The eleven 2021 commissions were:

Lesley Ann Acheson

to develop a project where fitness and theatre meet - an exploration of the use of running as a medium for (inter) active, immersive storytelling.

Lesley is an actor and writer living in Auchtermuchty, Fife. She has performed in productions and theatres across the UK & Ireland. She was previously a member of Soho Theatre's Young Writers Company and was shortlisted for the Funny Women Writers Award in 2019. In 2020 she joined the legion of new lockdown runners, finding solace in the quiet trails of Pitmedden Forest. She has been an insufferable running evangelist ever since.

Petre Dobre

to develop an idea to work with school children (of all ages), by taking storybooks and bringing them alive using Visual Vernacular, making them accessible to both deaf and hearing.

Petre, originally from Romania and now based in Glasgow, is an actor and director for stage and screen. He graduated with a BA in Performance (BSL/English) in 2018 and uses visual vernacular to create powerful storytelling, combining movement, facial expressions and iconic BSL signs.

Eilidh Ellery

to develop "In Search of Scottish Sensuality..." Exploring art, poetry, folklore, music and dance to discover a secret history of Scotland's sensual pleasures... Who really were the 'Merry Muses of Caledonia'?

Eilidh is a queer, non-binary, disabled, Scottish Interdisciplinary Adaptive Dance and Circus Artist. They also perform as Less-Than-Able Seaman, Billie Blouse and co-founded East Neuk Burlesque community classes. They were OnFife Artist In Residence: March 2021 and appeared in Vancouver International Burlesque Festival’s Online Anti-Showcase 2021.

Catriona MacLeod

to develop a theatre-film hybrid project with the view to collaborate with island talent on Mull.

Writer and Director Catriona and creative producer Misha McCullagh are a filmmaking duo who’ve been working remotely on a slate of short films, and will be meeting in-person for the first time.

Ross Mann

to imagine and develop a spoken word project exploring the exploitation of people via the use of conspiracy, myth and falsehood on a local and global level.

Ross is a working-class actor from and based in Scotland. His recent performances include Them! and Cadaver Police in Quest of Aquatraz Exit for The National Theatre of Scotland. He has appeared in Outlander and the acclaimed film Beats.

Titana Muthui

to develop a story of a young girl from Johannesburg, Thando, who wakes up one morning to discover she has a sudden, mysterious superpower.

Titana is a South African/Kenyan woman, an actor/writer/poet with a mind full of colour and wonder. Based in Glasgow Titana is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her writing is motivated by her deep love for the planet, her journey as a human being and a blend of beautiful cultures that she is a part of.

Beldina Odenyo/Heir of The Cursed

to explore grief, death and collective loss with a focus on sound, speech, movement and immersion.

Beldina/Heir of the Cursed is a vocalist, poet and writer creating work between the fields of music and theatre. Her work attempts to explore the differences and kinship between her dual Kenyan and Scottish heritage through words, music and visual art.

Omar Raza

to develop ideas for a new theatre play entitled ‘Burnt Chefs’ which focuses on three idealistic Visa-less chefs who, despite actively contributing to society, learn a hard truth: who they think they are is very different to who they truly are.

Omar is a multi-award-winning actor, a "Funny Five Scot" comedian and a Royal Television Society nominated writer. Some of the UK’s leading TV producers mentored Omar to develop his writing at a residency. Omar is also an alumni of the BBC Drama Room 2019/2020.

jd stewart

to explore and develop a show called Pinkface: The cinematic phenomenon in which straight people play gay by way of trying to “lay claim to homosexuality as a ‘topic.’”

jd stewart is a gay Scotland-based playwright, screenwriter, performer, and digital content creator. His self-written and professionally produced one man show GAY BOY made its world premiere at the 2017 Dream Up Festival at Theatre for the New City. It was officially selected for the 2018 NYC Fringe and appeared in the Queerly Festival (2018). Other plays include Compression, One Twenty-One and Funeral Party. jd is a 2016 recipient of The Dewar Arts Award for Scotland.

Imogen Stirling

to develop a show, Love The Sinner, through the lens of exploring how film might offer a creative lifeline to live poetry: capturing the electricity of the genre, showcasing its vibrant versatility and bringing unique visual accessibility.

Imogen is a poet, theatre-maker, vocalist and co-founder of Siren Theatre Company. She was Paisley Book Festival’s inaugural Writer-in-Residence and featured in Sky Arts’ Life & Rhymes. Her shows include #Hypocrisy (sell-out runs at Edinburgh and Prague Fringes; UK tour) and poetry/electronic music fusion, Love The Sinner (currently in development).

Kathryn Weaving

to explore new ways of creating temporary performance spaces using textile installations. Playing with traditional and contemporary textiles, the natural environment, and the dynamic between audience and space, to facilitate a kind of euphoric rediscovery of those things we have lost touch with - our place as part of the natural world, our role as crafters and creators, and our physical, symbiotic connection with both natural and created objects.

Kathryn is an early career costume and set designer, particularly interested in site-specific and community-led performance. She is a keen knitter and seamster who loves using traditional techniques in unexpected ways within contemporary design.

The decision-making panel was:

Trent Kim (Lecturer in New Media Arts, University of the West of Scotland), Harriet Mould (Press and PR Manager, Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh), Severine Wyper (Vanishing Point Executive Producer), Matthew Lenton (Vanishing Point Artistic Director) and Eleanor Scott (Vanishing Point Administrative Producer)

Vanishing Point Executive Producer Severine Wyper says:
‘We’re delighted to pass on some support to freelance individuals with brilliant ideas. We hope that offering them this small amount of time to further imagine their seed ideas will lead to longer term possibilities for them, for us and for audiences as we move into a new era of making live performance.
We hope this group will be the catalyst for a new spectrum of artists and practitioners we will work with, support and produce in the future and not only the eleven, but so many of the people we have been introduced to through this process.’