So what's 'Wax Fruit'?
...and what in the world does this have to do with David Tennant?
I was wandering about on the internet last night and happened across something interesting that made me sit up and take notice. It appears a new period drama series called Wax Fruit - a TV adaptation of Guy McCrone’s famous books set in 1860s Glasgow - has finished a pilot and is now looking for a buyer to bring it to series.
The series’ Executive Producer Sarah Purser (and her firm Little White Rose Films) has said she not only has its first episode ready for production if they get picked up, but also has prepared enough material for five seasons - fifty episodes - worth! Now that’s some serious prep.
So far, the cast includes some pretty recognizable names - Line of Duty’s Martin Compston, Shetland’s Ashley Jensen, Vera’s Kenny Doughty, Shirley Henderson, Elaine C. Smith, and Bill Paterson, among others. Again, it’s a pretty stellar cast. And if you’re interested, you can take a look at some great cast photos at The Glasgow Times and the Daily Mail, too.
If you’re wondering what the series is all about, Wax Fruit is part of a trilogy of books (Antimacassar City, The Philistines and The Puritans) written by Guy McCrone and published in 1947 as Wax Fruit: the Story of the Moorhouse Family. It
chronicle[s] the life and times of the Moorhouse family as they rise from the obscurity of an Ayrshire farm to a position of great prosperity in Victorian Glasgow. The first part of the trilogy introduces the Moorhouse family – Arthur, the successful businessman and first of the family to move to Glasgow; David, the dashing and impulsive socialite; Bel, driven by ruthless social ambition; and Phoebe, the half-sister from the Highlands who grows up to be a great beauty. The second and third volumes follow the changing fortunes of the family, as their lives are touched by triumph and tragedy – in Glasgow at the height of the Victorian era, and in Vienna, glittering capital of the Hapsburg Empire.
And this, from the London Daily News, tells us more about how Sarah Purser envisions the story as it would be brought to life on screen:
“The Moorhouse Clan are entrepreneurs, pushing the boundaries, grabbing every opportunity the city affords, and burning the candle at both ends. They’re a family you want to hang out with, argue the toss with, laugh with – live the dream with. Wax Fruit opens a door into an audacious, aspirational, life-affirming new world. Glasgow, 1870, is one of the richest, most glamorous cities in Europe – a crucible of unbridled growth and global influence. It’s swaggering, powerful – a city drunk on its own success – and like any rollicking drunk, it’s heading for a fall.
“If you want to make it in the Wax Fruit world, the currency is hard graft, ingenuity, and the razor-sharp wit of the Scots, which crackles throughout. You can forget any notions of grandeur until you’ve put in the blood, sweat and tears. And when you’ve proved your worth and made it to the top, it’s what you do with your success that gives you your kudos.”
By now I’m sure you’re asking…
…other than the fact it’s based in Scotland, what does all of this have to do with David Tennant?
WELL.
Let me put your mind to rest right off - as far as I know, David hasn’t been offered a role in the series. So no, that’s not what made me perk up. I was surprised and excited to see, though, that they have the BAFTA-Award winning writer Andrea Gibb on staff. She’s very familiar to David’s fans not only as the writer of his short film Bite, which I’ve written about in the past:
…but also as the writer of his remarkable audio drama Sunburst Finish, which I’ve also written about before:
But neither of these things was what made me sit up and say, Oooooo!
What made me sit up was only my brain telling me to do a dramatic reveal of one more unknown-in-the-DT-fandom-until-right-NOW plays David did in his drama school years, that’s all!
Yup, you guessed it.
He did Wax Fruit!
—
Heading into the winter of 1990, nineteen year-old David Tennant had just started his Third (and final) Year of drama school at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (the RSAMD, now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.)
The first production planned for Third Year BA in Dramatic Studies students - of which David was one - was an adaptation by John Cargill Thomson of Guy McCrone’s Wax Fruit.
David and his fellow Third Year BA classmates rehearsed the show as part of their Acting and Direction course timetable - which meant rehearsal time was built into their class time. The amount of time they spent during class in rehearsal gradually increased, until in the last few weeks before the show, the students were rehearsing the entire class period.
Newspapers got wind of the upcoming show, and there were a few mentions of Wax Fruit before the show opened:
Wax Fruit, which was directed by Hamish Glen (whose brother, Iain Glen, is a well-known actor in his own right) opened at the RSAMD's Chandler Studio Theatre on Tuesday, 27 November 1990 at 7:15 pm and played for four nights.
Its last performance was on Friday, 30 November 1990, and was also a sign language performance. Each performance also had one 15-minute interval.
You might’ve noticed that the Friends of RSAMD got a special ticket price for the shows. That’s because the Friends of RSAMD was an organization set up for alumni, patrons, or citizens who wished to financially support the school, and in return they often got discounts for productions the school put on.
The show took a few days off before it made the transfer to the Paisley Arts Centre in Paisley.
That gave the local Paisley Daily Express newspaper enough time to mention the show:
Once there, it ran for an additional two performances on Monday, 3 December and Tuesday 4th December 1990, at 8 pm.
Here it is mentioned in the Paisley Arts Centre’s Programme of Events for Oct-Nov 1990:
Now you might have noticed that, so far, none of these pieces of information about the show mentions David by name, and you might be wondering how I know David was in the show.
There are two reasons:
One of David’s early CVs has Wax Fruit listed as one of his productions
I have a copy of the programme for the show!
If you study that programme, you’ll see David's credited as “David McDonald”. This was fairly common for productions David was in during his drama school years, but it was very hit-and-miss. Most of the time he’s credited with Tennant, but every once in a while you’ll see him referred to with his original surname.
Also in the production? His friends Jenny Fraser, Louise Delamere and Alan McHugh. David worked with Jenny on a couple of things I’ve written about here before (Horace Can’t Help It and Macburgers). We’ve mentioned Louise here, too (in The Square Who Couldn’t Rock’n’Roll), and of course she was not only David’s flatmate, but also went on to become a successful actor in her own right. And Alan McHugh? He’s done a lot of work with and without David (most of which I haven’t explored here), and he’s mentioned as a friend of David’s by David himself at his honorary Doctorate ceremony at the RCS. But even astute DT fans won’t know Alan also did a podcast episode of Putting It Together with Brian O'Sullivan! It’s a great listen.
David played the role of Arthur Moorhouse in the RSAMD’s production of Wax Fruit. Arthur was the head of the Moorhouse family and was an astute entrepreneur. In the new TV adaptation, it looks like the role of Arthur will be played by Martin Compston, the BAFTA-winning Line of Duty actor.
It’ll be really interesting to see if the new Wax Fruit comes to series. If it does, I know I’ll be watching (and wouldn’t it be fun if David got a role in the drama, too?)
So now you know ANOTHER play David did in drama school!