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Gerda Stevenson

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Gerda Stevenson
Stevenson at Authors' Reading Month, 2014
Born (1956-04-10) 10 April 1956 (age 68)
West Linton, Peeblesshire, Scotland
NationalityScottish
Alma materRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation(s)Actress, director, writer
SpouseAonghas MacNeacail (died 2022)

Gerda Stevenson (born 10 April 1956) is a Scottish actress, director and writer. Known for her wide-ranging works in media, her notable stage roles include the title character in Edwin Morgan's English translation of Racine's Phèdre, and Lady Macbeth. In film, she starred alongside Celia Imrie in Margaret Tait's Blue Black Permanent (1992) and played the mother of Murron MacClannough in Braveheart (1995) winning the BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actress for the former.[1] She was described by The Scotsman in 1999 as "Scotland's finest actress".

In addition to her screen and stage work, Stevenson is also a playwright, poet, and frequently appears on radio as a reader of short stories and as an actress in adaptations. Her play Federer vs. Murray has toured New York City 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]

Her radio work consists of several performances of poems and songs by Robert Burns for the BBC[3], as well as numerous radio dramas: Self-Control by Mary Brunton as Laura Montreville; For the Love of Willie by Agnes Owens as Liza; The Heart of Midlothian by Sir Walter Scott for BBC Radio 4, nominated for a Sony Award in 2008, as Jeanie Deans;[4] and Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.[5] She has also written radio dramas including: Island Blue,[6] Secrets: The Punter's Tale,[7] Secrets: The Escort's Tale[8] and The Apple Tree.[9] She directed the Afternoon Play The Price of a Fish Supper.[10]

Theatre

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Year Title Role Theatre Company Director Notes
1982 Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaites Hameliness Scottish Theatre Company Tom Fleming play by Sir David Lyndsey, adapted by Robert Kemp
1985 Life of Galileo Virginia Scottish Theatre Company Peter Dews play by Bertolt Brecht
2010 The Government Inspector The Governor's Wife Commudicado Gerry Mulgrew play by Nikolai Gogol

Radio

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Date Title Role Director Station
12 September 1982 – 10 October 1982 The Bride of Lammermoor BBC Radio 4
16 May 1985 Watching Waiters BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play
13 March 1990 Fair Kirsten Marilyn Imrie BBC Radio 3
1 June 1990 The Interview Reader Bruce Young BBC Radio 4 Morning Story
11 June 1990 Blood and Ice Marilyn Imrie BBC Radio 4 The Monday Play
27 October 1990 Witchwood BBC Radio 4 Saturday Playhouse
7 February 1995 The Upshot BBC Radio 4 Thirty Minute Theatre
14 December 1997 The Secret Commonwealth Patrick Rayner BBC Radio 4
22 January 1998 Tam o'Shanter Hamish Wilson BBC Radio 4
21 March 1998
(Recorded on 22 February 1998)		 Camelot[11] Nimue BBC Radio 2
6 December 1999 – 13 December 1999 The Last Days of Mankind Giles Havergal BBC Radio 3 Sunday Play
5 February 2001 – 16 February 2001 Telling Liddy Bridie Pam Wardell BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama
11 February 2001 Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off Mary, Queen of Scots / Marian Marilyn Imrie BBC Radio 4
11 March 2001 Every Bit of It Georgia Susan Roberts BBC Radio 4
19 February 2002 A Hundred Miles[12] Bruce Young BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play
25 August 2002 – 1 September 2002 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie[13] Jean Brodie Bruce Young BBC Radio 4 Classic Serial
25 January 2003 – 1 February 2003 Inspector Rebus: The Falls[14] Jean Burchill Bruce Young BBC Radio 4 The Saturday Play
31 March 2003 – 11 April 2003 Self-Control Laura Montreville Bruce Young BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama
6 May 2003 The Whole Story and Other Stories: Gothic by Ali Smith Reader David Jackson Young BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Reading
5 April 2004 – 9 April 2004 For the Love of Willie Liza Bruce Young BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama
10 January 2005 – 21 January 2005 The Gowk Storm Innkeeper's Wife David Ian Neville BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama
31 March 2005 Wooden Heart Uta Mary Ward Lowery BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play
16 May 2005 A Breath from Other Planets Mathilde Bruce Young BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play
25 February 2006 Christabel's Anarchist Christabel Bruce Young BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play
7 August 2006 – 2 October 2006 Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery[15] Steve Patrick Rayner BBC Radio 4
30 August 2006 The Madeleine Effect: Mangoes by Joanna Blythman Reader Kirsty Williams BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Reading
9 September 2007 – 16 September 2007 The Heart of Midlothian[4] Jeanie Deans Bruce Young BBC Radio 4 Classic Serial
23 March 2008 The Muse of Rose Street[16] Reader Monise Durrani BBC Radio 4
16 May 2008 – 4 July 2008 Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery[17] Steve Patrick Rayner BBC Radio 4
4 December 2009 Distributing Dave[18] BBC Radio Scotland Drama
22 December 2009 The Three Knots[19] Old Woman Kirsty Williams BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play
11 June 2010 – 30 July 2010 Paul Temple and Steve[20] Steve Patrick Rayner BBC Radio 4
23 September 2010 The Second Mr Bailey[21] Margaret Bruce Young BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play
25 January 2011 The Culture Café: Completely Burns[22] Reader Esme Kennedy BBC Radio Scotland
14 February 2011 The Book Café[23] Reader BBC Radio Scotland
28 February 2011 Secrets: The Punter's Tale[7] Cara Bruce Young BBC Radio Scotland Drama
8 May 2011 Hume, the Philosophical Historian[24] Reader Louise Yeoman BBC Radio 3 Sunday Feature
24 August 2011 – 12 October 2011 A Case for Paul Temple[25] Steve Patrick Rayner BBC Radio 4
12 October 2011 I Confess: The Power of the Confession[26] Isobel Gowdie Liza Greig BBC Radio 3 The Essay

