An opening reception to mark the opening of the Golden City 50th anniversary exhibition was held on the 1st of August 2024; due to changes in the dates of the Edinburgh Festival slightly before the calendar anniversary.
At a distance of 50 years many folk were unable to be in Edinburgh for reasons of health, personal circumstances and (even now) professional commitments. Consequently, the organisers solicited "telegrams" from the diaspora : both Golden City veterans and their as it were students, who heard all about what they missed. An edited selection, generally in alphabetical order, follows:
We start with one unexpected telegram from Colin McNab, who intended to be at the reception, it echoes the telegram he sent from Oman in 1976 when he couldn’t make it to the Wallace opening. He was working for the Sultan’s TV station, drinking beer with “SAS” chaps and “Incoming” did not mean the morning mail drop …
Detained in Western by medical consultants - Stop
Regret unable to assist with stores consumption - Stop
Expect old STG hands to play their part, move the controls up 6 dB and party - Stop
Best Colin - Ends
We have reciprocated with
Wishing you a speedy recovery and full return to good health - Stop
Best STG - Ends
“A warm hand on your opening”, with love and good wishes.
My considerable thanks and congratulations for all your hard work creating the Golden City exhibition. I hope meeting up with all those who took part in the event 50 years ago will be happy and joyful. All my best wishes to everyone!
Ring out, ye bells of the Golden City
“The Golden City” was the start of my grown-up life. Hugo was such a generous, inspiring teacher. STG felt intoxicating, dangerous and incredibly ambitious – full of glamorous, talented, creative people. Yes … all of you!
Have a great night!
“Congratulations for arranging this anniversary celebration. Strathclyde Theatre Group did so much for so many people in Glasgow over the decades, and started so many theatrical careers (including mine). I can’t overstate my debt of gratitude. Thank you all!” – Chris Ballance, writer of “Water of Life”, STG’s 3rd Edinburgh Fringe First winner.
Good luck with the Golden City celebration – only sorry I didn’t join STG for another four years!
I came to STG two years after the Golden City, at Wallace time - was always aware what a powerful experience GC had been for those involved, and what strong bonds were created by it.
Wishing you all the best for Thursday’s opening
50 years since one of the best experiences of our lives. Never forgotten. Unfortunately we can’t be with you to hug and reminisce but sending love to all and best wishes for the exhibition.
Congratulations on the 50th anniversary of the ground breaking show that gilded the fortunes of STG and its alumni. Hugo Gifford and his acolytes’ visionary creation, created a fertile landscape that allowed so many, including myself, to flourish. Many thanks to you all, with love and gratitude.
Kris was active in STG from Everyman through to the Golden City when he was general manager. Subsequently, Kris worked in theatre touring with 7:84 Scotland and internationally with Peter Maxwell Davies’s Fires of London, Pupi e Fresedde and then The Lindsay Kemp Company. Having met Steve at the Golden City they moved to France to renovate an old mill as a guest house. Now they are happily retired in a fruitful garden with a panorama of the Pyrenees.
We met at the Golden City and have been together these 50 years since. We are now married, living in France, but holding happy memories of the great adventure that brought us together.
Mike Tedder left Glasgow in 1975 to pursue a teaching career in further and adult education that took him to Cornwall where he has lived ever since. Subsequent theatrical work has been sporadic but included sound effects for a local amateur company and GC-inspired quadrophonic sound for a college production of “Oh! What a Lovely War.” His work with synthesizers continued for around 20 years and in the 1980s he provided synth-based dance tracks for his sister’s three-woman vocal group, based in Bedford, called Zenana. [See Instagram and Bandcamp.] In 2006 he completed a PhD researching narrative in adult learning.
The Golden City has had lifelong significance for me – the only times I ever played in a live band in public, working in a show with some amazing and creative people and experiencing the awesome power of theatre! Thanks Hugo and everyone.
With “The Golden City,” Hugo Gifford and his team, in a triumph of imagination and commitment, created a hit. A hit that not only enthralled audiences, but gave meaningful exposure and much needed support to a new wave of Scottish talent. In this he opened the doors for many, myself included. I’m eternally grateful to Hugo, for his talent and patience, and his Golden City that inspired us all.
Happy birthday!
Hugo Gifford was an inspiring and empathetic leader… and our work on The Golden City introduced me to the use of improvisation in creating characters and storylines. That gave me the confidence to make my first film, TIMEPIECE, with a cast drawn from the band of brothers and sisters at STG - Bertie and Christine Scott, Sandy Rose and Romilly Squire. The film gave me a place at the National Film School in London and was the beginning of my career in Film and TV.
I owe so much to that formative experience with Strathclyde Theatre Group.