DAVE Anderson's warm nostalgic play Butterfly Kiss is set to tour Scotland.

Telling the story of his teenage self, it takes audiences on a trip down memory lane and first-love experience.

The writer/actor/musician makes the leap back in time to 1960 in this musical in which 'an old guy' visits a seaside museum, and finds a Punch & Judy stall.

And when no-one is looking, he peeks in and finds himself back in time. The young man is now 15 years old, and holidaying on the West of Scotland.

It's a world of rock n'roll, of teenagers, rampant hormones and lazy days gazing into rock pools. And girls. There's a girl around. But is she the girl of his dreams?

Wildcat Theatre veteran Dave evokes glorious memories, because after all, wasn't life so much more simple - and fun - back then?

"Well, that's the way we like to remember it," says the musical theatre star. "But of course, it was tough at times."

Dave isn't pleading a dark, dramatic personal life story. Growing up in Rutherglen, he feels the family of seven were relatively better off.

"We lived in a council house with a big garden," he recalls. "Most folk lived in tenements with outside toilets.

"Of course, the house had only two bedrooms, and there were five children, so we had to rotate the living room for a month at a time. But we didn't complain. That's just the way it was for so many."

Dave's dad worked for an insurance company, from the day he left the army 'till the day he retired. The security meant they had holidays each year on the coast.

"Yes, we'd send a trunk ahead," he says of stints in the likes of Saltcoats. "Then we'd take a train or bus to the coast.

"My memories are of windy beaches and my dad coaxing us into the freezing sea," he says with a mock shudder. "And sandwiches covered in sand. But we managed to tell ourselves we were having a great time."

He adds, grinning:"And for some reason we got cartons of pineapple juice, which was very exotic at the time. It was a change from cod liver oil spoonfuls."

The play is about growing up. It's about a young man on the edge of manhood.

What was Dave like as a teenager? Was he a rock 'n' roll rebel?

"I was quite a good boy. But I did love the music, which I heard on Radio Luxembourg, listening under the blankets.

"The young Elvis, the pre-1960 Elvis, was a god to me. When I heard him for the first time I couldn't quite believe my ears.

"And he paved the way for later heroes such as Ray Charles and Fats Domino. I'd go to cafes in the south side such as Marie's, in Rutherglen, who was happy for us to drink one Coke and feed the jukebox.

"Then the Cross Cafe was a big attraction. But it seemed the town was full of cafes and cinemas at the time."

The cafes in Scotland offered a portal into another world, of American music, a slice of the American dream.

As a result, Dave's play, which stars Katie Barnett and Jack Mullen, highlights the comparison. In Scotland's west coast, for most, cars and telephones and fridges were still unaffordable.

It's also about lost love,a young man on the rebound because his girlfriend left him for an older guy, who's 17.

The innocence of youth can't possibly last. But it's a period Dave was determined to write about.

"And I had to get it right, knowing so many people had shared that experience," he says.

And when he saw his 15-year-old self on stage, with all his spots and angst and fears for the future, did he want to be him again?

"Oh sure!" says Dave grinning. "We all want to be ourselves at 15. Even if we were miserable." He adds, laughing; "It's still better than being 68."

l Butterfly Kiss, Oran Mor March 26 & April 17; Ayr Gaiety April 2, Cumbernauld Theatre April 4; Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, April 21.