PROJECTS:
The Boy Who Couldn't Sit Still
(children's theatre short piece)
May-July 2024
The Boy Who Couldn't Sit Still is a puppetry/movement/dance theatre piece Cecilia Thoden van Velzen and I were commissioned to make by Imaginate for Family Encounters. It has been shown at Family Encounters for the Edinburgh Children's Festival, the Pilton Community Festival, the Light the Blue Festival in Aberdeen, and most recently at the Merchant City Festival. Chair was designed by Fergus Dunnet.
The piece is about a boy, who is told to sit still on a chair, and try as he might, he cannot. The chair comes to life, and the boy learns that even if all the adults think it's bad that he can't sit still, Chair likes him and doesn't like sitting still either.
The piece is about imagination and creativity and that not everybody learns or behaves the same way, some of us are bit different, and that's okay.
We went to Pilton Youth Centre and Forthview Primary School to research and develop this piece, by way of working with young people aged 8-11 to develop the boy's imagination, to get their ideas, opinions and experiences of being told to sit still, and their ideas and opinions on design for the show.
The piece is about a boy, who is told to sit still on a chair, and try as he might, he cannot. The chair comes to life, and the boy learns that even if all the adults think it's bad that he can't sit still, Chair likes him and doesn't like sitting still either.
The piece is about imagination and creativity and that not everybody learns or behaves the same way, some of us are bit different, and that's okay.
We went to Pilton Youth Centre and Forthview Primary School to research and develop this piece, by way of working with young people aged 8-11 to develop the boy's imagination, to get their ideas, opinions and experiences of being told to sit still, and their ideas and opinions on design for the show.
Cover image for The Boy Who Couldn't Sit Still, photo and edit by Cecilia Thoden van Velzen.
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Teenage Dream (student film)
April 2024
Teenage Dream is a student film, written and directed by Oliver Nicholson for his BA degree at UWS. CJ (Played by George Lewis Warwick) fantasises about his crush Freddie (played by myself) being in love with him and flirting with him until he is brought back to the harsh reality that he isn't loved by anyone except his somewhat homophobic best friend.
(*bottom left picture features myself and Morgan Haggerty as Liam)
(*bottom left picture features myself and Morgan Haggerty as Liam)
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Bothy (student film)
March 2024
Bothy is a student film, written by Thomas McGillivray and Clark Allan, directed by Thomas McGillivray, and produced by Clark Allan for their BA degree at UWS. It's about two men, one who's lost a father and the other who lost a friend, who go on a trip together in memory of the lost loved one. Jealousy emerges from Mic (played by myself) because his father spent more time with Jock (played by George Ripp) in the remote setting of a bothy in the mountains, where Mic starts to confuse reality and his imagination.
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COWBOY (student film)
February 2024
COWBOY is a queer western short film, set in Scotland, written and directed by Luca Kerr for the Filmmaking course at Queen Margaret University. I play the title character, COWBOY. The film takes place in a world in which cowboys are marginalised and pushed towards the edges of society. COWBOY is kicked out of his hometown and goes to the city to make a new life, where he finds a poster for a Cowboy Only Night at a club. He meets someone there who loves him for who he is.
Beans on Toast (MFA film project)
November-December 2023
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Beans on toast is a short film I made for my MFA project from October 2023 - January 2024, about two brothers, one of whom is blackmailed into going back to being part of a criminal organisation after he comes home from being in prison. It's a film I wrote, produced, directed, acted in, and edited. It was part of the RCS Emergence Festival.
To Be Thus (MFA Theatre Project)
January 2024
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A play adapted for the RCS MFA Emergence Festival by Meredith DiPaulo Stephens from "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare. Directed by Rob Myles. Photos feature myself as Macbeth, Cody Robinson as witches; Meredith DiPaulo Stephens as Banquo, Emma Findlay as Lady Macbeth. Photographer was Julia
"The After Dinner Joke", by Caryl Churchill
September 2023
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These are some photos from rehearsals and production. This has been a process filled with joy, rigour, and insightful conversations around intentionality and what kind of theatre we want to be making. Pictured here is me (as Thief) and Julia Martine Vredenberg (as Selby). The play was directed by Cecilia Thoden van Velzen and performed at RCS.
Acting For Camera
In July 2023 in my course at RCS we did our Acting for Camera module, and this is one of the scenes that we worked on. It's adapted to screenplay by Samuel Edgren, from the novel 'Gilead' by Marilynne Robinson. Director: Roger Nevares; Director of Photography: Gregor Barclay; Ames played by Samuel Edgren.
Here's another one, done about a week previously. It's from a film called "Fool For Love", screenplay by Sam Shepherd. Director: Roger Navares; Director of Photography: Ash Rishi; May played by Phoebe Averdieck.
The Taming
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Our Classical Play that we did this year in the RCS MA Classical and Contemporary Text course was The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Leonor Estrada. I was playing Hortensio.
