Millie Gray was a well-loved storyteller, novelist, playwright and champion of older people as well as a co-founder of what theatre critic Joyce McMillan called ‘one of the best known community theatre companies in Scotland’ – Leith’s Citadel Arts Group. In 1995, the group performed a play at the Scottish Storytelling Centre by the 70-plus year-old new writer so it is fitting that an adaptation by playwright San Cassimally of her first novel, In a Class of their Own, written in her 75th year will honour her name.
Cassimally said “Millie Gray mined her own life to produce In a Class of Their Own. She writes with humour and compassion, but also with clarity. You will chuckle …and laugh aloud amid your tears.”
The story based on Millie Gray’s real-life wartime experiences is set against the stresses and shortages of World War II. It introduces the struggling Campbell family where the mother, Rachel, is determined to see her children succeed in life despite the odds. Her first step is to escape their slum tenement in Admiralty Street and move to a flat in Restalrig. Cassimally has adapted the novel as a three-hander for Rachel (Ashley Barlow) and her twins Carrie (Chelsea Grace) and Sam (Conrad Williamson). The play is directed by Liz Hare who directed Millie’s first play 30 years ago.
Citadel’s connection with the Scottish Storytelling Centre (formerly known as the Netherbow) go back to the 1990s when centre director Donald Smith enjoyed Millie’s play, It Helps if You Understand the Lingo at the Bedlam Theatre in 1994 and invited the group to stage it at the Netherbow.
Smith said “Millie Gray is the outstanding chronicler of Leith. She experienced its highs and lows personally and captured them in ten novels beginning with In a Class of Their Own. Millie never lost her own zest for life, her down-to-earth humour, and a love for people and their stories – all learned in Leith! She was a joy to know.”
After In a Class of their Own, Millie went on to write several more plays and novels that delighted Edinburgh audiences, especially Leithers, until her death in 2023. Artistic Director Liz Hare said “I hope we have remained true to Millie Gray’s vision: to give a voice to older people, collecting their stories and performing their plays in the community.”
Date: Sunday 18th January 2026
Times: 2.30pm and 7pm
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43 High Street, EH1 1SR
Tickets: £14/£12 from the Storytelling Centre box office – 0131 556 9579 reception@storytellingcentre.com
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 