Birth Place: | Peeblesshire, Scotland |
Nationality: | Scottish |
Occupation: | actress, director, writer |
Gerda Stevenson (born in Peeblesshire, Scotland) is a Scottish actress, director and writer. She has played many parts in the theatre, including the title role in Edwin Morgan's English translation of Racine's Phèdre, and Lady Macbeth, and has appeared in many television dramas. She was Murron MacClannough'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]
She was, described by The Scotsman in 1999 as "Scotland's finest actress".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. In 2019, her poems illustrated the paintings of her one time neighbour, Scottish painter Christian Small, in the book Inside & Out - The Art of Christian Small, published by Scotland Street Press.[2]
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; and Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.[3] She has written radio plays including: Island Blue,[4] Secrets: The Punter's Tale, Secrets: The Escort's Tale[5] and The Apple Tree.[6] She directed the Afternoon Play The Price of a Fish Supper.[7]
Stevenson's partner was the late Scottish Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail.
Her father was the musician and composer Ronald Stevenson.[8] [9] Her sister Savourna Stevenson (born 1961) has recorded works on the Scottish harp, the clàrsach. She is a graduate of RADA.
1982 | Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaites | Hameliness | play by Sir David Lyndsey, adapted by Robert Kemp | |||
1985 | Life of Galileo | Virginia | Scottish Theatre Company | |||
2010 | The Government Inspector | The Governor's Wife | Commudicado | Gerry Mulgrew | play by Nikolai Gogol |
Date | Title | Role | Director | Station | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | The Bride of Lammermoor | BBC Radio 4 | |||
Watching Waiters | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play | ||||
Fair Kirsten | BBC Radio 3 | ||||
The Interview | Reader | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Morning Story | ||
Blood and Ice | BBC Radio 4 The Monday Play | ||||
Witchwood | BBC Radio 4 Saturday Playhouse | ||||
The Upshot | BBC Radio 4 Thirty Minute Theatre | ||||
The Secret Commonwealth | BBC Radio 4 | ||||
Tam o'Shanter | BBC Radio 4 | ||||
(Recorded on 22 February 1998) | Camelot[10] | Nimue | BBC Radio 2 | ||
– | The Last Days of Mankind | BBC Radio 3 Sunday Play | |||
– | Telling Liddy | Bridie | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama | ||
Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off | Mary, Queen of Scots / Marian | BBC Radio 4 | |||
Every Bit of It | Georgia | Susan Roberts | BBC Radio 4 | ||
A Hundred Miles[11] | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play | ||||
– | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie[12] | Jean Brodie | BBC Radio 4 Classic Serial | ||
– | Inspector Rebus | Jean Burchill | BBC Radio 4 The Saturday Play | ||
– | Self-Control | Laura Montreville | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama | ||
The Whole Story and Other Stories Gothic by Ali Smith | Reader | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Reading | |||
– | For the Love of Willie | Liza | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama | ||
– | The Gowk Storm | Innkeeper's Wife | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama | ||
Wooden Heart | Uta | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play | |||
A Breath from Other Planets | Mathilde | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play | |||
Christabel's Anarchist | Christabel | BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play | |||
– | Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery[14] | Steve | BBC Radio 4 | ||
Reader | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Reading | ||||
– | The Heart of Midlothian[15] | Jeanie Deans | BBC Radio 4 Classic Serial | ||
The Muse of Rose Street[16] | Reader | BBC Radio 4 | |||
– | Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery[17] | Steve | BBC Radio 4 | ||
Distributing Dave[18] | BBC Radio Scotland Drama | ||||
The Three Knots[19] | Old Woman | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play | |||
– | Paul Temple and Steve[20] | Steve | BBC Radio 4 | ||
The Second Mr Bailey[21] | Margaret | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play | |||
The Culture Café: Completely Burns[22] | Reader | BBC Radio Scotland | |||
The Book Café[23] | Reader | BBC Radio Scotland | |||
Secrets: The Punter's Tale[24] | Cara | BBC Radio Scotland Drama | |||
Hume, the Philosophical Historian[25] | Reader | BBC Radio 3 Sunday Feature | |||
– | A Case for Paul Temple[26] | Steve | BBC Radio 4 | ||
I Confess: The Power of the Confession[27] | BBC Radio 3 The Essay |
Stevenson won a BAFTA Best Film Actress Award for her role in Margaret Tait's feature film Blue Black Permanent, and has been twice nominated for the CATS awards.[28]