The Jerwood Fellowships is a career-changing programme for Scotland-based theatre or dance artists in the first 10 years of practice, who are interested in making innovative contemporary performance for children and young people with a range of additional support needs. Through year-long, bespoke support, Fellows will gain skills, knowledge, inspiration and connections to confidently make artistically interesting work for this audience.
The Jerwood Fellows for 2021/22 are Ellen Renton and Craig McCullock.
Ellen Renton is interested in exploring ways of making non-visual performance work for older children and teens. At the heart of this will sit research into establishing non-vision centric spaces, as she feels these can encourage our other senses to engage with art in exciting ways.
“We have a societal habit of patronising children, especially disabled children, and I am keen to explore ways of making work that does not to do this, in order to make the arts and the theatre feel like a safe place for those children.” – Ellen
Craig McCullock will be developing an idea based on their experiences of dreams and nightmares during their childhood, and hopes to explore how to combine both visual and BSL elements in this piece.
“I am hoping to develop my directing skills and see how working with a playwright for the first time, helps me as a director, theatre maker and writer.” – Craig McCulloch
Each Jerwood Fellow receives a £7000 bursary, a paid placement with Oily Cart and a research attachment with a school for children with additional support needs. They will undertake mentoring with an experienced artist in the field and with Imaginate’s Creative Development Director, and take a place on its Creative Development Programme events.
The Jerwood Fellowships are led by Imaginate, working alongside schools in Edinburgh, and Oily Cart, the UK’s leading company making theatre for young people with complex disabilities.
The 2020/21 Jerwood Fellows were Claire Eliza Willoughby and Emily Nicholl.
Find out more
Read about Jerwood Fellowships, here.
Read about Ellen Renton, here.
Read about Craig McCullock, here.
