Drama Specialist Advisors
Lorna Duguid
Chris Dolan
Sylvia Dow
Tim Licata
Sandy Maxwell
Alex Patience
Rebecca Robinson
Steve Slater
Laura Tyrell
Chloe Dear
Lindsay Thorburn
Sandy McRobbie
Sita Ramamurthy
Stephen Stenning
Stewart Ennis
Jack Bradley
David Leddy
Lorna Duguid has over 20 years experience working in theatre in a variety of contexts, including seven years as Marketing manager of the Citizens Theatre, and latterly as Executive Director of Dundee Rep. She is currently working as a freelance theatre producer and consultant. She has worked for many companies including 7:84, TAG Theatre Company, Sounds of Progress, Untitled and V.amp productions.
Chris Dolan was born in Glasgow in 1957 and has worked for Community Services Volunteers and as an International Consultant for UNESCO (Youth, Sports and Arts).
His prose includes Poor Angel, (shortlisted for the Saltire Prize 1996) and Ascension Day (McKitterick Prize 2001). His short story, Sleet and Snow, was winner of the Scotland on Sunday/Macallan prize in 1995, and he has had stories published in magazines, newspapers and collections. Chris was winner of the Robert Louis Stevenson Award in 2000.
He won a Scottish Screenwriting Bursary in 1994 and his films include Poor Angels (30 minutes, 1996); The Ring of Truth, based on notes by Bill Douglas (BBC 1999) and An Anarchist’s Story (drama documentary, BBC 2006).
He has had over 70 hours of television drama credits, including Taggart, Eurokids, River City, High Road and Alba na 70’s, and has had plays performed in Scotland, London, Italy, Spain and Germany. His play Sabina (Faber and Faber, 1997) won a Fringe First in 1997 and has had nine productions to date, and his adaptation of Schlink’s The Reader will be produced again in Los Angeles in 2007. Another play, Leather Bound, has been performed at Oran Mor and Teatro Gayarre, Pamplona.
Chris has done translations of three new Spanish plays to date, and his radio work includes original plays for Radios 3 and 4 and adaptations of Marquez, Stevenson, Eco and others. He is a regular writer and presenter of features and documentaries on BBC Radio Scotland, as well as a regular features, arts, and travel contributor to national newspapers. In 2001 he won the Canongate Prize for Journalism.
He has had some poetry published and is a tutor in screenwriting, prose and theatre including workshops in Pamplona. Board memberships include Glasgow’s CCA, Centro Lorca Spanish School.
ALAM, LRAM, FRCS-
Sylvia Dow was born and educated in Scotland initially training as an actor in Edinburgh, graduating as an honours gold medallist in acting. After extensive travel abroad, in Africa and USA, during which time she worked in jobs as diverse as dime store assistant and radio actor, she returned to Scotland, as tutor in history of theatre, and in acting, at the Edinburgh College of Speech and Drama (forerunner to Queen Margaret University College). She then trained as a drama teacher, heading the drama department for 13 years in a challenging comprehensive school in West Lothian.
She was the first Arts Education Officer at the MacRobert Arts Centre in Stirling establishing the education programme there, then moved on to the post of Arts Education Co-ordinator for Central Region, a post which acted as a model for the successful Creative Links project she initiated as the first Head of Education and Lifelong Learning at The Scottish Arts Council, which she held for 10 years. Currently she is a freelance arts education consultant working in a variety of areas including project management, consultancy, and training.
She is in demand as a speaker at many international and UK conferences and is regularly invited to the USA and Japan to give seminars on a variety of arts education topics. She is a member of the Boards of Scottish Ballet, Arts and Communities, Tapestry Partnership, and Licketyspit Theatre Company, and is Chair of the National Youth Music Initiative Steering Group.
Tim Licata is a performer, director, and teacher. He has worked with companies including: Theatre Sans Frontieres, Benchtours, In Cahoots, Lung Ha’s Theatre Company, Dundee Rep. Theatre and internationally with Vienna International Theatre, Shakespeare Company Berlin and the House of Candles in New York.
Tim is Artistic Director of Plutôt la Vie, an Edinburgh based physical/visual theatre company, whose first production, A Clean Sweep, has toured Scotland and internationally. Plutôt la Vie is currently developing a production of First You’re Born by Danish playwright Line Knutzon for touring in spring 2008. In 2000 he directed Bertolt Brecht’s play “Man is Man” in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was the first collaboration of its kind between Serb and Muslim youth theatres since the 1995 peace agreement. Tim teaches workshops in physical theatre, improvisation, play and laughter for professional companies and community groups in Britain, Europe and the United States. He also works as a clowndoctor for Hearts&Minds, a charity that delivers the Clowndoctors and Elderflowers programs in Scotland.
