Rory Aforesaid and other One-Act Plays: Glenforsa, The Change-House, Rory Aforesaid, The Happy War, The Spanish Galleon, and Man of Uz

John Brandane (the pen name for Dr John MacIntyre) was arguably Scotland’s best known resident dramatist in the 1920s before the emergence of that other great doctor/dramatist James Bridie (O.H. Mavor).

When he returned to live in Glasgow he was to become deeply involved in the city’s theatrical life. He renewed his acquaintance with A. W. Yuill and together they pushed the cause for a native Scottish drama and began writing for the Scottish National Players. His first one act play (with Yuill), Glenforsa (1921), portrays a spirited and drunken quarrel between two friends, Glenforsa and Oskamull, the gambling away of Glenforsa’s Mull properties and the romantic entanglement of the two men with two sisters. This was followed by another one act play The Change House. In 1922, when he was 53 years old, he became a founder member of the Scottish National Players and in effect their in-house dramatist since almost all of his plays were performed by them.

In 1926 Tyrone Guthrie directed Brandane’s one act comedy masterpiece Rory Aforesaid with its wily elderly protagonist. This was followed by the grim and ironic one act The Happy War (1928) set in war-torn France, then the historical one act The Spanish Galleon (1932) (again co-authored with Yuill) which deals with the sinking of the galleon in Tobermory Bay. His final play, The Man of Uz (1938), is a verse drama of the suffering of Job.