For this play, because the text itself is misogynistic, we combined it with some text from "Tamer Tamed" by John Fletcher, and some which was written by our director. So the story went from the Taming of the Kat to the Taming of Petruchio, and ended not with Kat's forgiveness of him but rather by him recognising that he's done awful things and taking himself off to France, and her living her best life, without him in it. |
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It was an interesting rehearsal process in that we didn't find exactly how that story needed to be told until late in the process, because we came upon things which needed to be unpicked and rewritten because the patriarchy is a difficult thing to dismantle. It was an incredible learning experience in terms of learning how new or newly-adapted work might be put on, and how to most effectively be a part of making that work as an actor.
I've got a decent amount of experience with Shakespeare- I started acting with "Macbeth" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" when I was seven at a youth Shakespeare camp, which I did a couple of times every year until I was about fourteen, and then I did a couple of Shakespeare plays in High School, both professionally and with the school, so doing one which was making something entirely new with classical work was very exciting. |
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Experimental Short Film
In May this year, I made a short film with some of my peers in my course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for the On the Verge Festival. The festival requires the project to be digital, and the project we made was created by process of devising using animal work and mask making. I was the project leader and director of the piece, but since it was devised, it was a collective creative process that we all participated in.
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The people involved in the creation of this were:
Ash Rishi, Cody Robinson, Samuel Edgren, Cameron Prince.
Ash Rishi, Cody Robinson, Samuel Edgren, Cameron Prince.
Dance
Dance is something I do because I love moving - I'm no professional dancer by any means; I don't want to worry about getting it right or being correct, I just want to vibe with the music and have a good time.
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This is a video from a class I take at Studio 22 with Divine Tasinda. The other dancer is Dami Adeleke, the choreography was done by Divine Tasinda and the music is "What It Do" by Fuse ODG.
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Writing
Hart
In August 2022, I wrote and produced a play which I brought to the Edinburgh fringe. I initially wrote it for the Travail Fin d'Études for the final year of my undergraduate at Cours Florent, and decided to bring it to the Fringe so that the life of the production wouldn't be determined by what the school decided, but rather we could do it ourselves. So myself and a number of my course mates formed a production company and brought the play from Paris to Edinburgh. It was absolute chaos and lots of fun.
The play is about Alan L. Hart (1890-1962) , a transgender doctor who revolutionised the study of tuberculosis and saved countless lives with his research. He was also one of the first trans men to take synthetic testosterone. I am myself trans, and it was important for me to make something that shows a normal, everyday, important trans man who lives his life just as any other man. I didn't have anything like that growing up, so I was really scared to entertain the idea that I might be trans, because it seemed like something weird, something different, something other. I came out when I was fifteen, and since then have met many very normal trans people, and regret that I didn't know them sooner, because if I'd known that it wasn't something odd, it would have saved me years of fear, grief, and pain.
Hopefully, I and the things that I make will do that for someone else.
In August 2022, I wrote and produced a play which I brought to the Edinburgh fringe. I initially wrote it for the Travail Fin d'Études for the final year of my undergraduate at Cours Florent, and decided to bring it to the Fringe so that the life of the production wouldn't be determined by what the school decided, but rather we could do it ourselves. So myself and a number of my course mates formed a production company and brought the play from Paris to Edinburgh. It was absolute chaos and lots of fun.
The play is about Alan L. Hart (1890-1962) , a transgender doctor who revolutionised the study of tuberculosis and saved countless lives with his research. He was also one of the first trans men to take synthetic testosterone. I am myself trans, and it was important for me to make something that shows a normal, everyday, important trans man who lives his life just as any other man. I didn't have anything like that growing up, so I was really scared to entertain the idea that I might be trans, because it seemed like something weird, something different, something other. I came out when I was fifteen, and since then have met many very normal trans people, and regret that I didn't know them sooner, because if I'd known that it wasn't something odd, it would have saved me years of fear, grief, and pain.
Hopefully, I and the things that I make will do that for someone else.
Me pictured with Elsa Kerscher in the Fringe performance of "Hart".
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Elsa Kerscher, Mayssane Collongues, Kirsten Lewis, myself, Emmy Lees, Ethan Al-Ramlat, Kristina Mincheva.
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Poster Art by Rin Korolev, who was also the director of this production.
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Modelling
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In April 2023, I modelled for Scottish Fashion week. In these photos, I'm wearing @kevinmdanga and @katongolaofficial. This was my first runway and one of the most creatively inspiring performances I have ever done. (photographs by Marwa Aguerjout)
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In July 2022, I did a photoshoot for Diucelu, who make lingerie for men. Their products are beautiful and also handmade.
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I also really enjoy hillwalking. It's something I haven't been able to do much of recently because I've been so busy with my masters, but as soon as I've graduated I'll take myself off up a hill somewhere. This is a picture of me on the Cobbler.
Get In Touch
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