Meet the Makers 2021
BA(Hons) Drama and Performance class of 2021
Alina Ben Larbi
Alina Ben Larbi is a socio-political theatre-maker, Weltverbesserer, and process-princess. She started her career as an actress on German TV before accidentally writing and co-directing a stage play, discovering her passion for designing creative processes. Today, her plays are product of her research on how theatre can be used for positive change-making in an ever-changing world and are centred around dystopian and utopian ideas on current socio-political issues. She has a passion for interdisciplinary and cross-art work which is reflected in her pursued PhD career as well as her half-scientific performances, half-asleep autobiographic poetry, half-out-the-shower music, and half-bill-paying film-making.
Email allalina@web.de
Website nicessity.eu
Anne Bonney
Anne Bonney is a German born English actress, who began acting professionally at the tender age of five – and never really thought to stop. Having started so young, she has a long resume, boasting videogame credits and film roles – although recently her most lucrative work has been voicing characters in English textbooks. Annie began as - and remains - a voice actress, but since her start has uncovered a penchant for classical plays, in the role of actor or assistant director.
Her abilities align most with classical acting, as she sings, fences, and dances, as well as having experience in costume, makeup, and stage management. She has always appreciated a challenge, for example writing a script – which was unthinkable to her before attending University.
Her lifelong dream has been to act in the Royal Shakespeare Company, and she has always found it strange to write about herself in third person.
Email annejbonney@gmail.com
Twitter @AnneJBonney
Zuper Rookie
In his day to day personal life, Luke Carmichael (He/him) is a quiet and chilled 24 year old from East Kilbride, Scotland. By night, in his artistic endeavours, he is Zuper Rookie, a performance artist, musician and creative extraordinaire. In his creative pursuits he attempts to capture the weird and wonderful of day to day life and showcasing its beauties and horrors. He believes in forward thinking, diversity, fairness and passion in art. He strives to include these messages both directly and indirectly in his work, all the while creating interesting and emotional experiences for his audiences. His work includes original music, visual accompaniments, short films, theatrical performance, writing and artwork.
Email zuperrookieofficial@gmail.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ZuperRookie/
Music available on Youtube, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and Tik Tok @Zuper Rookie
John Tulloch
John is an aspiring actor and theatre maker from the Highlands. He began acting with the Ullapool based group Create Youth Theatre, in their production of The Hobbit The Musical, where he played the Witch King of Agmar. He has also been involved with Buckie Community Theatre with their production of Cinderella and Out of The Darkness Theatre Company with their production of Teechers. In his free time, John enjoys playing Dungeons and Dragons and other board games along with video games like Skyrim. Next to this, John enjoys learning about back stage roles in theatre lighting design, sound design, stage deign and prop management. John's current goals are to go on to gain his Masters through one of the many drama schools in the UK and to work with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He hopes to one day understand why people like Shakespeare and hopes that by immersing himself in the Bard's work will understand.
Shannon Diack
Shannon is a small, nerdy and enthusiastic person from Edinburgh, Scotland. She loves acting and writing. When she is not pursuing her acting career she is playing Dungeons and Dragons, taking photographs for a possible side career in photography, or painting herself blue as another side career in cosplay. You can usually find her running around comic-cons emptying her bank to buy all the merch. What she lacks in academics she makes up in her creative skills and she is excited for her future, in which she plans to adopt as many cats as she can convince her partner to get.
Email missshannondiack@hotmail.com
Instagram @shannon.diack (professional)
@phoenixfeathercosplays (Cosplay)
@phoenixphotography01 (photography)
Lewis Hann
Lewis is a dramatically flamboyant and passionate theatre maker from Fife. He has a particular interest in pieces focusing on physical theatre, political works, and performances based around community. He has always had an interest in performing, from high school musicals to performing Shakespeare with the Scottish Youth Theatre. He has continued to develop his work, developing as a writer, choreographer and director. He hopes to create more performances and productions in the future before becoming a high school drama teacher.
Email Lewischrishann@gmail.com
Georgina Heriot
Georgina is an aspiring actor, writer, and theatre maker, hailing from Edinburgh, Scotland. She has been acting since the age of 8, participating yearly in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She has also worked creatively in other interdisciplinary work, such as: running the social media account for Shatter the Glass Productions; photography, including rehearsal shots for performances she has been involved with; she has also worked backstage as a stagehand for a couple of festival shows, and a dresser for the Scottish Ballet. She prides herself in her love for everything theatre, both on stage and off, finding joy in the creative process as a whole. She hopes to continue to evolve her passions and aspires for a career in the field, hoping that one day she could be in, or create the next big thing.
