Coffee-Table Notes

John Durnin – Theatre director Born January 7, 1960; died February 16, 2020 John Durnin, who has died aged 60, was a theatre director of quality and distinction, who helped reinvigorate Pitlochry Festival Theatre, the Perthshire ‘theatre in the hills’ where he was artistic director for fifteen years. During that period, Durnin helped boost the theatre’s reputation using a creative sleight of hand that utilised a commercial savvy to usher in more quietly radical work. This was evident in his programming for PFT’s 2017 season, which saw the likes of High Society and Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy, Absurd Person Singular, programmed alongside Peter Barnes’ neglected contemporary classic, The Ruling Class, and a revival of David Greig’s play, Europe. Bringing his experience of running the Northcott Theatre, Exeter and the Surrey-based Gatton Community Theatre to Pitlochry, Durnin expanded the range and length of PFT’s programme. One of his big moves was to open each season with

Mart Crowley – Playwright, screen-writer, producer Born August 21, 1935; died March 7, 2020 Mart Crowley, who has died aged 84, was a taboo-busting playwright, whose best-known work, The Boys in the Band, broke the mould of how gay life was depicted onstage. Taking its title from a line James Mason says to Judy Garland in A Star is Born, Crowley’s depiction of gay characters at a party to celebrate the birthday of one of them was a serious, grown-up dissection of inter-personal relationships that chimed with the rise of gay rights. Originally scheduled for a five-night off-Broadway run in 1968, it ended up playing for more than 1,000 performances, and and was said by some to have helped inspire the 1969 Stonewall riots. A film version directed by William Friedkin was released in 1970. Edward Martino Crowley was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi to what he described as an alcoholic father and a drug-dependent hypochondriac mother. He studied drama at Catholic University in W

Tom Watkins – Pop manager, designer, art collector Born September 21, 1949; died February 24, 2020   Tom Watkins, who has died aged 70, was a pop music manager who moulded himself as a larger than life impresario with a personality as big as the acts he steered to glory. He had a hat-trick of successes with Pet Shop Boys, Bros and East 17, with his attitude summed up by the sentiments of When Will I Be Famous?, the song he co-wrote with producer Nicky Graham for Bros, whose stadium-sized pop briefly caused a global frenzy.   Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys once called Watkins ‘a big man with a loud voice,’ a sentiment seemingly confirmed by the original title of Watkins’ autobiography. Let’s Make Lots of Money: Secrets of a Rich, Fat, Gay, Lucky Bastard, was published in 2016, though the paperback edition had the more temperate if double-edged sub-title, My Life as the Biggest Man in Pop. As Watkins declared in an episode of Channel 4 series Mr Rock and Roll, about what