Film and television

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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.[27]

Stevenson directed the film The Storm Watchers, the script for which was written by George Mackay Brown, for the St. Magnus International Festival. She wrote and directed the film Paper Portraits (2025), about workers in the Midlothian paper-making industry, for Penicuik Community Arts Association.[28]

Personal life

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Stevenson's partner was the late Scottish Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail.

Her father was the musician and composer Ronald Stevenson.[29][30] Her sister, Savourna Stevenson, has recorded works on the Scottish harp, the clàrsach.

She is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

References

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  1. ^ "BAFTA Scotland Awards 1993". IMDb. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  2. ^ "Scotland Street Press | Bookstore | Inside and Out". www.scotlandstreetpress.com. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  3. ^ BBC – Robert Burns – Works read by Gerda Stevenson
  4. ^ a b BBC – Classic Serial – The Heart of Midlothian
  5. ^ BBC – Classic Serial – Sunset Song
  6. ^ BBC – Woman's Hour Drama – Island Blue
  7. ^ a b BBC – BBC Radio Scotland – Secrets: The Punter's Tale
  8. ^ BBC – BBC Radio Scotland – Secrets: The Escort's Tale
  9. ^ BBC – Afternoon Play – The Apple Tree
  10. ^ BBC – Afternoon Play – The Price of a Fish Supper
  11. ^ CastAlbums » Camelot » BBC Radio 2 Cast
  12. ^ Scottish Theatre Archive – A Hundred Miles
  13. ^ Radio – Scattered dreams – The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Sue Arnold, The Observer, 1 September 2002
  14. ^ BBC – The Saturday Play – Inspector Rebus: The Falls
  15. ^ BBC – Paul Temple – Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery
  16. ^ BBC – The Muse of Rose Street
  17. ^ BBC – Paul Temple – Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery
  18. ^ BBC – BBC Radio Scotland – Distributing Dave
  19. ^ BBC – Afternoon Play – The Three Knots
  20. ^ BBC – Paul Temple – Paul Temple and Steve
  21. ^ BBC – Afternoon Play – The Second Mr Bailey
  22. ^ BBC – BBC Radio Scotland – The Culture Café: Completely Burns
  23. ^ BBC – BBC Radio Scotland – The Book Café
  24. ^ BBC – Sunday Feature – Hume, the Philosophical Historian
  25. ^ BBC – Paul Temple – A Case for Paul Temple
  26. ^ BBC – The Essay – I Confess: The Power of the Confession
  27. ^ The Government Inspector theatre programme, Communicado, 2010
  28. ^ Riach, Alan and Stevenson, Gerda, "Paper Portraits", in The National, pp. 26 & 27, ISSN 1358-4286
  29. ^ "Braveheart actress composes song for local school". Peeblesshire News. Galashiels, Scotland. 31 July 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  30. ^ Gasser, M., "Ronald Stevenson, Composer-Pianist : An Exegetical Critique from a Pianistic Perspective" (Edith Cowan University Press, Western Australia, 2013)
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