Greenock Players stalwart in spotlight after years backstage

Dougie Henry is a panto key player who has spent three decades making the festive season extra special for generations of children.

The Greenock Players stalwart built the sets for countless pantomimes and shows at the former Greenock Arts Guild.

Grandfather Dougie, 78, said: "I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of the sets I made were absolute crackers. There was the magic mirror for the wicked queen in Snow White, a Cinderella carriage, big 3D ship for Robinson Crusoe and even a Roc bird whose wings flapped, it was suspended from the roof.

"I liked creating the magic and watching back stage and seeing all the kids' faces when they came in."

The backstage expert was an engineer and a member of Mensa, and his technical skills came in very handy in the drama world.

Dougie was born and bred in Greenock, one of three siblings, growing up with sister Betty and his younger brother David. Betty sadly passed away but he is still very close to his brother.

He was brought up in Dalrymple Street and then the family moved to Wellington Street.

Dougie attended Highlanders' Academy and Holmscroft schools before moving to Braeside and he attended Lady Alice Primary and Greenock High School.

His first job was for Hector Russell Industries, a kilt shop in West Blackhall Street before being taken on at British Telecom. He stayed there for nine years before starting work at IBM where he worked his way up to become leading technical engineer.

He said: "I enjoyed working for IBM, it was an excellent company to work for and I went all over the world."

Dougie says he got 'roped in' to the Players when his daughter Karen, now 54, got involved and he never looked back.

He said: "I started helping out backstage and building sets, then became the stage manager and was there for more than 30 years."

Dougie says his involvement in the drama scene became a real family affair, with his late wife Irene also working in the Arts Guild cafe and taking their youngest daughter Julie along while she was working.

Julie, now 40 and the depute head teacher at Gourock Primary School, said: "I grew up in the building, I ran about there while my mum was working."

Dougie said: "The Players and the Arts Guild were like a family."

Mr Henry met his beloved wife Irene at a boat club dance and they were married for almost 50 years before she sadly passed away in 2015. Dougie still stays in the Robertson Street home they settled in to raise their family.

The couple were blessed with two daughters and a son Russell, 47, and Dougie now has four granddaughters, Jillian, Annie, Reenie and Bonnie.

His granddaughters have caught the theatre bug with Karen's daughter Jillian involved with Greenock Players and Russell's daughters Annie and Reenie members of the local Prominence Academy of Performing Arts.

Dougie made many friends over the years through the Arts Guild - including one very unusual one. He says he encountered the famous ghost which was long said to have haunted the balcony.

He told the Telegraph: "I saw him on the right hand side of the balcony two rows from the back. I was coming down the stairs at the left hand side of the stage which came out into the auditorium and out of the corner of my eye I saw him. I said, 'don't just stand there, come and give me a hand'. It was an old guy in a boiler suit. Lots of people saw the ghost."

Away from the Arts Guild Dougie also travelled to Nova Scotia with the Greenock Players through the One Act Play International Festival, where the group performed The Cheviot, Stag and the Black, Black Oil.

He is very proud of his Greenock roots and of the community he has quietly served in the background.

He was a volunteer driver with Port Glasgow Voluntary Transport group, taking kids to Craigmarloch School, and is still technical director of the Talking Newspaper group, as well as an avid angler and member of the IBM retirees group.

Dougie said: "It's a small community in Greenock, I think it is a special place because of the attitude of the people."