A 91-year-old former thespian relived his former glory years by returning to the theatre after decades away from the performing arts.
This time David Radlin, who was born in Leith almost a century ago, was in the audience - a change from when he would dance, sing and act the night away in front of hundreds in his youth.
The former coal man and black cab driver was taken to see Buddy Holly Story at the Festival Theatre through the Gone Fishing Project that is organised by Edinburgh’s Strachan House care home. The project looks to reconnect residents with their past and to show that life does not end when they enter Strachan House.
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David was a part of the Bohemian Amateur Dramatics for many years after he joined them at the age of 32. He says that he continued to perform right up until his late fifties - continuing to dance and sing under the spotlight.
“I was born in Bridge Street in Leith and attended Abbeyhill Primary and Broughton Secondary. I was one of four boys and one girl in the family”, he said.
“I was married to my wife Wendy who I lost in 2011. She was born Winnifred but always wanted to be known as Wendy. We stayed in a second floor flat with four bedrooms on Meadowbank Terrace.
“It was a great wee flat that had everything you needed. It had an old fashioned kitchen/living room and a wee compartment oven, it was great.
“We had two sons together Douglas and Kenneth. Kenneth moved to Australia and would come back to see us twice a year but sadly we lost Douglas to a brain tumour when he was around 50 years old.
“I spent thirty years in the coal business delivering fuel to houses in the capital. Our business was L Radin & Sons fuel merchants and we sold everything and anything that burned.
“After that I worked for the black cabs right up until I was 73. I enjoyed it as you got to meet a whole range of characters and got to see both sides of the city.
“Don’t get me wrong, you could get the odd pain in the butt passenger but overall I loved it. It was a great life.
“I joined the Bohemian Amateur Dramatics at 32 after the kids had grown up. I absolutely loved it - the first question the women would ask is whether you were married or not.
“In the amateur theatre you would be expected to be able to dance, act and sing. I remember my first show was ‘Call Me Madam’, it was was quite something when the spotlight went onto you and you had to perform in front of the crowd.
“When the curtain went up on the Monday night you would just have to remind yourself that you could do it. I often performed at the Kings and Lyceum and would get a real buzz when I heard the orchestra starting to play.
“There was rarely an empty seat and it was often a full house we would perform in front of.”
David said that he kept performing until he was around 60 and remembers the Festival Theatre being the Empire Palace back in the day. He says that he absolutely loved the experience and that the performers were fantastic.
He added: “I can’t complain, it was super. I’ll be honest it was a bit noisy for me at my age so we did have to leave at half time.
“It was a bit strange to go back to the theatre after all those years. You do miss performing but you cannot go back.
“There is a lot of pleasure in being a performer. I used to meet folk that remembered watching me perform and the response online has been amazing from those that also remembered acting with me or coming to see the shows.”
Mandy Burgen, who is the head of activities at Strachan House care home, says that the Gone Fishing Project has been a huge success since it was launched. She says the aim of it is to break down boundaries and look at the life stories of our residents.
She said: “We had an absolutely marvellous response from people who performed with him or those he supported in the acting world when we shared his experience on Facebook. It was great to bring the connections back and explore his past life.
“When you come into a care home life does not end. The Gone Fishing project is about life enrichment and showing that we never stop growing.
“Since we launched the project we have had a lady experience a fast paced sports car in an Aston Martin DBS. Another went to a rock concert and stole the show in the capital.
“We are so open to creating new experiences for our residents and exploring older ones that continue to make them feel alive. I am dreading the day someone says they want to go skydiving and I need to chum them along to it!”
You can learn more about Strachan House care home here.
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