Email georgieheriot@googlemail.com
Instagram @ermGeorgie
Jade Hutchison
Jade is a Scottish creator from the Scottish Borders who loves to share stories. She is heavily inspired by myths, storytelling and history in her work with specific interest in how you can bring the old into the present. Jade loves all aspects of theatre creation from writing, directing and acting. She loves to incorporate her love for design and aesthetics into her works to create immersive experiences. Her love for storytelling goes further than theatre as she loves to read and play Dungeons and Dragons.
She aspires to continue to create work that inspire and offer a sense of magic to others.
Email jlhutchison@outlook.com
Lauren Ruth Hutton
Lauren is a Scottish performer and grew up in Perthshire, central Scotland. She has been performing since she was in nappies and took part in many School Musical productions from Primary School all the way to Secondary. She enjoys playing the fiddle, painting and writing poetry about our connection to spirituality, Nature and personal human experiences.
Lauren grew up surrounded by tradition and culture, mainly in the form of traditional Scottish music. One of her earliest memories is of spending time in the Tay Bank Music Bar in Dunkeld as a child and sitting on her brother's knee and giving an impromptu rendition of "Ally Bally Bee". She takes inspiration from her musical and cultural background as she believes that culture is a part of every person's story.
Lauren aspires to create visual and emotive works of performance that evoke a sense of identity and self discovery.
Gregor Mackenzie
Gregor is a vibrant young aspiring writer and performer, born in Gravesend in Kent before moving to the beautiful Highland village of Ullapool aged 11. He has been performing for as long as he can remember, from teaching himself to dance by watching videos of his idol, Britney Spears, to winning a High School Talent Show dressed up as Alesha Dixon. He began performing theatre officially at age 12 with Create Youth Theatre in Ullapool. He has always had a taste for pushing envelopes and thinking outside of the box, as his work suggests. He is passionate about starting conversations others may not want to. He starred in and came up with the main idea for a documentary based on his experiences in Ullapool, which is going to be used in PSE lessons in the village. He has also written many pieces throughout his time at University, around the themes of mental health, lucid dreaming, insomnia, the subconscious mind, death, the trials and tribulations of growing up, sexuality, the loss and the power of imagination, pot-brownie stealing gangsters and much more. He has also starred in a short-film for his friend Oskar’s final degree, which he found to be a challenging yet extremely worthwhile experience. He is passionate about mental health and aims to make a difference in the world with his work in these areas.
Email gregorxcx@gmail.com
Paulina Pruciak
Paulina, who was born in Poland but raised in Scotland, is an aspiring actor, director and writer who spends an unusual amount of time daydreaming. You will usually find her with her nose stuck in a book, crying over every movie or riding her bike at stupid o'clock to watch the sunrise. Her work is a reflection of her mind palace, which includes her anger towards the injustices present in this world, but also her love for seeing the beauty in the little things.
She is not a stranger to film sets due to being part of a locations department, having the opportunity to work on a few major feature films and therefore likes to add a cinematic feel to all of her work. Generally speaking, Paulina is a simple, easily-distracted by the outside world individual with an immense hunger for adventure and sharing her creativity with the world.
Email pruciakpaulina@gmail.com
Twitter @PPruciak
Instagram @paullina_pp
Bradley Reid
Bradley Reid is an actor, writer and musician orginating from Kilmarnock, Scotland. His admiration for acting came late, with his sole aspiration of being a footballer turning sour due to his inability to shout for the ball confidently. After seeing a former UHI student perform on stage alone at the tender age of 15, his dreams were swayed and his drive for an easier escape came into fruition. Bradley's most apparent performance to date was "Hear no evil, See no evil" which was performed at a Youth Performance Festival in Krosno, Poland. Although Bradley's love for acting arrived to the party fashionably late, his love for movies brought the keg early. With Adam Sandler being a prominant part of his childhood, his attraction to comedy has never been in doubt. To put it simply, Bradley is a comedic man with a dramatic punch.