Tim studied theatre arts at Vassar College and trained as a performer with the Piven Theatre Workshop, Ecole Philippe Gaulier/Monica Pagneux in Paris, Pierre Byland, Jos Houben and Ben Benison. Tim is a Feldenkrais Practitioner and teaches Awareness Through Movement and Clowning at Dance Base in Edinburgh
Sandy currently works part-time for North East Arts Touring (NEAT) bringing performances to venues all over the North East by direct promotion as well as giving advice/assistance to local arts promoters. He has a background in arts project and production management having worked for groups as diverse as Wee Stories to the Screen Machine; developing the first mobile cinema for the Highlands & Islands. He has also worked for various theatres around Glasgow such as the Tron and the Cottier (which he set up as a theatre in the mid 90’s).
Further afield he briefly ran the Garrison Theatre in Shetland and has worked on projects such as the Belfast Carnival, Largs Viking Festival and the Lochgilphead Lantern Festival. He was the first administrator of S4T (Scottish Theatres Technical Training Trust). In his spare time while not commuting between Glasgow and the North East he is the conservation activities co-ordinator for the John Muir Trust and runs work parties on their seven properties all over Scotland. His recent 15 minutes of fame came from excavating a piano under a cairn on the summit of Ben Nevis, pictures of him breaking it up with a mattock appeared in papers worldwide and even on BBC’s Newsround! His particular interest is in the design of rural buildings (both new build and adaptations) and how they can be effectively used for touring arts performances.
Alexandria Patience is a theatre professional who has worked in a large variety of art structures and art forms. She has worked extensively as a performer, director, writer/collaborator, storyteller, instructor & in theatre development. She returned to Scotland after a ten year stint as the Artistic Director of Maenad Theatre in Calgary, Canada.
She has worked predominantly with new works for theatre. As a cross-over artist she has collaborated with visual artists to create installations and mixed media performance works. A long-term exploration of theatre and performance art with Métis artist, Cheryl L’Hirondelle led to tandem presentations, ‘Mother Tongue’ within both visual art and theatre settings. MasQuirx was a long-term project which brought together performers, visual artists, composers & anthropologists to create performance works and exhibitions which toured Canada and SE Asia. Alex was a curator/programmer for herland film and video Celebration for seven years.
In 2004 she directed ‘see me’, a video short with Aberdeen’s homeless community, which was screened in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Athens. In 2004 she created a Millennium Fund sponsored audio artwalk on the North coast of Scotland. A second audio artwalk, sponsored through the Lighthouse Innovation Fund begins during the Highland year of Culture 2007. She has narrated talking books, performed in radio drama and film and video and is the playwright/co-writer of ‘Aphra’, ‘Mother Tongue’, ‘Speaking in (Mother) Tongues’ & ‘The Cocoa Diary’. She worked with the Assynt community as a part of Grey Coast Theatre to create ‘An Interesting Experiment‘ a community theatre piece to celebrate the ten year anniversary of the land buyout of that area.
Rebecca Robinson trained as an actress with Philipe Gaulier and Monika Pagneux (Paris) before returning to Scotland in 1990 to co-found the theatre ensemble ‘benchtours’. Over the following nine years, Rebecca performed in numerous productions and toured extensively both nationally and internationally (including Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, India and Australia).
In 1999, following the birth of her daughter, she embarked on a degree in Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Glasgow. After gaining a first class MA honours, she went on to complete an LLM in human rights law and was then employed as the co-ordinator for the Make Poverty History coalition in Scotland. In 2005, Rebecca was awarded an AHRC collaborative studentship and is currently carrying out doctoral research, focusing on the National Theatre of Scotland.
Rebecca has a broad interest in all forms of theatre, with a particular interest in ‘physical’, 'experimental’ and trans-national theatre practices and non-western theatrical traditions.
Burning history…
At the start he was a Punk who went to art school as a way out - winding up studying film, installation and performance.On graduating, he moved to Brighton and, as a way to earn some extra cash, took a position as coordinator of Zap Artreach, a community project linked to the Zap Club.
Moving to Glasgow, he began his re-education in arts programming. Timing is everything, and he supposes that his arrival in Glasgow in 1988, in the build up to Glasgow’s ‘1990 City of Culture’, was very fortuitous.
At the Third Eye Centre, he was able to define my programming skills and artistic parameters – inspired by much of the work he saw - particularly dance, theatre and performance. The flood of artists, ideas and new work that passed through the city during this time set the standard for his programming vision.
After Third Eye he became Administrator at Paisley Arts Centre. He learnt about the difficulties of balancing a programme with the needs of the local community. Commissioning dance from Scotland and the UK, coupled with his desire to occasionally turn the building upside down and inside out brought him to the attention of Bob Palmer and the Performing Arts Department, which ran Tramway….
