Gerda Stevenson
Gerda Stevenson at the Féile na Gréine festival, Waterville, County Kerry | |
Born |
1 January 1959 Peeblesshire, Scotland |
Gerda Stevenson (born 10th April 1956 in Peeblesshire, Scotland) is an award-winning Scottish actress, director and writer, described by The Scotsman in 1999 as "Scotland's finest actress". She has played many parts in the theatre, including the title role in Edwin Morgan's Phaedra and Lady Macbeth, and has appeared in many television dramas. She was Murren's mother in the Mel Gibson film Braveheart, and her voice is familiar to listeners of British radio, as a reader of short stories and adaptations. In particular, she has performed several poems and songs by Robert Burns for the BBC.[1]
Her play Federer Versus Murray toured to New York in 2012, and her poetry collection If This Were Real was published by Smokestack Books in 2013. She has adapted a number of works for radio: Self-Control by Mary Brunton in which Stevenson played the part of Laura Montreville; For the Love of Willie by Agnes Owens in which Stevenson played the part of Liza; The Heart of Midlothian by Sir Walter Scott for BBC Radio 4, nominated for a Sony Award in 2008, in which Stevenson played the part of the heroine Jeanie Deans;[2] and Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.[3] She has written radio plays including: Island Blue,[4] Secrets: The Punter's Tale,[5] Secrets: The Escort's Tale[6] and The Apple Tree.[7] She directed the Afternoon Play The Price of a Fish Supper.[8]
Stevenson's partner is the Scottish Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail.
Her father is the musician and composer Ronald Stevenson.[9][10] Her sister Savourna Stevenson (born 1961) has recorded works on the Scottish harp, the clàrsach.
Radio
Date | Title | Role | Director | Station |
---|---|---|---|---|
12 September 1982 – 10 October 1982 | The Bride of Lammermoor | BBC Radio 4 | ||
16 May 1985 | Watching Waiters | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play | ||
13 March 1990 | Fair Kirsten | Marilyn Imrie | BBC Radio 3 | |
1 June 1990 | The Interview | Reader | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Morning Story |
11 June 1990 | Blood and Ice | Marilyn Imrie | BBC Radio 4 The Monday Play | |
27 October 1990 | Witchwood | BBC Radio 4 Saturday Playhouse | ||
7 February 1995 | The Upshot | BBC Radio 4 Thirty Minute Theatre | ||
14 December 1997 | The Secret Commonwealth | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 | |
22 January 1998 | Tam o'Shanter | Hamish Wilson | BBC Radio 4 | |
21 March 1998 (Recorded on 22 February 1998) | Camelot[11] | Nimue | BBC Radio 2 | |
6 December 1999 – 13 December 1999 | The Last Days of Mankind | Giles Havergal | BBC Radio 3 Sunday Play | |
5 February 2001 – 16 February 2001 | Telling Liddy | Bridie | Pam Wardell | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama |
11 February 2001 | Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off | Mary, Queen of Scots / Marian | Marilyn Imrie | BBC Radio 4 |
11 March 2001 | Every Bit of It | Georgia | Susan Roberts | BBC Radio 4 |
19 February 2002 | A Hundred Miles[12] | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play | |
25 August 2002 – 1 September 2002 | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie[13] | Jean Brodie | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Classic Serial |
25 January 2003 – 1 February 2003 | Inspector Rebus: The Falls[14] | Jean Burchill | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 The Saturday Play |
31 March 2003 – 11 April 2003 | Self-Control | Laura Montreville | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama |
6 May 2003 | The Whole Story and Other Stories: Gothic by Ali Smith | Reader | David Jackson Young | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Reading |
5 April 2004 – 9 April 2004 | For the Love of Willie | Liza | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama |
