2006 Awardee: Jennifer McVey

I would like to cultivate more links between the thriving theatre scene in Scotland and on Broadway and off-Broadway, allowing artists to cross over between the two more easily. I am very excited about the emergence of the National Theatre of Scotland

Biography

Jennifer McVey, whose Glasgow roots go back generations, has been involved in the arts and theatre from a very young age. As a child she studied dance, singing and the violin, and was a member of both the Inverclyde Youth Theatre and the Scottish Youth Theatre.

Jennifer gained a degree in English and Theatre Studies at Glasgow University followed by a year working at the renowned Citizen’s Theatre, Glasgow. From there she was accepted on an internship with Signature Theatre, New York and then, after successful audition, she was one of 20 students accepted onto the Master of Fine Arts (Acting) course at the New School for Drama (formerly Actors’ Studio Drama School), New York. Former alumni of the School include Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, Robert de Niro and Meryl Streep.

According to the Director of the School, Jennifer’s audition was ‘a real stand-out’. “I’ve seen it all” he writes, but Jennifer stood out as possessing “an originality of talent and the brightest of futures for any incoming candidate.”

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Awards is contributing towards the first year of Jennifer’s studies.

After a successful first two years at the New School for Drama, where her tutor writes  that ‘her ability to absorb and make her own concepts and approaches to subtle psychological nuances in characterisation, relationship and emotional depth separate her from scores of other [drama students]’, Jennifer’s award has been extended for a third and final year.

Since the Award

Jennifer graduated from New School of Drama, New York in May 2009. She immediately launched into auditions, was signed up by two agents and cast in a workshop production of a new musical based on the Nicholas Sparks novel ‘The Notebook’. She is also a founding member of a new theatre company of young actors, ABroad Stage Company (see www.abroadstageco.com). Jennifer writes, “I feel that my three years at the New School were absolutely invaluable for me and the training has really shaped me as an actor and given me a solid basis from which to grow and develop into the artist I am going to be.”

I would like to cultivate more links between the thriving theatre scene in Scotland and on Broadway and off-Broadway, allowing artists to cross over between the two more easily. I am very excited about the emergence of the National Theatre of Scotland