The ten 2022 commissions are:

Amy Murray

To develop a piece of visual theatre that is themed around the magical and fantastical - it will incorporate illustration images and BSL signs and will be accessible to both deaf and hearing audiences. I will use four initial questions to develop motivation and exploration through improvisation, play and idea sharing to discover what could become a visual play.

Amy is based in Glasgow, and she is an actor and a theatre maker. She graduated with BA Performance in BSL and English at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2021. She had her first acting job with Netflix for the new tv series called The Witcher : Blood Origin. She is exploring visual / physical theatre and illustration images to create a storytelling with facial expression, movement and BSL signs.

Calum McDonald

My idea is to develop new resources which provide guidance and a framework to improve accessibility for cross-artform festivals and the freelancers they work with. 

Calum is a writer and freelance creative originally from Renfrew, and now based in Leith. He has worked across education, the arts and STEM to champion accessibility and community-led engagement. He has a particular interest in interdisciplinary learning and pursuing innovation which challenges old ways of thinking.

Derek Mclukie

To develop a storytelling service called The Story Fella. Derek likes to use body, face, voice, fabric, puppets and props to create unique and enthralling stories which are funny takes on classics like Oscar Wilde and Hans Christian Andersen. Derek has spent a considerable amount of time working with people who have profound learning and physical disabilities. This experience has given him an awareness of how storytelling can support children, young adults and the elderly. 

Derek Mcluckie is an acting, writing, dancing, singing, illustrating performance artist from Paisley. He also does Dadaistic stand up.  

Fin Ross Russell

To develop Straight Flush, which will be an interactive piece of new writing exploring themes of gambling, philosophy and adulthood in a world fuelled by capitalism, tough choices and risk-taking.

Fin Ross Russell is the co-founder of Island Life Productions, a company working with emerging artists and members of the public to create high quality art. He completed his BA in Drama, Applied Theatre & Education from the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. Following a year working at Chichester Festival Theatre, Fin moved up to Edinburgh where alongside running the company, he has worked as a freelance facilitator for various companies including the Brunton Theatre, Scottish Youth Theatre, Perth Theatre, Edinburgh City Council, Strange Town, Ignite Theatre, Imaginate, LYRA, PACE Theatre Company and Lyceum Youth Theatre.

Hannah Low

Exploration of a new play that explores what it’s like to be mixed - race growing up in Scotland, geared towards young audiences and told through movement, music, puppetry and magic.

Hannah Low is an actor, writer and creative from Edinburgh, Scotland. She graduated in 2019 with a BA degree in musical theatre, and since then has had the privilege of working on various screen and stage projects across the uk. In 2020 Hannah was apart of traverse theatres ‘Young writers’ and this lead to her having her first piece of writing developed by ‘framework theatre’ late 2021. She is really excited to have the opportunity to explore new creative ideas with vanishing point and can’t wait to bring to life a story that means so much to her!

Joni Brown

To explore the effects of capitalism on rural culture and how this has had a detrimental impact on a sense of community cohesion. By making space for conversations and remembering local stories I hope to frame together our unique collective values in an exhibition event.

Joni Brown is Creative Director of the Argyll Arts Collective, she programmes and produces cultural activities for the rural communities living within the Cowal Peninsula, Argyll. She is currently developing her own practice in socially engaged art and enjoys using a dialogical approach while working within a community setting.

Katrine Turner

To explore an idea for a new interactive and immersive performance for primary schools exploring plastic waste and the practice of exporting this waste to developing countries.

Katrine is a theatremaker and youth arts facilitator, creating performance in response to the current global and local issues in unusual and innovative ways. She works with performance, installation, film and audio to create direct encounters and interventions to connect with audiences and communities, and challenge people to engage with issues in new ways. Recently Katrine was artist-in-residence in a primary school with Imaginate/ Refuweegee, was commissioned by Tramway to create an alternative helpline for the end of the world, and her interactive performance ‘The Climate Crisis Can’t Be Cancelled’ toured into primary schools as part of Platforms’ ‘Dear Green Place’ programme.

Kirin Saeed

Such an amazing taste of success, the sound of hope and smell of sweet plants to help me on my journey to explore what the world of senses means to all of us.

Kirin Saeed is a performer and Audio description trainer who  trained through Graeae Theatre Company’s and London Metropolitan University via their Missing piece program in 2003. She then went on to tour with Extant, Britain’s leading professional performing arts company of visually impaired people, in UK and Europe. Settling down in Edinburgh she obtained a grant from Creative Scotland, Create: Inclusion Fund program, which is enable her to perform and workshop her first play as an emerging playwright. Kirin’s primary aim is to enable greater opportunities for visually impaired artist, through education, awareness and performances lead by visually impaired  people.

Odhran Thomson

My idea is to use theatre to celebrate and put an emphasis on gender euphoria, and all of the wonderful mayhem that makes up the trans experience. This is the chance to explore.

Odhran Thomson is an Edinburgh based performer and playwright. Drawing from his experience of transition in the UK, Odhran’s work explores gender euphoria, identity and coming of age in the Scottish arts scene. Recently, he has featured as part of a trans cast in 'AS IS' by Harvey Humphrey, and had his work displayed at the Traverse Theatre Young Writers Scratch night. As a poet, he is gearing up for his debut at Greenbelt 2022. Odhran is extremely excited to create a joyful representation of the trans experience through his writing, and continue upsetting the apple cart as he goes. 

Stephenie Georgia

'Flowers on a Fence' will explore the impact on people affected by suicide through safe, exploratory workshops culminating in a new play framed around the question 'why do we wait until people are gone to put the flowers on the fence?'

Stephenie Georgia is a freelance theatre practitioner based in the Shetland Isles. She is the founder and director of ALICE Theatre Project, a community interest company specialising in creative theatre classes. She is the director and practitioner for Shetland Youth Theatre Company on behalf of Shetland Arts Development Agency and recently started working as a freelance playwright with a specialism in socially engaged theatre projects. Stephenie is passionate about theatre being used as a tool to create positive change in the world and generate open discussion on the topics we can feel afraid to explore.' 

The decision-making panel was:

Ramesh Meyyappan (Director, Performer, Actor), Emma Ruse (Chief Executive of Framework Theatre), Severine Wyper (Vanishing Point Executive Producer), Matthew Lenton (Vanishing Point Artistic Director) and Eleanor Scott (Vanishing Point Administrative Producer)