Dame Muriel Spark was born in Edinburgh on 1 February 1918. To celebrate, a new partnership between the National Theatre of Scotland and The Royal Lyceum Theatre in association with Pitlochry Festival Theatre, has been announced.
A new production of David Harrower’s adaptation of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark will tour the country later this year. Naming Gayle Rankin in the lead role, NTS have released photos of Rankin by British photographer, Rankin. The photos of Ms Rankin were captured by Rankin in his London studio.
Muriel Spark’s fictional character, Miss Jean Brodie, is one of her most recognisable – and particularly so in Edinburgh. The school on which the Marcia Blaine School for Girls was based was James Gillespie’s School for Girls in the capital. Gayle Rankin played one of the pupils in the 2003 production at The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and now she will come home to play the title role. Miss Brodie was known for choosing her “set” of girls each year – the creme de la creme to be shaped and guided in the arts and politics. The only stipulation is that they are entirely loyal to her. The story, set in Edinburgh in 1936, was first published in the New Yorker and reissued in volume form in 1961.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was only one of 22 novels which Dame Muriel wrote, and the book has been adapted many times for stage and screen, famously starring Dame Maggie Smith in the 1969 film version.
Gayle Rankin is a Tony Award-nominated Scottish performer well known for her role as Sheila the She-Wolf in the hit Netflix series GLOW. She recently finished a run on Broadway as Sally Bowles opposite Eddie Redmayne in the award-winning production of Cabaret (Tony nominated).
Other TV credits include House of the Dragon and Perry Mason (HBO). Film includes Alex Garland’s Men, Amazon’s Blow the Man Down, Bad Things and The Greatest Showman. New York theatre credits include Sam Gold’s Hamlet and Phyllida Lloyd’s The Taming of the Shrew.
Gayle Rankin said: “Working with the legendary photographer Rankin was an incredible experience. His deep curiosity as an artist, alongside Vicky Featherstone and me, helped crack open the earliest beginnings of our Jean Brodie – approaching her not just as an icon, a myth or character, but as a real woman for our time. We were thrilled to start this journey with Rankin’s lens on her.”
Rankin has produced campaigns for brands including Rolls-Royce, Unilever, L’Oreal and Lego®. His rule-breaking work has also been used in creative projects for charities such as Women’s Aid and Macmillan.
As a photographer, Rankin’s portfolio ranges from portraiture to documentary. He has shot The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Kate Moss, Kendall Jenner and Zendaya to name only a few. In 2023 Rankin photographed King Charles III to mark the monarch’s 75th Birthday for The Big Issue magazine.
As a publisher, Rankin co-founded the seminal magazine Dazed & Confused with Jefferson Hack in 1990 and has since published the likes of AnOther and AnOther Man, alongside over 40 books, and the fashion and culture publication Hunger. His photography has been published everywhere from his own publications to Elle, Vogue, Esquire, GQ, Rolling Stone, and Wonderland, and exhibited in galleries globally, including MoMA, New York, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Rankin said “It was a thrill and a privilege to be invited to capture the extraordinary Gayle Rankin in the iconic role of the dangerous but alluring Jean Brodie. Her power as an actor brought an electric theatricality to the shoot as can be seen in the final images. It was fantastic to collaborate with the National Theatre of Scotland on this production, which I hope I can get to see later this year.”
- The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
- Adapted by David Harrower from the novel by Muriel Spark
- Directed by Vicky Featherstone
- Featuring Gayle Rankin as Jean Brodie
- Touring Scotland from 02 October to 07 November 2026