Now, eleven years on, Tramway is almost a part of him. He loves its ability to change, adapt and nurture. There is always challenge there, always questions to be answered. Tramway is a gateway to new Ideas. It’s an adrenalin rush of new visions and experiences, which he says he guesses he's hooked on.
If history is the fire that forges the future, he hopes he can continue to help feed the flames.
Laura Tyrrell is West Lothian Council’s Creative Links Officer. She manages the Cultural Co-ordinators initiative and the Dance Development Programme and has responsibility for developing and implementing a sustainable arts education strategy for the Local Authority.
Part of her remit is to ensure that the Authority’s principal arts venue, Howden Park Centre, promotes a performing arts programme for children and young people which compliments the curriculum. Prior to her appointment as Creative Links Officer she was responsible for the drama and dance programming at Howden Park Centre. She is a founder member and Secretary of the Scottish Touring Theatres Consortium (STTC), an association of promoters and theatre venues which aims to create and support high quality, accessible and relevant theatre. She is a member of the National Arts Education Network and also sits on the Board of Catherine Wheels Theatre Company.
Street/outdoor performance has been Chloë’s passion since her first exposure to the genre in 1989 although it was only in 1994 that she began to develop her knack for producing work in unusual settings and formats, particularly outdoors. Her preference has always been for highly physical and visual performance including circus and street theatre. In 1999, she joined Boilerhouse and was instrumental in the company’s shift in to street theatre. This has included producing THE BRIDGE which played to 18,000 people in two days in Angers, France and 3600” which toured to 13 major European street festivals in 5 countries in 2005-06. Her favourite Boilerhouse show however, was the triumphant RUNNING GIRL.
Now producing independently, she is working with companies in Scotland, England, Ireland, France and Netherlands. In 2006, she was awarded one of the first two Creative Producer Bursaries by Scottish Arts Council. Although always retaining a fondness for the spectacular and the colourful, her particular specialism is content-driven work created for the outdoors and touring it internationally, Chloë is also greatly involved in the wider development of street arts. She is an active steering group member of both the National Association of Street Artists and Scottish Streetnet.
Lindsay Thorburn is a Lecturer and Course Leader in Performing Arts at a Scottish F.E. College. She graduated in 2002 with a First Class Joint Honours Degree in Performance Studies and Visual Arts. As an undergraduate, Lindsay worked with adults with learning difficulties and devised innovative programmes to assist clients developing better communication. As a result of her success she was head hunted by the College and has grown into an educationalist, directing, leading and mentoring Drama students through HNC and HND Acting and Performance as well as working with the wider community including school children and adults with mental health issues.
A few notable productions directed by Lindsay include: 'Once a Catholic' by Mary O’Malley, 'Suburbia' by Eric Bogosian, 'Brown Bread' by Roddy Doyle, 'Blood Wedding' by Lorca and 'Strippers' by Peter Terson.
Lindsay’s personal accomplishments are in filmmaking and installation work using actors and performers in blended contemporary pieces which stimulate the senses. Lindsay had added to her skills base by attending the Apple Teachers workshops at Cheltenham College where she saturates herself in technology and its wider applications in relation to the performing arts.
Lindsay’s career aspirations lie in education and in ensuring that opportunity to access the Arts is available to the wider community.
Sandy currently works as the Technical Manager at Liverpool Empire Theatre. He was previously Technical and Project Manager at His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen where he played a significant part in the recent extension and refurbishment scheme. This also involved designing and production managing the ‘Hilton Project’ – the conversion of an old university lecture hall into a fully equipped 600 seat theatre to act as HMTs’ temporary home whilst building work was in progress.
Having started his backstage career in Aberdeen, Sandy spent a number of years touring theatrical musicals as well as with numerous rock and pop acts – usually as the lighting designer or production electrician, and he was an early member of the ALD (Association of Lighting Designers). Working as an inhouse designer and production manager for Theatre Projects Services allowed experience to be gained on a huge diversity of productions and in a myriad of different venues. This included technical consultancy in buildings such as Haileybury Colleges’ Ayckbourn Theatre and the London Hippodrome.
Prior to his time at HMT, Sandy was the Aerial Department Team Leader for the Central Arena Show in the Millennium Dome. This was an ambitious and innovative production which involved flying up to 26 performers simultaneously. Sandy remains keen to see technician training and the appropriate use of technology enhance production values at every level.
Sita Ramamurthy is a director, actor, writer, dramaturg and arts consultant with more than 20 years of experience in the Arts. Her greatest strength is an ability to combine her creative talents with management expertise to establish projects.
As a consultant, her skills include developing a vision, writing business plans, devising fundraising strategies, developing partnerships, facilitating workshops.
