Achi news desk-
Written and performed by leading Scottish theater maker Gary McNair, the production, which begins with the premise that everyone has a Connolly story, sees McNair collect a series of interviews and held with anyone and everyone who has an opinion on Connolly.
Writing in The Herald last year, theater critic Neil Cooper described McNair’s verbatim vox-pop collage as part stand-up, part oral history project, and part act of collective hero worship.
Now, with the production on tour again in May, followed by a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, Scotland’s national theater company has launched a new interactive map for the nation to show its love for the Big Yin.
READ MORE: Review: Dear Billy is part comedy and hero worship of Scotland’s iconic Big Yin
The National Theater of Scotland wants to create a map of all the places that have a personal connection with Connolly, to help create a love letter from the people of Scotland to their favorite comedian.
They are inviting people to share their own Connolly stories, memories and favorite jokes and add their own unique mark to the living tribute and help make the map a ‘Very Big Yin’.
Connolly’s relationship with Scotland spans his remarkable life and career over the last 80 years.
The beloved Glasgow comic and storyteller toured the folk clubs, grand theaters and working-class clubs of Scotland from the 1970s, retiring from live performance in 2018.
Born at 69 Dover Street, Anderston, he worked in Glasgow’s Clydeside shipyards in the 1960s, before touring with folk rock band The Humblebums.
He made his theatrical debut in 1972 at the Cottage Theater in Cumbernauld, before performing in The Great Northern Welly Boot Show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, also that year.
Connolly first established himself as a star, selling out and breaking box office records at the Pavilion Theater in Glasgow in January/February 1974, returning to the theater several times.
In January 1994, he undertook a World Tour of Scotland on a Harley Davidson, taking him from Kelso to Kirkwall stopping at Eden Court, Inverness, which was broadcast on the BBC later in the year. His love affair with his native country continued, with his residence at Candacraig House, in Aberdeenshire.
In 2022, Connolly was awarded a BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.
Dear Billy opens at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen and then tours to Glasgow’s Pavilion Theatre, Eden Court in Inverness and The Lowry in Salford, followed by a two-week run at the Assembly Rooms as part of the Assembly Festival program for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 .
READ MORE: Jack Lowden and Big Yin star in thrilling new theater show
The production is directed by Joe Douglas, whose work for the National Theater of Scotland includes The Cheviot, The Stag and the Black, Black Oil and Dear Scotland.
Musicians rejoining McNair on the road in 2024 are Simon Liddell, whose work for the theater includes The Domestic (Scenes for Survival/National Theater of Scotland) and McGonagall’s Chronicles (Which Will Be Remembered for and Very Long Time) and Jill O’Sullivan, who writes and performs across the world of popular music, theater and dance.
Speaking about the map and production on tour once again, McNair said: “I’m delighted that we’re launching the Big Yin Map where people can pin their own stories and connections to Billy. As we learned when interviewing people to make this show – everyone has something to say about Billy, whether it’s a memorable meeting or a connection to his work.
“The great thing about the Big Map is that there is a place where people can continue to share and hopefully build an interactive document about what it means to us all.
“I’m beyond giddy to bring the show Dear Billy back so soon after its tour last year. It’s a real honor to trust him to do this show, Billy is so important to so many people like him to have been so well received was a dream come true. I can’t wait to get back on the road with the band and meet a new audience.”
For more information on Dear Billy, visit www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/
