Dallmeyer, described as a veteran actor and playwright, began his theatre work in the 1960s as an actor in
Bristol Old Vic and
Nottingham Playhouse performances. At the age of 26 he was the
artistic director at
Liverpool Playhouse, although he didn't enjoy it and instead wanted to focus on writing his own plays. As a playwright, Dallmeyer has written over 75 plays despite admitting he is unable to type He was commissioned by the
Baron of Prestongrange and has written a number of plays for him. He won three Fringe First awards as well as a
BAFTA Scotland Award for the Best Radio Play of 1985 in Scotland. In 1982,
The Times pointed out that he was able to put on three separate successful Fringe shows each year. Much of Dallmeyer's work has not been published or put into print and therefore he holds the only copy of many plays.
1980s The Opium Eater, based on
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by
Thomas De Quincey, The play was published by
Capercaillie Books, made into a television production (featuring
Peter Mullan) and a radio version directed by
Stewart Conn.
The Boys in the Backroom was part of a series of plays, produced by Salamander Press, called The
Traverse Plays. The plays were written in celebration of Scottish playwrights and Dallmeyer's play was fifth in the series. Following a performance in Los Angeles in 1987 it reviewed by the
Los Angeles Times as "sophomoric and forgettable." and
Neil Cunningham. It has been performed in many countries including: Scotland, England, United States, Belgium, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. The play was described as a "scatological, emotional and artistic biography". Despite the Lyceum being praised for commissioning a new play with regional importance Dallmeyer defended the play, stating "I am not trying to create a sensation; it is just that I feel the piece is strong". His stage play,
Playing a Blinder, which attempted to re-create the 1940
Edinburgh Derby's New Year's Day match, in which the commentator improvised what was happening on the pitch due to severe fog, was aired in 2002 on BBC Radio 4. The cast included
Andy Gray and
Gavin Mitchell. The play took Dallmeyer two years to create Dallmeyer wrote the musical
Burns Supper, in collaboration with composer David Todd, inspired by the
bard Robert Burns. They then donated the script to schools around the country and a competition was held, in conjunction with charity 'First Scottish Film Features', to find the best school performance. Some of the work was then presented at the Fringe festival.
2010s Dallmeyer wrote the play
Thank God for John Muir based on the life of
John Muir and specifically based on the period in Muir's life when an industrial accident left him blind. It was reviewed in 2011 as an "emotional and sensory journey", yet Alan Chadwick, from
The Herald, described it as "too static" and the ending was "underwhelming". The play was scheduled to be a part of the 2015 John Muir celebrations in
East Lothian. ==Plays written by Dallmeyer==