Adam Smith Theatre 125th: I’ve seen many great shows & been mistaken for High Road actor

The anniversary is one to celebrate with as much gusto as we can muster. The arts are under threat like never before - we HAVE to shout about landmarks, great shows and groundbreaking events like never before.

I couldn't even begin to count the number of shows I've seen there over the last 30-plus years, from full houses to barely a few rows filled up. In the days when the Adam Smith hosted week-long stays for stars of what was once known as ‘light entertainment’ - Tarbie, Mike & Bernie Winters, The Nolans, Peter Morrison - every Monday night was theatre night for FFP staff which included half time drinks with the Friends of Adam Smith, a long-gone group which supported the venue and the arts locally.

It was always a full house - two seats for the price of one ensured a full house of canny Fifers! - and our job was to deliver a positive review, from which a quote would duly appear on the posters for the end of the run. Bert Ross, the theatre's PR man, would pop in with a press pack, a joke or two, and another idea to secure a front page pic.

When Anna Wing, who played Lou Beale in Eastenders, appeared in a play, he took her to a greengrocers down the High Street, while Pat Phoenix pulled a pint at the Penny Farthing, and Johnny Briggs, who played Corrie’s knicker factory boss Mike Baldwin, found himself at Nelbarden, the Kirkcaldy factory which made swimwear.

And if all else failed, the stars turned up at our printing plant, which perhaps explains how Jesus - or rather, actor Robert Powell - once started the presses rolling.

Bert also organised interviews with the stars. I found myself chatting to Alec Monteath, who played Dougal in Take The High Road. We sat on the benches outside the theatre, when two old ladies spotted him and asked for an autograph. Mistaking me for a High Road actor, they also asked me to sign their brochures. I couldn't refuse...

A hyperactive Joe Pasquale did handstands mid-interview in the cafe, while a phone interview with the late Gerald Kelly to talk about his role in Hector MacMillan's play The Sash sparked a lively batch of letters to the editor as he took a pot shot at the bigots. A photo-shoot with Jimmy Cricket down at Stark's Park saw him run around the goal line in his wellies!

Sitting in the Beveridge Suite watching the Doug Anthony All-Stars destroying the room with their no holds barred humour, and then spinning it on a sixpence with the beautiful ballad, Throw Your Arms Around Me.

Great theatre shows such as Our Ladies Of Perpertual Succour, the superb Canned Laughter, and bailing out of a Jerry Sadowtiz show after 15 minutes of vitriol.

Councillors getting all high and mighty and banning The Last Temptation Of Christ before they had a private screening to determine whether it was blasphemous. Still can't believe they let me join them!

And, more recently, the absolute thrill of listening to Justin Currie performing solo at Tae Sup - that wonderful, dazzling kaleidoscope of creativity curated by James Yorkston, a musician I could listen to for hours without interruption. Such a shame it has moved on from the venue that helped to launch it. It, like so many, owes the Adam Smith Theatre a huge thank you.