She also has extensive experience working as a performer, director, writer and producer in the performing arts for a range of organisations in the UK, India and South East Asia. She was the Artistic Associate of Haymarket Theatre Leicester (four years); Programme Director for decibel at Arts Council England where she raised £5 million and Associate Director of Theatre Centre. She has been on the board of several arts organisations including Vice Chair of East Midlands Arts (5 years) and a number of theatre companies. She is a Fellow of the RSA.
Current/ recent work includes-
- Expert Advisor for Heritage Lottery Fund
- Evaluator for Maximise, national project for Arts Council England
- Evaluator for Hi8us Projects – Equal Programme project
- New Writing Manager for Theatre Royal Stratford East
- Touring one woman show – Memories of an Indian Childhood
- Travel writing for India Chronicle
- Presenter for It’s My Story for BBC Radio 4.
Currently Chief Executive of Aberdeen International Youth Festival, Stephen has spent most of his career in theatre, first as an actor then a writer/director. As a playwright/adapter he wrote commissions for West End producer Bill Kenwright and adapted European writers for the English stage including Dario Fo (Abducting Diana published in 1993) and Ginette Beauvais Garcin.
Stephen has always been involved in Youth/Community Theatre and Theatre in Education. In 1985 was a founder member of Moving Theatre and in 1988 helped to set up the education team at Unicorn Theatre for Children in London. In 1998 he moved to Scotland and joined the directorial team at Dundee Rep Theatre. As a freelance director he has worked in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Sweden and Turkey, set-up co-productions with theatres in Bulgaria, Romania and the US and worked for organisations as diverse as The Home Office, The BBC and UNICEF.
Whilst at Dundee Rep he led the Community Company, one of the UK’s biggest and most widely respected deliverers of community arts. In 2003 Stephen took over the Aberdeen International Youth Festival and established the organisation as a major arts provider based in NE Scotland. He produced the National Theatre of Scotland’s launch ‘HOME’ production in Aberdeen.
Stewart Ennis was born in Bridge of Weir in 1961. He worked as a journalist for Scottish Universal Newspapers, as a nurse and then a printer before training at East 15 Acting school and later at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier and Darpana Academy in Ahmedabad, India.
In 1990 he co-founded Benchtours Theatre Co, appearing in and devising many of their earlier shows such as the award winning Peepshow, devised with Pete Brooks. In 1997 he helped create a co production between Scots and Malawian performers which toured villages around Malawi and Tanzania. In 1998 he created For Your Pleasure Productions for which he has written and performed three shows, including The Dark Room and Robert Burns Celtic Complex. Other theatre work includes The Arches, Communicado, Dundee Rep, TAG, Reeling and Writhing and Theatre sans Frontiers. Stewart has worked on a number of tv and feature films including 'Play Me Something' by Tim Neat and John Berger.
As a teacher Stewart has taught devised theatre workshops throughout the U.K, Europe and in India. For the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama he has worked as outside assessor for the Movement Dept, led a variety of workshops and directed for the M.A course at the Edinburgh Festival. He was also Movement Director for the Arches show Caligari. Recently he has been involved with performance workshops organized by the Scottish Poetry Library. Stewart is also performance reviewer for the National Council for Drama Training.
Two years ago Stewart was one of the first Playwrights' Studio, Scotland Ignite Award winners for his play Red Lorry Yellow. He is currently involved in creating a series of children’s poetry, music and theatre performances at the Kibble Palace in Glasgow.
Jack Bradley began work as a playwright in 1975 (Stepping Stones, Royal Court, Young Writers’ Festival) and continued to do so throughout the 80’s and early 90’s, with 20 productions to his name. Over time, he became more involved in play development and literary management and worked at the Soho Theatre (1989-94) before joining the Royal National Theatre where he was Literary Manager for 12 years, advising on the repertoire for Richard Eyre, Trevor Nunn and Nicholas Hytner, spearheading their new play policy.
As a dramaturg he has taught and run workshops internationally – from Belfast to Buenos Aires, Oslo to Soweto. He has taught on creative courses throughout Britain. He is now a freelance dramaturg and has resumed work as a playwright. In addition, he is Literary Associate to Sonia Friedman Productions in the West End of London.
David Leddy is a writer, director, performer and producer based in Glasgow. He has been described as a 'theatrical maverick' by the Financial Times, 'one of the most exciting and energetic artists working in British theatre today' by Total Theatre magazine and 'the rising star of Scottish Theatre' by The Observer.
Recent projects have included Home Hindrance, a site-specific performance and web-based film performed to an audience of six people in Leddy’s own flat and Sussurus, a sonic art piece experienced on headphones as the audience of one person followed a map around Glasgow’s botanic gardens.
He is the first person in Scotland to complete a practice-based PhD in theatre for his Corbicula Cycle of solo performances looking at ways of fusing cultural theory with populist performance forms. Outside Scotland his work has been shown in London, Amsterdam, Boston and Buenos Aires and is studied on various undergraduate degree courses in the UK. |