Alexander Reid (1914–1982) was a Scottish journalist, playwright and poet,The Edinburgh Festivals: Culture and Society in Postwar Britain – Angela Bartie – 2013 p. 80 "In 1957 one prominent playwright and commentator on theatre, Alexander Reid, had charged that the Festival had got 'bogged down' and was in danger of collapsing once its novelty wore off, unless the organisers found a continuing purpose." "one of the neglected dramatists of the Scottish Renaissance". His two best-known plays are The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou (1950), based on the legend of Thomas the Rhymer and The Warld's Wonder (1953), about Michael Scot, the famous magician.Reid, Alexander (1958), Two Scots Plays, Collins
Life Alexander Reid was born on 19 August 1914 in Edinburgh, and educated at George Heriot's School. From 1929 to 1936 he worked as a journalist for the Edinburgh Evening News, before writing on Scottish history and literature for the SMT Magazine. In 1938, he contributed an article on the General Post Office Pavilion at the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow to the Scottish Field.Peter, Bruce (2025), Art Deco Scotland: Design and Architecture in the Jazz Age, Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh, p. 152, A conscientious objector during World War II, he worked as a bookseller and accountant before becoming a full-time writer and broadcaster in 1948.
His first play, World Without End (1946), was a contemporary piece about nuclear holocaust, but he is now best remembered for his period plays in Scots.Smith, Donald, "The Mid-Century Dramatists", in Brown, Ian (ed.) The Edinburgh Companion to Scottish Drama, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 122 & 123, The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou was first performed at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre in November 1950. It was adapted as a television drama, first broadcast by the BBC on Tuesday 6 October 1953,The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou, Scotland On-Air and was staged again by Edinburgh's Gateway Theatre Company during its 1954–55 season. The Warld's Wonder was produced at the Gateway in the autumn of 1958.Edinburgh Gateway Company (1965), The Twelve Seasons of the Edinburgh Gateway Company, 1953 - 1965, St. Giles Press, Edinburgh, pp. 43 - 56
Reid's short stories include The KittenReid, Alexander, "The Kitten", in Millar, Robert & Low, J.T. (eds.) (1973), Ten Modern Scottish Stories, Heinemann Educational Books, Edinburgh, pp. 3 - 5, and A Warm Golden Brown.Reid, Alexander, "A Warm Golden Brown", in Millar, Robert & Low, J.T. (eds.) (1976), Further Modern Scottish Stories, Heinemann Educational Publishing, Edinburgh, pp. 11 - 15,
Reid edited the Saltire Society's quarterly Saltire Review from 1954 until 1960.Reid, Alexander (ed.), Saltire Review 1, The Saltire Society, Edinburgh, April 1954 He died in Edinburgh on 1 July 1982.
Published works Steps to a Viewpoint, 1947 Zoo-illogical Rhymes, 1947 The Milky Way, 1956 Kirk and Drama, 1957 Two Scots Plays (The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou and The Warld's Wonder), 1958 The Young Traveller in France, 1963
Other plays World Without End, 1946 The Wax Doll, 1956 Voyage Ashore, 1956
References