Fife, families and football – three words that sum up a play being given its world premiere next week.
All are themes at the heart of Mike Gibb’s Walking Down The Halbeath Road, which is being staged for the first time at the Alhambra in Dunfermline on Thursday.
Set in the 1990s, the fictional piece centres on a family from the town’s Abbeyview housing estate, as seen through the prism of one of Dunfermline Athletic’s most momentous real-life seasons.
It was halfway through the Pars’ title-winning 1995-96 campaign that the club and its followers had to deal with the sudden death of their inspirational captain Norrie McCathie.
Aged just 34, the long-serving defender succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning at home alongside girlfriend Amanda Burns – just four years after East End Park had been rocked by the passing of Big Country frontman and Athletic superfan Stuart Adamson.
Mike first started developing his script out of ideas originally intended for a musical featuring songs by Michael Marra, which was abandoned following the Dundee troubadour’s death in 2012.
He explains how he worked the ups and downs of a turbulent season, including the tragic events of January 8 1996, into a play that takes its title from a long-time East End terrace anthem – while consciously steering clear of an overblown account of its on-field twists and turns.
‘It’s a family story’
“I still had a storyline in the background of this family, the father of which spends his life telling everybody how he used to play for the local football team and broke his leg, and there’s a lot more to it than he admits,” says the Aberdeen-based writer.
“I said ‘I think it would work very well in a Dunfermline setting, set in the East Port Bar, with the Dunfermline fans, and also in this house in Abbeyview’. More than that, to set it against the background of the ’95-’96 season.
“You’ve got the trials and tribulations of a family – problems with the two sons and so on – set against the season which starts so well, then has a wee dip, and then Norrie McCathie dies.
“Then they pick up again, and it comes to the famous second-last game at Tannadice. It’s all interwoven through it, but it’s still a family story.
“There’s quite a lot that people who are not necessarily football fans, but are interested in Dunfermline, would identify with.”
Having written three books for the Pars Supporters Trust, animal welfare campaigner Mike is well placed to tackle DAFC’s emotional charge to glory under Scottish Cup-winning ex-player Bert Paton.
Directed by Glasgow-based actor and set designer Calum Beaton, from Rabbithole Theatre, Walking Down The Halbeath Road is being performed over three nights by a nine-strong community cast.
Ahead of the curtain going up on Thursday, a host of Dunfermline legends will be in the spotlight at the Alhambra as they reflect on their achievements 27 years ago.
Now aged 80, Paton is due to take part in a Q&A at the Canmore Street theatre hosted by BBC Scotland football reporter Brian McLauchlin.
Joining the High Valleyfield-born ex-manager will be his former players Andy Smith, Marc Millar, Andy Tod and Jackie McNamara.
Walking Down The Halbeath Road will be shown from March 2-4, with tickets available from Alhambra Theatre website.
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