Writer
Ross MacKay is a disabled author and playwright based in Fife, Scotland. He was the recipient of a Tom McGrath Trust Maverick Award for his writing and the William Soutar Award for Poetry 2020.
Ross is a recipient of the Peggy Ramsay Foundation Bursary and was a participant of the 2023 Less is More screenwriters’ residential run by Screen Scotland. He is currently an artist in residence with the National Theatre of Scotland.
In 2020, Ross won a global Search for A Storyteller talent competition judged by Simon Cowell. Ross’s debut novel for middle graders, Will and The Whisp, is published by Creative James Media. His debut picture book, Daddy’s Bad (Bed) Day, is published by Curly Tale Books.
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.
You can find him on his website here. For literary works including picture books and novels, he is represented by Lorna Hemingway at Bell Lomax Moreton.
Original live action family drama in development.
TV Drama optioned.
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.
Commissioned to develop and write a script for a youth-led piece of theatre, to be performed in 2024.
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 | Saffron Cherry | Original live action family drama in development. |
| Sins of the Father (2024) | Boy313 | TV Drama optioned. |
| Theatre | ||
|---|---|---|
| Production | Company | Notes |
| 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 | |
| Artist Commission (2023) | Toonspeak Young People's Theatre | Commissioned to develop and write a script for a youth-led piece of theatre, to be performed in 2024. |
| 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 |