10 January 2005 – 21 January 2005 | The Gowk Storm | Innkeeper's Wife | David Ian Neville | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama |
31 March 2005 | Wooden Heart | Uta | Mary Ward Lowery | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
16 May 2005 | A Breath from Other Planets | Mathilde | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
25 February 2006 | Christabel's Anarchist | Christabel | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play |
7 August 2006 – 2 October 2006 | Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery[15] | Steve | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 |
30 August 2006 | The Madeleine Effect: Mangoes by Joanna Blythman | Reader | Kirsty Williams | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Reading |
9 September 2007 – 16 September 2007 | The Heart of Midlothian[2] | Jeanie Deans | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Classic Serial |
23 March 2008 | The Muse of Rose Street[16] | Reader | Monise Durrani | BBC Radio 4 |
16 May 2008 – 4 July 2008 | Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery[17] | Steve | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 |
4 December 2009 | Distributing Dave[18] | BBC Radio Scotland Drama | ||
22 December 2009 | The Three Knots[19] | Old Woman | Kirsty Williams | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
11 June 2010 – 30 July 2010 | Paul Temple and Steve[20] | Steve | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 |
23 September 2010 | The Second Mr Bailey[21] | Margaret | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
25 January 2011 | The Culture Café: Completely Burns[22] | Reader | Esme Kennedy | BBC Radio Scotland |
14 February 2011 | The Book Café[23] | Reader | BBC Radio Scotland | |
28 February 2011 | Secrets: The Punter's Tale[5] | Cara | Bruce Young | BBC Radio Scotland Drama |
8 May 2011 | Hume, the Philosophical Historian[24] | Reader | Louise Yeoman | BBC Radio 3 Sunday Feature |
24 August 2011 – 12 October 2011 | A Case for Paul Temple[25] | Steve | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 |
12 October 2011 | I Confess: The Power of the Confession[26] | Isobel Gowdie | Liza Greig | BBC Radio 3 The Essay |
References
- ↑ BBC – Robert Burns – Works read by Gerda Stevenson
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 BBC – Classic Serial – The Heart of Midlothian
- ↑ BBC – Classic Serial – Sunset Song
- ↑ BBC – Woman's Hour Drama – Island Blue
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 BBC – BBC Radio Scotland – Secrets: The Punter's Tale
- ↑ BBC – BBC Radio Scotland – Secrets: The Escort's Tale
- ↑ BBC – Afternoon Play – The Apple Tree
- ↑ BBC – Afternoon Play – The Price of a Fish Supper
- ↑ Gasser, M., "Ronald Stevenson, Composer-Pianist : An Exegetical Critique from a Pianistic Perspective" (Edith Cowan University Press, Western Australia, 2013)
- ↑ Peebleshire News, 2009/07/31 Braveheart actress composes song for local school
- ↑ CastAlbums » Camelot » BBC Radio 2 Cast
- ↑ Scottish Theatre Archive – A Hundred Miles
- ↑ Radio – Scattered dreams – The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Sue Arnold, The Observer, 1 September 2002
- ↑ BBC – The Saturday Play – Inspector Rebus: The Falls
- ↑ BBC – Paul Temple – Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery
- ↑ BBC – The Muse of Rose Street
- ↑ BBC – Paul Temple – Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery
- ↑ BBC – BBC Radio Scotland – Distributing Dave
- ↑ BBC – Afternoon Play – The Three Knots
- ↑ BBC – Paul Temple – Paul Temple and Steve
- ↑ BBC – Afternoon Play – The Second Mr Bailey
- ↑ BBC – BBC Radio Scotland – The Culture Café: Completely Burns
- ↑ BBC – BBC Radio Scotland – The Book Café
- ↑ BBC – Sunday Feature – Hume, the Philosophical Historian
- ↑ BBC – Paul Temple – A Case for Paul Temple
- ↑ BBC – The Essay – I Confess: The Power of the Confession
External links
- Gerda Stevenson at the Internet Movie Database
- Gerda Stevenson's website
- Gerda Stevenson Radio appearances
- Gerda Stevenson – her agent's profile