Political 'conspiracy' play back in Helensburgh this weekend

The play tackles the death, in 1985, of SNP politician and anti-nuclear campaigner Willie McRae who was found dying in his car on a lonely highland road with a single gunshot wound to the head.

It was believed by many at the time that McRae’s death, far from being a suicide, was murder.

If McRae’s death was a suicide, the circumstances are bizarre to say the least. His car was found some distance from the road in what initially looked like a road traffic accident. McRae was unconscious, his hands folded in his lap - the gun he had been shot with was later found some 60ft from the car.

Theories abound. If McRae shot himself – why pack a bag for a weekend at his holiday cottage? Those who saw him leave Glasgow on the weekend of his death describe his mood as upbeat, happy. Friends and colleagues find it difficult to believe that McRae died by his own hand.

Andy Paterson’s one-man show sees McRae himself reflect on the events leading up to his death. Was he under surveillance on the day he died? What happened to the dossier he was compiling on the Dounreay nuclear plant?

Paterson’s play takes on a journey from McRae’s service as an officer in the Royal Indian Navy, where he was marked out as ‘subversive’ for supporting Indian independence, through his anti-nuclear campaigning, his involvement with radical groups and on to his death. Throughout this journey, the complex and sometimes troubled McRae tells his own story.

Andy said: “Hopefully those who missed the show last time will be able to get tickets this time round.

“We thoroughly enjoyed our last visit to the town and we are pleased to be bringing live theatre to the Clyde Bar again.”

Tickets are available on the door at the Clyde Bar at 7.30pm on Friday, May 31 or by calling 0800 411 8881.