Theatre technician known for his backstage roles at the Theatre Royal Glasgow and the Edinburgh Festival Theatre
Born: October 25, 1958;
Died: November 12, 2017
PETER Anderson, who has died at age 59, was a widely known and hugely respected member of the Scottish and international theatre community best known for his backstage roles at the Theatre Royal Glasgow and the Edinburgh Festival Theatre and latterly as a lecturer and teacher.
Known as Beef, Mr Anderson was born in Kirkcaldy to James and Margaret Anderson and was one of three siblings. Always mischievous from a very young age, he was educated in Kirkcaldy and his love of the theatre stemmed from the family’s involvement with the Adam Smith Theatre.
He left Balwearie High School in 1974 to start work as an apprentice coachbuilder and in 1976 he applied for the Royal Navy - sadly, his hay fever prevented him from being accepted. He then joined the RAF Regiment but left after a year and came home to Scotland. Later that year, he applied to Scottish Opera to work as a stagehand but was told he required more backstage experience.
He then went off and worked backstage in theatres in Liverpool, Reading and a Butlin's holiday camp to learn his trade. He joined Scottish Opera in 1978 and eventually became chief technician and was then head hunted to join the newly reopened Edinburgh Festival Theatre as technical stage manager in 1996 before returning to Scottish Opera in 2002 for the acclaimed Wagner’s Ring Cycle as head of stage.
He was unable to remain in full-time employment from 2004 due to ill health and so in his resolute manner continued his education with an HND in architectural conservation in 2006 during which he won the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland Student Competition for his feasibility study on the Britannia Music Hall in Glasgow. He then graduated with a 2.1 BA Hons Building Control Surveying in 2008. His honours dissertation was a critical evaluation of the use of the safety curtain in theatre fire safety. He then pursued a second career as a university and college lecturer in technical theatre and event management – through which he helped to inspire the next generation of Scottish technicians.
He married the great love of his life, Heather Fleming, in September 2001 at Pollokshields Burgh Hall and they enjoyed many happy holidays to the Western Isles of Scotland.
Over his career in theatre, his personal warmth and his great kindness and care for his colleagues and many visitors to the Theatre Royal and the Edinburgh Festival Theatre, charmed everybody who met him.
To a person, absolutely everybody spoke about Beef with tremendous affection for his marvellous sense of humour, always balanced by a strong sense of propriety and tremendous dignity most especially evident as his health became increasingly poor.
He had a great instinct for finding and encouraging young talented people who wanted to make their way in the performing arts right from his early days in the Theatre Royal through to his last role as a lecturer.
In visiting with Heather, their beloved cousins and families and all his theatre friends in Australia and New Zealand, he seemed to be especially at peace and to find a special affinity with that part of the world. He was certainly very much at home there - particularly in one, or two, of the finest vineyards and where they really enjoyed the South Island of New Zealand and continually delighted in the Scottish place names and references.
Peter Anderson had a great love of opera and a great respect for the creative process and the artists involved, he always led by example, set incredibly high standards on his stage but could also, unsurprisingly, speak most eloquently of singers, performances and repertoire and, indeed, managed to attend a performance of an opera in most cities he and Heather visited.
What many people would not know about Beef is that he had the biggest collection of Commando comics which he kept in the bathroom like some defensive barricade.
It transpires that he had hidden performing talents that knew no bounds: he was spotted by opera director Tony Palmer in 1984 who cast him in an unforgettable role in a Scottish Opera production of Turandot. Anyone seeing Peter Anderson’s performance as the Golden Buddha must have been struck by the sheer radiance of his golden flesh – an image almost impossible to erase. Allegedly it took quite a lot of gold paint to cover him and his speedos.
Since coming back to Scotland in 2006, I have been privileged to be able to enjoy “beef tea" every three or four weeks or so, having been lucky enough to have known Beef since 1989 when he was chief technician at the Theatre Royal. He was known around the UK and abroad for running his stage with a wonderful combination of intense efficiency (one of the best many have ever seen in action) and an impish sense of humour.
He was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in June 2016 and dealt with this illness with his customary grace and fortitude.
He had planned his funeral with care, reflecting his career, beliefs and love of opera and insisted that his coffin be propped up by a bespoke stage brace. His final gift to his many friends and family was a glorious champagne reception hosted in the Theatre Royal Glasgow overlooking his beloved Campsie Fells.
He is survived by his wife Heather, brother Jim and mother Margaret.
ALEX REEDIJK
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