Retrieved 2022-05-20.
- ^ "More Gay Sweatshop reviews – Unfinished Histories". Retrieved 2022-05-20.