Email bradleyreid2@hotmail.com
Facebook facebook.com/bradley.reid.50
Twitter @bradleyreidact1
Instagram @itschezney
James Reilly
James Reilly is an aspiring young actor from Dundee, Scotland. His dream to pursue acting as a profession stems back to 2002, his first trip to the movie theatre, experiencing Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man. This viewing of the film was his official introduction to the art of acting. This led him to take drama as a subject in school, along with gaining the opportunity to work with The Dundee Rep Youth Theatre and The Dundee Dramatic Society. James also has a background in Technical Theatre, and has continued to develop his stagecraft by taking part in extra-curricular productions. James hopes to achieve a career in acting for screen.
Email jamesdavidreilly6@gmail.com
Twitter @jdreilly66
Instagram @jamesreilly66
Paige Riddell
As a crafter, Dungeons and Dragons player, storyteller and all-around nerd, Paige normally spends her free time needle felting woolly creations or coming up with stories. She loves most things fantasy and whether it’s games, crafts, stories or media will happily spend her time immersing herself in fascinating new worlds of fiction. That being said; Paige doesn't know what she's doing. Writing in the third person. Doing more work for herself than necessary for her assessments. Writing in horror! She's way out of her depth. On the bright side, she's having great fun in the process and can't wait to torment you in her audio performance - I mean, she can't wait to entertain you with her audio performance.
But seriously; please do join her here as part of the Swansong Showcase for an interactive horror story experience. With multiple choices presented to you throughout you can play through the performance more than once to achieve different endings. I look forward to seeing you there, brave adventurer!
For feedback or questions on the performance please email: gowithitgamer@gmail.com
To reach me personally contact: paigerid13@gmail.com
FB: @WhereEndsMeet
Ewan Robertson
Ewan is an aspiring actor from Edinburgh, Scotland. He started acting when he was put in a bird costume at the age of 5 during a performance of The Singing Kettle. Since then he has participated in different theatre projects including musicals and comedy throughout his high school education. Ewan also has a passion for music which led him to start many projects within high school and work with professional artists outside of school.
Email ewanfraser70@gmail.com
Caragh Roopun
Caragh is an actress from Aberdeenshire who is passionate about political and verbatim Theatre. As well as working towards a BA (Hons) in Drama and Performance, Caragh also has been lucky enough to be signed with AAPA Casting. Caragh also makes BBC The Social videos regarding mental health and ending the stigma surrounded with illnesses.
Spotlight https://www.spotlight.com/5414-7864-2747
Agent aapacasting@gmail.com
BBC Social Caragh Roopun
Marsaili Stewart
Marsaili Stewart is a young creative from Perth, Scotland. She was drawn to performing arts at an early age, starting out in ballet at the age of 5. She was a member of several drama groups as a teenager, including Perth Youth Theatre, which is where she really found her passion for acting. After a couple of years out of the limelight, Marsaili returned to study her BA in Drama and Performance. Marsaili loves the weird and the wonderful and has a laugh to match, she hopes her comedy work will bring some joy in these tough times. Outwith being on stage or on set, you can find her lounging on beaches in the Outer Hebrides in the Summer or Skiing down some Alps in the Winter.
Email marsailiann@hotmail.co.uk
Instagram @marsaili_stewart
Elliot Stirling
Elliot is a politically charged and voracious writer, aspiring director and creator of all forms of art from the Highlands of Scotland. Elliot has been writing stories all of his life; so far he prefers the creating process to any actual performance he's in. Full of absurdist ideas and depressing concepts pulled straight from his own tale. He has continuously been a big proponent of pulling from your past to make wonderful art, no matter how dark and grisly this can be. This upcoming piece is a departure and uses a lot of the cultural touchstones of the Celtic heritage that he is so proud of. He's also currently head director for the UHI Drama society and is very proud of this year's body of work and how it is shaping up.
Owner of the group Bucket Devil Productions which he uses to self publish a lot of his work.
Email Elliotdwstirling@gmail.com
Facebook @BucketDevilProductions
Saskia Werkhoven
Saskia is an actress, theatre maker, writer and professional hugger. From portraying the iconic role of Donkey in the Nativity to creating her own work, she has always loved writing and performing, being inspired from the weird and wonderful things around her. She has been a part of English speaking theatre productions in Geneva, where she currently lives. She wishes to travel the world (once it is possible) to discover more stories to tell and hopes her work will bring a smile on people's faces.
Email saskia.werkhoven@orange.fr
Instagram @saskiawerkhoven