Sadie Aitken
Sadie Aitken (born Sarah Ross Aitken; 15 July 1905 – 5 January 1985) was a Scottish theatre manager, producer, actor and theatre activist prominent in Scottish theatre from 1935 until her death. Her contribution to theatre in Scotland spanned amateur, community, applied and professional drama. As a compliment, she was nicknamed "The Caledonian Lilian Baylis". Early years Born to mother Lily Birss and father William Aitken in Dunbar, Scotland, Aitken attended Stockbridge and Broughton schools. She was first introduced to theatre at a fundraising pageant at Craigmillar Castle. Career Her first job was working in a lawyer's office, and she joined the Church of Scotland social services in 1927. In 1928 Aitken became the first Edinburgh District secretary of the Scottish Community Drama Association (SCDA), filling this role until the 1970s. Even as she continued in that capacity, she took on amateur and professional acting roles . A proponent of community arts activity, Aitken worked with young boys in the 1930s in drama at the Little Theatre in the Pleasance (at the time it was a slum where her father worked as a church official), and she founded the SCDA's St. Andrews Summer school in 1942. She continued her work