C.A.S.T
Bringing Acting to The People
(CAST)
Clutha Actor’s Studio Trust (CAST) is a theatre & production company derived under the Clutha Trust. We believe that the arts are for everyone and should include anyone. CAST aims to support creatives by offering new paths within the industry, facilitating original work and encouraging communities into the arts.
We started in 2018 by creating new plays for primary schools that incorporated the children into the rehearsals and performances. It was important to us to share our knowledge with pupils and use live theatre to learn about our play’s themes.
In 2022, we started work on our first mainstream production, The Big Bill. After a community event that encouraged theatre-goers and activists to engage in our rehearsed reading with live speakers and a Q&A, we performed The Big Bill, in multiple venues across Scotland.
We want to integrate the arts into communities, making it more accessible to those less likely to have practiced in the arts. We partnered with Simon Community Scotland in 2022, to facilitate weekly drama and writing classes. Currently, we are working on a new play based around the homeless hotel systems in Glasgow. These classes allow participants to play and express themselves, grow confidence and awareness, and allow their voices to be heard.
We like to give people hope
Featured CAST Members
David McKnight
David Mcknight has been a working along side C.A.S.T for numerous Years. Providing Workshops to schools around scotland, Performing in Productions and help C.A.S.T run smoothly. David has worked Within the theatre industry working along side the biggest stars in The scottish theatre industry. David McKnight is a Scottish actor, based in Glasgow. He is a 2021 Graduate of New College Lanarkshire’s BA acting course. Over the past year he has worked at a Play, a Pie and a Pint in a number of different roles, from performer to assistant Director. He has worked with CAST in their previous projects “Speechless” and “Elfie”.
Georgia Blue Ireland
Georgia Blue Ireland has been the driving force behind C.A.S.T for the last year. georgia has Produced, Organised and was a Lead roll In the Recent Performance in the Big Bill. Georgia has Huge idea’s for the Future and intends on bringing C.A.S.T to schools soon as well as another C.A.S.T Production to the theatres around scotland. Georgia is an actor, writer & producer based in Glasgow. She graduated from New College Lanarkshire in 2022 with a BA (Hons) in Acting with Creative Enterprise. She is currently developing an autobiographical piece, The Price of Happiness, that was longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize at the Royal Exchange Theatre. It explores what it means to be truly happy in a capitalistic society. Georgia is currently working as a drama facilitator for CAST & Creative Change Collective and loves bringing communities together through creative outlets.
Testimonials
The Big Bill
CAST produced ‘The Big Bill’, by John McGlade, which played at venues across Scotland in February 2023, with performances by David McKnight, Georgia Blue Ireland, Rebecca Wilkie & Belle Jones, and directed by Lauren Mitchell. A satirical piece about the energy crisis, The Big Bill was our first main production and was very well received by our audiences and critics. “One of the most stunning moments in The Big Bill comes at the height of the narrative arch, when the protest at the core of the text becomes so uncontainable in its anger, that it punches right through the clenched front teeth of the sardonic smile of satire. The message is suddenly too big for fantasy or metaphor, too painful for jokes. The stage lights go cold, the audience sits up in their chairs, the actors’ masks drop a few inches and the elephant in the room is addressed with sobriety, an ‘all jokes aside’ insert that causes the audience, in seeing themselves and their communities mirrored, to reach for the pitchforks against an all too real ‘them’, who have shed their humanity in lieu of profit. Riotous applause erupts.”
– Manuel Cardo, Snack Mag
Snack Mag
“For all its thematic seriousness and ambition, The Big Bill is still a very confident comedy. The laughs are cathartic and frequent, the dialogue is snappy, and the actors are absolutely on point.”
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