Charles Barron

Charles Barron, who has died aged 76, was one of Scotland's most prolific playwrights, with a particular affection for his native Doric.

His enthusiasm for, and talent in capturing, the spirit and language of the North-east resulted in several awards, with one of his works entering the Scottish education curriculum. His latest production, a comedy based in an Aberdeenshire school kitchen, opened earlier this month.

Born in Aberdeen, he attended the city's Ashley Road Primary School and Robert Gordon's College where he became classical dux. It was also where his enthusiasm for acting developed, an interest he continued when he went to Aberdeen University to study English language and literature.

During his student years he was inspired, by the 1956 student uprising in Hungary, to write his first play, The Sky To Me, in which he also acted and directed. After graduating with a first in 1958 he trained as a teacher at Aberdeen Teacher Training Centre, taking up his first post teaching English, history, Latin and Greek at Inverurie Academy. During his four years there he also directed pupils in plays and Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and became involved with Haddo House, near Ellon, first as a Shakespearean actor and later as opera director.

He then moved to lecture at Glasgow's Jordanhill College of Education, directing various productions there and returning to Haddo House in the holidays to direct and perform. He was also writing, acting in and directing plays for the annual Braemar Festival.

His spell in Glasgow, which spanned seven years, was the only time he strayed from his north-east roots. He returned to Aberdeen in 1970 to become head of speech and drama at his one of his old alma maters, the city's education college. After 18 years there he took early retirement with the aim of spending more time writing.

He also cemented his links with Haddo House, becoming arts director there, creating Haddo Youth Theatre and establishing the tradition of an annual pantomime which played to thousands of schoolchildren each year.

During his 40-year connection with Haddo, the then home of Lady Aberdeen, he also directed royalty when Prince Edward appeared as one of the Haddo Players in productions including Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale.

It was also during this period that his own work began winning awards. It included the plays Fooshion, set in the back green of an Aberdeen tenement, and Amang The Craws, a copy of which went into Scottish secondary schools for use in Higher English and drama courses.

From then on Doric plays were a significant part of his work. He provided all but one of 15 plays staged by Doric drama company Fleeman Productions and had directed a rehearsal of Skirlie, his play featuring three dinner ladies, just days before he died.

He had also just completed another major work – an adaptation of author David Toulmin's only novel Blown Seed – and a tour, which he would most likely have directed, will mark the centenary next year of Toulmin's birth. Three of his one-act plays based on Toulmin's short stories are currently in line for a revival.

Other works in English and Glaswegian have been performed by Glasgow's Annexe Theatre and Dragon Productions and Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

In 1961 Mr Barron married teacher and accomplished amateur actress Margo Shand, with whom he had one son. His wife appeared in several of his plays, including Dearest Dorothy, a full-length one-woman play he wrote for her and which she performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and in several Scottish stately homes.

In addition to writing plays, some of which were site-specific, he had also written and directed son-et-lumieres at venues all over Scotland. One of his works, a son-et-lumiere script created for Braemar Castle more than 40 years ago, is now being revived with an updated version due to be staged in September.

Widowed by his first wife, he is survived by their son Charlie, his second wife Gina, a drama teacher, and their son Peter, along with grandchildren Ivy and Olly.