Writer
Ross MacKay is a disabled author and playwright based in Fife, Scotland. He is currently on the Glasgow Film Festival’s animatic scheme and Climate Spring’s Hot House Development Lab.
Ross is a recipient of the Peggy Ramsay Foundation Bursary and was an artist in residence with the National Theatre of Scotland in 2024.
Ross has won a Literature Matters Award from the Royal Society of Literature, A Tom McGrath Trust Maverick Award, and the William Soutar Award for Poetry 2020. In 2020, Ross also won a global Search for A Storyteller talent competition judged by Simon Cowell. Ross currently has publishing deals with DK Books, Andersen Press and Bloomsbury.
Ross previously worked in theatre as the artistic director of puppetry company, Tortoise in a Nutshell, creating performances for audiences aged 8+. His productions toured all over the world and received prestigious awards including a Scotsman Fringe First and a Critic’s Pick from the New York Times.
He is also an established puppetry director, working for numerous companies including The Royal Lyceum, Little Angel and The National Theatre of Scotland. Ross has also worked as a magic consultant and is a former Scottish Young Magician of the Year.
Ross is currently developing original television projects and several stages shows
Original live action family drama in development.
TV Drama optioned.
Writer of a new musical for premier Winter 2025
Currently writing theatre commission
Commissioned by Aberdeen Performing Arts to write a play for the Light the Blue festival
Took part in the ‘Ideas Boosting’ residency from Sunday 19 November to Friday 24 November.
Writer of a new drama for youth theatre ensemble
Writer of a new panto for youth theatre ensemble.
Play produced and performed at Oran Mor, Glasgow in June 2024 with Glasgow Lunchtime Theatre
Scottish Tour and publication in Autumn 2024
Writer; 5 star reviews
Writer; Develop and create their visitor experience at Culross Place. Including screenwriting all the audio visual sequences.
Writer; toured to outdoor venues during the pandemic
Artistic Director 2009 – 2019
Directed 7 productions winning 5 awards
Director and Co-Creator
Critics Pick New York Times, 2019
Best Director, Kotorski Festival 2019
Best Performance Award, Kotorski Festival 2019
Best Theatre of 2013, The Guardian
Fringe First Award Winner 2013
Total Theatre Award Nominee 2013
Director; Scottish Arts Club Award Nominee 2018
Director and Co-Creator; Award Winning Design, Kotorski Festival 2017
Director and Co-Creator; Award Winning Performance, Kotorski Festival 2017
Performed for the programme launch of the William Soutar Festival
Led a mass community poetry writing project in partnership with the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Appeared in ‘Perthshire 101’.
Commissioned for four new poems for the new poetry book celebrating Perthshire’s cultural heritage.
Selected as poem of the week by Asif Khan
Appeared in ‘Beyond the Swelkie’.
Poem to mark George Mackay Brown’s centenary.
2 poems specially commissioned and produced by Fife libraries to encourage poetry enjoyment in young readers.
Writer
Wrote 1 x 12′ audio episode entitled ‘The Show-Stopper’, available on BBC Sounds
| Television | ||
|---|---|---|
| Production | Company | Notes |
| Title TBA | Original live action family drama in development. |
|
| Sins of the Father (2024) | Boy313 | TV Drama optioned. |
| Theatre | ||
|---|---|---|
| Production | Company | Notes |
| TBA (2025) | John Stalker Productions | Writer of a new musical for premier Winter 2025 |
| Joyride (2025) | National Theatre of Scotland | Currently writing theatre commission |
| The Circus of Life and Death (2024) | Aberdeen Performing Arts | Commissioned by Aberdeen Performing Arts to write a play for the Light the Blue festival |
| Less is More Residential 2023 (2023) | Screen Scotland | Took part in the ‘Ideas Boosting’ residency from Sunday 19 November to Friday 24 November. |
| Develop Artist Residency (2023) | National Theatre of Scotland | |
| The Knock At The End of The World (2024) | Toonspeak Young People's Theatre | Writer of a new drama for youth theatre ensemble |
| Jack and Jill and the Beanstalk (2024) | Toonspeak Young People's Theatre | Writer of a new panto for youth theatre ensemble. |
| Party of the Century (2023) | Glasgow Lunchtime Theatre (A Play, A Pie, A Pint) | Play produced and performed at Oran Mor, Glasgow in June 2024 with Glasgow Lunchtime Theatre |
| Treasure Island (2022) | Cumbernauld Theatre / Visible Fictions | Scottish Tour and publication in Autumn 2024 Writer; 5 star reviews |
| Culross Palace - A Moment in Time (2022) | National Trust of Scotland | Writer; Develop and create their visitor experience at Culross Place. Including screenwriting all the audio visual sequences. |
| The Travelling Cranberries Christmas Show (2021) | OnFife | Writer; toured to outdoor venues during the pandemic |
| Tortoise in a Nutshell | Puppetry Theatre Company | Artistic Director 2009 – 2019 Directed 7 productions winning 5 awards |
| Feral (2012-2019) | Tortoise in a Nutshell | Director and Co-Creator
Critics Pick New York Times, 2019 Best Director, Kotorski Festival 2019 Best Performance Award, Kotorski Festival 2019 Best Theatre of 2013, The Guardian Fringe First Award Winner 2013 Total Theatre Award Nominee 2013 |
| Myth of the Singular Moment (2018) | Tortoise in a Nutshell / Jim Harbourne | Director; Scottish Arts Club Award Nominee 2018 |
| Lost Things (2014-2018) | Tortoise in a Nutshell / Olivier Emanuel | Director and Co-Creator; Award Winning Design, Kotorski Festival 2017 |
| Fisk (2016-2017) | Tortoise in a Nutshell / Teater Katapult | Director and Co-Creator; Award Winning Performance, Kotorski Festival 2017 |
| Poetry | ||
|---|---|---|
| Production | Company | Notes |
| (2022) | Culture Perth and Kinross | Performed for the programme launch of the William Soutar Festival |
| (2021-2022) | R-Words | Led a mass community poetry writing project in partnership with the Edinburgh International Book Festival. |
| Four new poems (2022) | Tippermuir Books | Appeared in ‘Perthshire 101’. Commissioned for four new poems for the new poetry book celebrating Perthshire’s cultural heritage. |
| We Called Him Noah (2021) | The Scotsman Newspaper | Selected as poem of the week by Asif Khan |
| A Reply To The Poet (2021) | Tippermuir Books | Appeared in ‘Beyond the Swelkie’. Poem to mark George Mackay Brown’s centenary. |
| I Love Mud / I Hate Mud (2021) | On Fife LibraYAY | 2 poems specially commissioned and produced by Fife libraries to encourage poetry enjoyment in young readers. |
| Audio | ||
|---|---|---|
| Production | Company | Notes |
| The Spoilsport's Sports Day (2023) | BBC Learning | Writer |
| Time for a Story (2022) | BBC Learning | Wrote 1 x 12′ audio episode entitled ‘The Show-Stopper’, available on BBC Sounds |