Home   News   Article

Theatre group’s talent hopes as Inverness College UHI drama graduates form Vivid Roots Collective collective in the Highlands in an attempt to stop the drain of emerging artists from the region


By Ian Duncan

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!
From left, Laura Walker, Sophie Wink and Keira Smith.
From left, Laura Walker, Sophie Wink and Keira Smith.

Drama graduates from Inverness College UHI have established a new theatre collective in the Highlands in an attempt to stop the drain of emerging artists from the region.

Laura Walker, Keira Smith, Sophie Bender and Sophie Wink from the university’s BA (Hons) drama and performance programme created Vivid Roots Collective during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in response to the loss of live performance.

They hope it can provide a professional base for emerging artists in the north who want to develop their portfolio of work.

Ms Smith said: “We were all working on original works and feeling a bit dejected because of Covid-19 and the impact it was having on our industry, particularly live performance.

“We’d each been working with companies like Traverse Theatre, Scottish Youth Theatre and Surge at Eden Court, but we wanted to create an outlet in the Highlands and Islands to support emerging artists.

“There is a culture in the industry that to get anywhere, you need to move down to the central belt. It isn’t that easy for some people, and we wanted to challenge that.”

They have been working on three pieces which will be performed online on September 25.


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More