A Moment’s Peace Theatre Company has been active since 2004. Co-founded by Catrin Evans and Cashel Gormley the company was an expression of our desire to make performance work that spoke to our political and social concerns.
We would be bold, we would challenge and our work would entertain.
Over the last eighteen years we have evolved into a multi-artform participatory performance company with a reputation for creating and delivering high quality, relevant and accessible work across Scotland and beyond. Our projects are a way for artists, participants and audiences to centre narratives and experiences that are too often marginalised within wider society.
With new work, participation and collaboration at the heart of our vision, we create productions, interactive arts events and performance projects that are rooted in the relationship between arts practice and social justice. We work with diverse geographical, cultural, social and economic communities to discover stories and experiences that compliment, contradict and provoke debate. We consistently collaborate across artforms and styles; embracing theatre, dance and film, as well as the visual and digital arts.
The common thread running through all our work is that we encourage everyone who works with us to re-imagine the world; to see it brimming with the possibility of positive change and to recognise their capacity to be a part of enacting it.
As a small outfit our success is contingent upon rich collaborations with our ever-expanding family of brilliant freelance practitioners. We work hard to provide an environment of trust that combines their expertise with our company ethos, and we are committed to platforming the work of artists who are representative of an increasingly multi-lingual and multi-cultural Scotland.
In addition, we have built and continue to nurture strong partnerships with a broad range of organisations within the arts, voluntary and educational sector.
Together we continue to be bold, to challenge and to entertain.
Our Team
Kirstin McLean
Artistic Director
Kirstin joined A Moment’s Peace in November 2021, having worked as a freelance director, facilitator and writer since 2000.
Common threads in her work are collaboration, social justice and community empowerment as well as a dedication to creating entertaining and gripping theatre and film. Recent collaborations include Protest Lab (Toonspeak), Do Not Press This Button and Opening Time (Oran Mor/Play Pie Pint), and ‘Sno Snow (SYT). She has led projects for many theatre companies, local authorities, youth theatres and community groups across Scotland. As an actor, her worked spanned theatre, television, film and radio. From 2011-2019 she was also a counsellor and supervisor at Childline.
Alongside her work at A Moment’s Peace, Kirstin continues to work freelance as a director and playwright.
Abbie Wallace
Engagement Coordinator
Abbie is a freelance project manager, producer, mentor and coach based in Glasgow. She joined A Moment’s Peace in May 2022 and supports the Woman’s Creative Company and Shared Space group. She also currently works as Creative Associate for Articulate Cultural Trust and as freelance project coordinator for the Fair Access Department at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Between 2016 – 2021 Abbie was the Short Courses Manager at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and previously held the role of Arts and Cultural Development Officer at the Scottish Refugee Council.
Alongside freelance projects Abbie works as a Coach for the Transitions programme at RCS, designed to support young people from Scotland’s most deprived postcodes to enter training and careers in the performing arts, and as a Mentor for the Federation of Scottish Theatre, supporting arts professionals to analyse, reflect and take action to achieve success in their work.
Julia Harriman
Communications Officer
Julia is a freelance producer with strong skills in marketing and fundraising. In Scotland, she has worked with organisations including Havana Glasgow Film Festival, Birks Cinema, Trufflepig, STAR Development Trust and Glasgow Outdoor and Woodland Learning. During her 10 years in London, she worked as Arts Officer for Enfield Council, Outreach Manager for Princes Trust and Programmes Director for youth charity Futureversity - overseeing an offer of 120 free programmes for 14-25 yr olds.
From 2012 - 2016, Julia was Co-Founder and Executive Director of La Choza Chula in Guatemala - working with locals to help rural communities benefit from growing tourism, through community tours, artisanal enterprise and educational programming. She also led delegations in Central America for Global Glimpse and Surf for Life.
She is passionate about participatory theatre, sustainable travel, zero waste and outdoor swimming!
Najma Abukar
Associate Artist - Shared Space
Somali born, Glasgow based photographer documenting cultural and immigrant experiences. Najma is passionate about curating, archiving, and re (focusing) narratives of those underrepresented and marginalized. Her photographic body of work is concerned with issues of identity, (self) representation and the notion of home and belonging within the Scottish landscape.
Catrin Evans
Co-Founder and Associate Artist
London-born, Glasgow-formed Catrin was the artistic and organisational lead of the company from the company's inception until 2021, when she stepped down as Artistic Director to take on the position of Head of Creative Learning at the Citizens Theatre. During her time with AMP she co-wrote and/or directed many of AMP shows and projects and continues to be actively involved as Associate Artist.
Catrin is also a freelance Director and Playwright, whose focus is creating new work within a collaborative environment. Her most recent performance projects include Share My Table (Tramway/Scottish Refugee Council), The Land Beneath Our Feet (Dundee Rep), and Endurance (AMP). Other key productions include directing Sara Shaawari’s Niqabi Ninja, co-directing the National Theatre of Scotland’s critical success Dear Scotland, and Edinburgh International Festival 2013 sell-out hit Leaving Planet Earth, which she co-wrote and co-directed with Lewis Hetherington, and was produced by Grid Iron.
Catrin recently completed a practice-based PhD at the University of Glasgow and continues to explore projects where her role as artist, theatre-maker and academic can intersect.
Our Board Members
Chair: Emma McKee - General Manager for Playwrights’ Studio Scotland
Treasurer: Katharine Jones - Associate Professor, Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University
Secretary: Maree Aldam - Amma Birth Companions
Members:
Julie Cathcart - Marketing & Communications Manager, Dandelion
Chris Hall: Lecturer - Supported Learning and Core Skills, Ayrshire College
Katy Marshall: Reward Director, Turning Point HR Solutions
Board Recruitment
A Moment's Peace is always open to new board members, and we recently adopted a process whereby
interested board members can join us for a trial period, so they and we can test out the relationship. We also hope that this will attract folk who might not ordinarily see themselves as comfortable in a board environment because AMP is aware that board membership is historically a site of exclusion for many people. We do not want to participate in this exclusion, and so we recognise that skills are developed in all sorts of ways and that a multiplicity of perspectives is the only way to ensure we remain rigorous about our work. We want to build a board that is reflective of our multi-faceted city, so that we can genuinely make an impact on its cultural landscape. If you think you could support us in doing this - even if you have no previous board experience - please do get in touch: BoardOfTrustees@amomentspeace.co.uk
