In Dialogue... – Details, episodes & analysis

This week on In Dialogue, we are joined by actor Iman Akhtar. Iman delves into her numerous experiences touring as an actor and delivers some of her top tips on how to adapt to life on the road. An insightful listen considering the importance of identifying red flags and advocating for yourself whilst far away from home. 

You can check out more of Iman’s work on Instagram 

Follow Scottish Youth Theatre on Instagram to keep updated with new projects and posts.   

And head over to our website www.scottishyouththeatre.org/dialogue to check out the full Dialogue programme.   

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Iman is a Glasgow based actress and performs across both stage and screen. She has many years of musical theatre experience and many short films under her belt. Most recently Iman played Belle in a UK tour of Beauty and the Balaah, Younger Anne in When Mountains Meet and previously appeared in Jinnistan with A Play, A Pie And A Pint.   

 This week, we are joined by Molly McGrath and Harry Walker to discuss their creative meet-cute and how they established their professional relationship whilst wrestling with a fast-approaching deadline. A fantastic listen about collaboration and seizing creative opportunities.  

You can follow along with Harry's work on Instagram. 

You can also follow along with Molly's work on Instagram. 

Follow Scottish Youth Theatre on Instagram to keep updated with new projects and posts.  

And head over to our website www.scottishyouththeatre.org/dialogue to check out the full Dialogue programme.  

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Harry is a 25-year-old theatre-maker and poet from Southern England, currently based in East Dunbartonshire.  

Taking an experimental approach to theatre-making, his practice is heavily influenced by participatory and postdramatic styles of performance. His work explores themes of late-stage capitalism, the crisis in democracy, climate breakdown, colonialism/neocolonialism, surveillance and the impact of technology.  Harry’s play ‘if not this then that’ will debut at the Camden People’s Theatre’s SPRINTFEST in March 2025. 

Molly McGrath is an actor, writer and recent graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She is passionate about telling stories that are bold in both style and content. Fiercely theatrical, she enjoys exciting the senses of an audience, creating deeply immersive spaces. Her work is focused on interrogating convention; finding the universal within the specific.

Welcome back to a new series of In Dialogue – the podcast for emerging artists.  

Featuring an exciting new line-up of very special artists, this series focuses on ‘The Theatre-Maker's Guide’, with never-heard-before insights that will inspire your own career.  

First up, we have actor and musician Chaya Gupta with The Perfect* Audition. In this episode we discuss what Chaya’s method is when it comes to preparing for and executing her auditions. We also explore how protecting your wellbeing and advocating for yourself can propel your career into success.  

You can keep up with Chaya by following her here on Instagram.  

Follow Scottish Youth Theatre on Instagram to keep updated with new projects and posts.  

And head over to our website www.scottishyouththeatre.org/dialogue to check out the full Dialogue programme.  

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Chaya is a LAMDA-trained actor (graduating in 2023), musician and sound designer. Her theatre credits as an actor include Abigail’s Party (English Touring Theatre), The Government Inspector (Marylebone Theatre) and Hansel & Gretel (Shakespeare’s Globe). She will be making her television debut in BBC’s Eastenders airing this December. 

An unmissable story from the Scottish Youth Theatre vault 

Having first premiered at Trajectories 2025, The Lost and Found follows Sherry who has returned home after being at university, back working at her local pub she discovers lost items that stir old memories of people and events from her past.  

In this recording, you can get an exclusive listen of Taya’s favourite moments from the piece, as well as some surprising bonus content that didn’t make it into the final cut of the show. So whether you didn’t get the chance to watch the show or you were one of the lucky audience members who attended Trajectories – there's something for everyone.  

Taya Sian is an actor and writer from Glasgow. She is passionate about showcasing working-class stories and her writing is heavily inspired by her experiences growing up as a young carer. She thinks it’s important to address topics we don’t usually see in the theatre. She hopes that being able to see her own story on stage will help others who had similar upbringings feel less alone. 

In Dialogue is back for its third episode of the series, discussing how director Fraser has brought together the two strains of his practice. In this episode you will discover what lessons can be learned from working in both industries, Fraser’s recipe for success and how he holds himself accountable whilst juggling multiple projects in a year.  

A podcast perfect for theatre and film-makers alike.  

Ed Fringe: Now, Then & Beyond – A Conversation with Mikael Philippos.

In Dialogue is back with this amazing episode featuring past participant, co-founder of Under the Rug Theatre Company and emerging writer & director, Mikael Philippos.

Mikael goes into detail on his last two experiences of the Edinburgh Fringe and putting new work on during the festival. With podcast host, Josie, he divulges how we were able to make it happen and how he now feels that it's all done. If you're an emerging theatre-maker considering taking work to the Fringe or just curious about what it's like then, this is the perfect podcast for you. 

In conversation with writer and director Jack MacGregor, this episode inspects how to build your creative practice and career sustainably as an emerging artist over 11 months of the year. What are key points in the calendar emerging practitioners should bookmark and how is wellbeing prioritised in times of rejection?  

Jack MacGregor is a writer and director based in the Highlands. Longlisted for the JMK Award and Discover Artist with National Theatre of Scotland, Jack’s writing-directing credits include ‘Nightlands’ and ‘Everything Under the Sun’. He is one of ten SSP Fellowship writers and has previously been awarded a Fringe First and Scottish Arts Club Fringe prize for ‘Best Scottish Show’. Jack has previously participated in projects 2020 Stories; The View From Here and COP26 Performance Commissions with Scottish Youth Theatre.  

This episode was recorded in May 2024 as part of our Dialogue programme.  

In discussion with 6 emerging writers from the textLAB programme – Anna Whealing, Bo Hogan, Calum Philp, Dylan Russell, Lara Delmage and Lintong Zhang – episode 2 tackles the space between writing and performance: how can and should a piece of writing be responsive to current world concerns, how may text challenge the role of the performer and, contrarily, how may the audience have a direct impact on the writing and how it is performed?  

This episode was recorded in September 2022, when the artists were on the textLAB programme on the lead up to their collective Rehearsed Reading. To find out more about the project and how their works developed, please visit: https://scottishyouththeatre.org/national-artistic-programme/2022/textlab/ 

You can also find short interviews with each of the artists over on our TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottishyouththeatre 

Joined by 5 young artists from the Trajectories programme – Bethan Murray, Iman Akhtar, Julia Hegele, Lily Carmen Smith and Michael Phillips – episode 1 probes the liminal space between emerging and professional practice: is this gap experience or CV dependent, how may it be affected by access and what is granted by the sector, and how may emerging artists, in turn, create their own opportunities?

This episode was recorded in June 2022, when the artists were on the Trajectories programme. To find out more about the project and view the work they presented at the end sharing in July, please visit: https://scottishyouththeatre.org/national-artistic-programme/trajectories/

The final episode of this series of the In Dialogue Podcast is here. And to close we were delighted to be joined by theatre-maker Indra Wilson with The Art of Upscaling.  

In this episode, Indra tracks their journey from Scratch to Fringe performance. They delve into all the steps and decisions that were made to upscale the work and to take their theatre-making career to the next level. 

You can check out more of Indra’s work on Instagram and on their website.  

Follow Scottish Youth Theatre on Instagram to keep updated with new projects and posts.   

And head over to our website www.scottishyouththeatre.org/dialogue to check out the full Dialogue programme.   

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Indra Wilson (they/them) is an award-winning emerging artist working across contemporary performance, live art, comedy, and dance. Since graduating from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2021, their practice has been rooted in feminist and queer methodologies, exploring the intersections of art, activism, the public health sector, and the justice system.