From the back end of a pantomime cow to a BAFTA!

 

Edinburgh actor and star of Celebrity Traitors, Mark Bonnar, has taken on a new role. He will become the first ever honorary president of our theatre group.

 

Now, a BAFTA award-winning actor with a huge number of roles under his belt, Mark first tread the boards as the back end of a pantomime cow in our Christmas show in 1991. 

 

Encouraged by two of his friends in the planning department of Edinburgh Council, Mike Paton and Duncan Robertson, Mark joined Leitheatre and quickly realised this was his true calling. He packed his bags and headed off to study at the Conservatoire in Glasgow and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Mark said "I was really delighted when Leitheatre asked me to become their honorary president. It’s not just a place where you can learn and take part in their wonderful productions, it’s also somewhere you can make friends for life, as I have."

 

Susan Duffy, our current Leitheatre President said ‘it’s amazing to think that someone we worked alongside all those years ago has gone on to achieve so much. We are really proud of Mark and we’re excited to have him as our honorary president in what is our 80th anniversary year. We’ve got a fantastic programme for 2026 - the disturbing and challenging One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in May, a production of Brassed Off to be set in the mining villages of Fife for the Fringe and an adaptation of a Christmas Carol written especially for us at the end of November. HavingMark as our honorary president really puts the icing on the cake’.

 

If you like to see Mark chat about how he became involved with Leitheatre, and how you should too, then click Here