Robert Kemp (1908–1967) was a Scottish playwright.

He was born at Longhope in Orkney, where his father was the minister. Educated at Robert Gordon's College and the University of Aberdeen,[1] he lived in London and then in Edinburgh (in Warriston Crescent). Before turning to drama, he trained as a journalist with the Manchester Guardian. From the time he adapted Molière's L'Ecole des Femmes for the Scottish stage in 1947 he sought to promote a distinctly national drama, often employing Scots dialogue.[2] In 1948, working with Tyrone Guthrie, he staged a revival of Scotland's first Scottish play, David Lyndsay's Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis and, also in 1948, he coined the phrase “Edinburgh Festival Fringe”.[3] His son, Arnold Kemp, achieved fame as a newspaper editor.

Published work

Robert Kemp's plays include

• The Heart is Highland
• The Laird o' Grippy
• Let Wives Tak Tent: a free translation into Scots of Molière's L'école des femmes performed by the Compagnie Jouvet of Paris at the Edinburgh International Festival, 1947
• Off A Duck's Back
• The Other Dear Charmer[4]
• The Perfect Gent
• The Asset (play)
• Master John Knox (play)St Andrew Press, 1960

References

External links

• Special Collection of Robert Kemp's work held by Glasgow University Library.

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