Edwin Morgan, the subject of Liz Lochhead's biographical play, Dreams and Other Nightmares, was a Glaswegian poet, teacher and translator (“Beowulf”) who lived two separate and contradictory lives, one conventional and cozy, the other secret and stormy. The psychic split stemmed from his closeted life as a homosexual; he didn't come out until he was seventy. That meant having to hide his true nature from his parents and the world, even as he was regularly prowling parks and cinemas for rough, anonymous sex. It's no wonder that Morgan suffered grievously from the nocturnal torments of the play's title.
David McKay's portrayal of the anguished poet was a thing of beauty, one that required him to go back and forth in time, capturing his many sides and moods. Morgan, the National Poet of Scotland, lived into his nineties; but even as he tried to cope with cancer and depression, he fought to keep writing, keep creating. His life force maintained its ferocity to the very end.
The other actors in Dreams were Laurie Ventry and Steven Duffy; the former took on the guise of Morgan's biographer; the latter played a a variety of roles, most importantly John Scott, the poet's one great love.
Although Lockhhead's play mostly concerns itself with Morgan's mortality, it also offers up a healthy dose of the poet's work. Various verses are recited by the actors, all of them darkly beautiful, eloquent, and moving.
