After three months of auditions by over 100 young performers nationally, Scottish Youth Theatre has revealed the line up for their first ever National Ensemble.
Edinburgh residents Amy Curran (19), Annie Bowes (16), Hana Mackenzie (22), Hannah Cumming (23) and Katee McCulloch (20) have made the final 24.
Scottish Youth Theatre celebrated its 40th anniversary in December 2016. During the same month, the company opened registrations for the National Ensemble, inviting 16-25 year olds who live or study in Scotland to audition. Over 130 young adults put themselves forward, including the lucky five.
The five Edinburgh Ensemble members all have previous theatrical experience ranging from performances in school plays to theatre degrees.
The 24 selected members will have a busy year ahead, taking part in eight workshops over several weekends and spending five weeks during the summer rehearsing for a performance which will take place in August. Their commitment will allow them to work with some of theatre’s most respected writers, directors and designers.
Annie Bowes (16) is one of the younger members of the Ensemble. She has previously performed in shows at her high school and also as part of Balerno Theatre Company.
She said : “I feel hugely honoured to have been selected for the first ever National Ensemble.
“I think this is a unique opportunity to exchange ideas with other creative, artistic young people to create something cohesive that is greater than the sum of its parts. I’m really excited about what we might achieve in the year ahead.”
Drama and Performance graduate Hannah Cumming was very surprised to hear she had made the grade saying : “I am over the moon to have been picked for the National Ensemble 2017. I was convinced that I had messed up my audition but then I got the acceptance email. I can’t describe how excited I am to start.”
Scottish Youth Theatre’s Artistic Director, Mary McCluskey, adds,
“We auditioned in Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dumfries and were so inspired by the talent we saw. It was a very hard job whittling the numbers down to just 24.”
She also encouraged those who had missed this year’s auditions not to despair, ”We will open registrations for auditions for the 2018 National Ensemble in August so please visit our website then to register”.
