Theatre director; movement and somatic educator; arts educator; community arts worker

Currently: Director and Artistic Director of The Young Walter Scott Prize and The Imagining History UK Programme 

Senior Practitioner in The Feldenkrais Method

Education

MA(Hons)   Psychology  St Andrews. 1980

Adv Dip Drama (with Merit)    (Royal) Welsh College of Music & Drama 1983

MFA (with Distinction)   Theatre Directing    Birkbeck University of London 2005

FRSA Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) 2020

• Awarded: HTV Prize

Professional training

• Cert d’Etudes     Ecole Jacques Lecoq, Paris 1984
• Cert IFF     International Feldenkrais Federation: Berlin 1 2001
• Prince2   Professional project management tool 2007

Memberships

• FGUK      Member of The Feldenkrais Guild of the UK
• Equity     Full member since 1987 as an actor (Alan Caig) – [withdrawal 1997 – 2001] –  Director’s register since 2003

DBS enhanced disclosure (England & Wales), PVG (Scotland)

Directing/Producing in theatre, opera:

• Rowan Tree Theatre Company, Scottish Borders – director and producer
• Net Curtains Theatre Company, London – Associate Artistic Director
• Southwark Playhouse, London – Resident Assistant Artistic Director
• Freelance production/direction projects: Speakeasy Theatre Projects Edinburgh, Kellertheater Innsbruck (Austria), Highland Festival (Scotland), Schlossfestspiele Zwingenberg (Germany), Chieko Okabe-Silvaste Opera Tour (Japan), The Silent Foundation (Scotland), Stellar Quines (Scotland), Paragon Ensemble (Scotland), Scottish Early Music Ensemble, Theatre Workshop Edinburgh, RSAMD Glasgow (now RCS), Nilsia Summer Festival (Finland), Varkaus Kirkauden(Finland), Emergency Exit Arts (London), Trinity Laban (London), Borders Book Festival (Scotland), Wigtown Book Festival (Scotland)

Theatre Development

• The Scottish Mime Forum – Chair and CoProducer 1992-1998 – thinktank for the development of Mime and Physical Theatre in Scotland. Co-Created the first visit of Odin Teatret to Scotland. Produced Pete Brooks residency at Traverse Theatre. Hosted Physical Theatre conference at Traverse Theatre, featuring Theatre de Complicite masterclass.

Awards 

• Welsh College of Music and Drama, now RWCMD HTV Prize
• Speakeasy Theatre Projects: Fringe First Winner (Director) How to Kill (Angus Reid), Capital Award Winner(Director): The Trouble With The Dead (Angus Reid)
• Theatre Machine Fringe First Winner (actor, ensemble) Water of Life (Chris Ballance)
• Stellar Quines Theatre Company: CATS Award for Best New Play (Co-director with Muriel Romanes) The Unconquered   (Torben Betts)

Acting/Performance:

Dundee Rep, Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, Northumberland Theatre Co, STV, BBC, Yorkshire Actors Co, Cambridge Experimental Theatre, David Glass/Scottish Chamber Orch, Besser-Leben.com(Berlin), IDEOMS(Scotland), Rowan Tree(Scotland), Nilsia Summer Festival (Finland).

Singing

Helen Chadwick Group PaxPazPaixPeace tour (2006), Ockhams Razor Not Until We Are Lost tour 2015/16 (comp. Graham Fitkin), VoiceLab Swell (dir Mary King), Crouch End Festival Chorus (dir David Temple), Aldeburgh Voices (dir Ben Parry), Cadenza Edinburgh (dir Jenny Sumerling).

Teaching/Training in Movement & Theatre:

• London Contemporary Dance School 2001 – 2012  tutor in The Feldenkrais Method.
• The Oxford School of Drama 2001 – 2003 senior tutor in Animal Studies & Laban
• Guildford School of Acting 2001 – 2004 visiting tutor in Mime and Gestural Theatre technique.
• Guildhall School of Music and Drama 2003 – tutor in Animal Studies, Laban, Lecoq techniques.
• Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh 1992-1996   tutor in Movement and Mime.

Pedagogy in Specialised & Applied Learning Environments:

Professional/Adult level

• Workshops in The Feldenkrais Method® – offered to the public exploring specific aspects of human movement, thinking and satisfaction. Since 1999. England, Finland, Poland, Scotland, India
• The BodyThink Process – Poznan 2013 – 2015 – In collaboration with the Polish Institute for Choreotherapy.
  • certification programme in somatic exploration for professional teachers, therapists, dance therapists, movement educators and performers.
  • member of the faculty of training for new students of Choerotherapy
• Performance Training: Aria/Movement/Emotion -Valamo 1998/99. International Opera Summerschool, Finland.
• Fictionalising Autobiography – 1995/96 – workshops with service-users at SOLAS, Edinburgh leading to the creation of performance script. In collaboration with a professional stage writer.

Higher Education

• Imagining History UK Training day – University of East Anglia/British Archive of Contemporary Writing. Introduction and development of an approach to active somatic research of Historical artefacts.\
• Creating Verbatim Performance in a Community Setting – 1997 – performance project at RSAMD (now RCS) Glasgow – working with students of Contemporary Theatre Practice in partnership with service-users at Body Positive Glasgow.
• Architecture & Movement Explorations – 1990 – 1992  – Mackintosh School of Architecture(Glasgow), Strathclyde University(Glasgow), Newcastle College, University of Innsbruck(Austria). Using the techniques of the Ecole Jacques Lecog to explore the construction of energetic, relevant architectural space.

Primary and Secondary Education

• Imagining History UK  – 2014 ongoing – Artistic Director of a UK National programme of workshops in Creative Writing and History for teenagers. Exploring ways of connecting young minds to their historical environment. Workshops, performances.
• Creative Partnerships (Arts Council England) – 2007-2011 working with students and teachers to develop an Arts-based curriculum- East of England 2007-2011. In partnership with film-makers, story-tellers, wood-workers, scientists  in London, Essex and Suffolk.
• Lothian Regional Council HIV and Sexual Health Awareness Team – 1995-99 – using encounter techniques and awareness development to improve decision-making around HIV/AIDS and Sexual Health amongst groups of teenagers in schools settings.