Artists We Work With

As well as producing our own productions, Catherine Wheels works with independent artists to support their work.

Alice Mary Cooper at Imaginate 2023

We supported Alice Mary Cooper to present Experts Radio Lab at Imaginate's Family Encounters 2023.

Kids are experts. Some are experts on jumping, some on dinosaur fossils, some on making mud pies. Whatever it is, our mics are on, the interview chair is ready and we’re about to go live.

Experts Radio Lab and the accompanying Listening Station is a free, drop-in experience, set within our pop-up radio studio at the National Museum of Scotland. Interviews are shared live to an audience of fellow interviewees, their families and anyone who’s curious.


Share your expertise with us, or come along and learn from the masters! You never know what you’ll learn.

Bridie Gane at Imaginate 2023

We supported Bridie Gane to present Caught Up! at Imaginate's Family Encounters 2023. 

Ever wondered what happens to your rubbish after you throw it away? Perhaps it sprouts arms and legs? What if it started to dance? Caught Up! Is an intriguing, playful and joyous dance performance exploring how to reduce, reuse and recycle in style. 

Shona Reppe

Theatre maker and designer Shona Reppe has created some of Scotland’s best and highly original work for young audiences, delighting and inspiring audiences and critics alike. She is creatively unique; her work ranges from object puppetry involving a potato and a cast of vegetables (Potato Needs a Bath), a detective story about a woman the size of sea bean (The Curious Scrapbook of Josephine Bean), to creating an immersive theatrical installation where the audience themselves are the 3 little pigs (HUFF), and most recently to her theatrical art exhibition piece Atlantis Banal, ‘an entertaining and strangely exhilarating hour of enquiry about where play ends, and art begins’ which showed Shona ‘at her gorgeous, absurdist best’ Joyce McMillan (the Scotsman, Nov 2019).

Either as designer or creator, Shona is behind some of Scotland’s most successful children’s shows, including Huff, The Voice Thief, Black Beauty (Red Bridge Arts) and White (Catherine Wheels). Catherine Wheels have produced Shona’s work since 2003.

https://www.shonareppe.co.uk/

Victoria Beesley

I write and direct touring theatre productions, usually inspired by real-life stories. I’ve created work for audiences of children, young people and adults that has toured Scotland and the rest of the UK.

I also direct theatre projects and deliver workshops with a range of community groups; using theatre and visual art to interrogate the world around us, to explore issues from a variety of perspectives and to share the remarkable stories of the people who participate in these projects. Catherine Wheels are currently supporting me with the creation of my new show Kissing Linford Christie. They've given me time and space to develop the show, given me artistic support, worked with me to secure funding, and are going to be producing the show.

www.victoriabeesley.co.uk

James Ley

James is a playwright, dramaturg and screenwriter living in Leith. He is under commission to the Traverse Theatre, Ambassador Theatre Group, Perth Theatre, and Pearlfisher Theatre Company and he is currently on attachment to National Theatre of Scotland. His first feature screenplay LOVE SONG TO LAVENDER MENACE is in development, with producer John McKay/Compact Pictures, funded by the Scottish Film Talent Network, part of the BFI. The stage play of the same title has been performed at Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and internationally, including SoHo Playhouse, New York. For Catherine Wheels, James wrote the text for the Lung Has/Catherine Wheels co-production Emma and Gill which toured schools. James loves writing in the Catherine Wheels office and receives support and advice from the company.

https://www.mrley.com/

Make Spacers

Alison Brown

Alison has worked as a Costume designer and maker for over 20 years on productions that have toured throughout the world. She studied Printed Textiles at Edinburgh College of Art. Pattern and texture continue to play a significant part in her design process.

Ashley Smith and Simon Donaldson

Simon and Ashley have been working extensively in children’s theatre for over 15 years. They have toured across the UK, USA, Canada and Australia with shows for young people. They have also worked for companies including; NTS, Traverse Theatre, The Tron, Dundee Rep, Grid Iron, Communicado, The Lyceum and Citizens theatres throughout their careers as actors. They have developed their skills as musicians, voice over artists, physical theatre performers not only on the stage but in TV, film, radio and gaming. This is the first time they have worked together however and they are looking forward to combining their years of experience to develop a brand new show for a family audience.

Ben Winger and Kerry Cleland

Kerry Cleland and Ben Winger are theatre-makers and performers. They’ve worked with theatre companies across the UK and specialise in making work for children and young people. Kerry works as a project coordinator and early years artist with Starcatchers in their community engagement program Expecting Something for babies and parents. Ben works with Hearts and Minds as a Clowndoctor and Elderflower.

Katrine Turner

Katrine Turner is a Scottish artist and facilitator creating political performances for all types of audiences. She graduated in MLitt Theatre Practice with Distinction from Glasgow University, where she was the College of the Arts Bellahouston Scholar 2015/2016. Her performance work has been presented at Camden People’s Theatre, the English Theatre Berlin, Tramway and the Centre of Contemporary Art among others.

Yvonne Buskie

Yvonne Buskie (BA Hons, Edinburgh College of Art) is a visual artist living in East Lothian. She works with drawing and painting, performance, installation.