Tutti Fruitti to be performed at John Byrne gala dinner

Extracts from John Byrne’s classic drama Tutti Frutti will be performed on stage in Edinburgh at a gala dinner to be held in honour of the celebrated artist and writer.

Artist and playwright John Byrne

Still Game star Gavin Mitchell, who plays Boaby the Barman in the hit sitcom, will join forces with actress Clare Waugh, his co-star in the recent hit stage adaptation of Casablanca, to revive Byrne’s characters from his iconic rock ’n’ roll drama.

They will be recreating scenes from the BBC series, which was recently repeated on its new channel, at Lyon & Turnbull auction house, which is playing host to “The Byrne Supper” tomorrow.

Billed as a celebration of “the remarkable life and work of one of Scotland’s most distinctive and respected artists and playwrights”, it has been organised by Edinburgh-based arts charity The Iris Initiative, which hopes to raise more than £50,000 for its work.

Byrne has been patron of the charity since its inception a decade ago and has put his name to an annual creative arts prize open to 19- to 30-year-olds. The John Byrne Award attracted than 4,000 entries this year.