BETH MARSHALL came to Glasgow from Fife 20 years ago to study Scottish Literature and Theatre Studies.

And while she learned a great deal about Scottish literature she admits she is still learning about theatre.

"That's the great thing about theatre," she says.

"You never quite know what will happen. But you do learn that theatre should be about telling a good story.

"And when everyone puts in the work there's a chance something special will happen."

The "good story" Beth is working on this week at Oran Mor is The King's Kilt.

Written by Rona Munro, directed by Marilyn Imrie, it also features David Mara and Alison Peebles.

It's set in 1822 and Walter Scott is preparing a reluctant Scotland for the arrival of her monarch, George IV, the first of his royal house to venture north of the Border.

And to greet his Scottish subjects the King must have a kilt.

But getting him one becomes an almost impossible task as Edinburgh's best kilt maker flatly refuses to make it.

Already a radio play starring comedy legend Stanley Baxter, the piece has been rewritten for the stage.

"It's all about Walter Scott's attempts to heal rifts," she says.

"I play the kiltmaker, who's a Highland lady called Elsa who has ended up in Edinburgh. She's a good character. She's funny and honest.

"It's a comedy, but there's a real truth to it.

"It reflects the reality of what the Highlanders went through, ending up in Edinburgh or Glasgow, and how they dealt with it. One of the characters is particularly bitter. But that all adds for the comedy.

"And Rona has done a great job of telling the history of a people through one person's voice.

"She's also a good observer of people."

David plays Walter Scott and Alison plays an array of landladies - and Beth is delighted to be working on a play underscored by a huge talent base.

But she admits she wasn't always convinced she could make it as a performer.

In fact, she says she tried her hardest to avoid being an actor.

"I thought it to be the most ridiculous, unstable, insecure job in the world," she explains.

"I had a notion of becoming an actor when I was at school. I did school plays and all that sort of nonsense.

"But I was quite shy as a teenager and didn't think I'd be able to survive drama school.

"So I figured I'd go to uni and just see what happened. But the feeling of being an actor never went away."

SHE adds, grinning: "Getting up there on stage can be addictive. And although you work hard and the pay isn't great, you do get to run around like a three-year-old.

"Essentially, you are just making up stories and having a laugh."

The shyness disappears, says Beth, when the costume is worn and you take on someone else's voice.

"That's true. I couldn't do karaoke, as me up there on stage. I did it once and it was the most humiliating experience of my life."

Over the years, Beth has worked in a range of great productions and enjoyed the great female roles, such as Lady Macbeth and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing.

But what of the times when you find yourself in a production that doesn't quite work?

"You can get it terribly wrong," she says, smiling.

"But you just sort of make the most of it and hope you are working with the best folk who can help you do that."

She muses: "I suppose it's like a waitress who's serving up bad food. All you can do is keep apologising and hope no one kills you.

"In theatre, it's usually the director who gets it in the neck."

Beth cites her favourite production as The Night Before Christmas, the Anthony Neilson play in which an elf falls out Santa's sleigh and lands in a warehouse.

He tries hard to convince the warehouse workers he's not a junkie dressed as an elf, but is "infected with Christmas dust".

"The part was originally a male role," she says.

"But then again elfs are androgynous, so I felt I could make it work."

And she did, picking up great reviews.

These days, Beth is clearly delighted she made the leap into acting.

"You don't get the three holidays a year, the expensive cars and all the rest of it.

"And you have to do other jobs along the way.

"But the pay off is you get to go to work every day and really enjoy it. How many people can say that?"

n The King's Kilt, Oran Mor, until Saturday.