The Magdalen

The Keiller Centre was deeply embedded in Scottish history on the 14th September as Mark Meiklejohn opened the Dundee Fringe Festival’s first Sunday night with his show that took his audience on an insightful journey that spanned across centuries as he reframed Scotland’s history through six very bad Scottish ideas.

The show was separated into six sections to fit the bad ideas, as Meiklejohn discussed how these ideas have shaped the country into what it is today. His ideas in order included: the Scottish hard man, The Darian Scheme, uniting with England, Scottish cringe, conflicts with tartan and the Highland Clearances.

Meiklejohn took the Dundee Fringe stage with infectious energy and it was clear he had carefully researched his facts about Scotland’s history. I found myself in a state of disbelief towards some parts of Scotland’s history, such as finding out that wearing tartan and playing the bagpipes was once banned for Scots, and that from 1940 to 2001 Scots was a language that was forced out of the education system.

As he explored his ideas, Meiklejohn was able to keep his audience engaged by intertwining history with his dry sense of humour. He has a fascinating wide scale of Scottish knowledge, and I could have listened to him speak all night (probably much to his dismay!). His comedic approach to re-telling Scotland’s history was able to portray a message to audiences that bad luck is ultimately something the country cannot escape from, and there’s nothing wrong with having a wee laugh about it. I found that when it seemed things could not get any worse for the Scots, Meiklejohn was ready to hit his audience with yet another very bad Scottish idea, with his delivery leaving his audience in stitches.

Meiklejohn has a clear affection for Scotland that is reflected not only through his creative approach to Scotland’s history, but his skilful storytelling. I will admit that before the show my knowledge of Scottish history was quite poor, yet when I left the Keiller Centre, I felt smarter and was uplifted from the show. He relays information in a way that is not too overwhelming, as he embraces the muck ups that his Scottish ancestors have made along the way, inviting his audience to join him on his historical journey of bad ideas by asking what tremendously stupid idea they think the Scots could have possibly came up with next.

‘A History of Scotland in Six Bad Ideas’ is a show that all Scotland lovers should go and see, as it calls attention to the fact that even though the country was shaped by many challenges, a Scots sense of pride towards their country runs deep, with Meiklejohn himself being a representation of this. This show is storytelling at its best, and although it may not teach you history in a traditional way, you are bound to laugh and perhaps be a little more curious to researching parts of the nation’s history, which makes it a show worth seeing!