Sunset Song: Danielle Jam & Morna Young
Actor Danielle Jam and Playwright Morna Young, fresh from their recent production of Sunset Song , come to WayWORD to discuss writing and performing in Doric, staging the North East, and the future for the performing arts in Aberdeen. Sunset Song took the poetry and vibrancy of the novel and translated it to the stage, with an evocative, transformative production touring Scotland. Morna and Danielle will reflect on their experiences bringing this beloved text to new audiences, and how they think it relates to a future Aberdeen.
Danielle Jam is an actor from Aberdeen, listed as one of Saltire Scotland's '40 under 40' 2023, whose recent projects have championed Doric performance. Growing up in Aberdeen, Danielle studied acting at NESCol, before going on to Edinburgh Napier and Queen Margaret Universities. She has been leading recent productions set in the North East, as Chris Guthrie in Sunset Song in 2024, and Mina in Dracula: Mina's Reckoning in 2023. Danielle has been making waves in touring productions of Sunset Song, Dracula: Mina's Reckoning, Kidnapped, James IV: Queen of the Fight , and has performed in His Majesty's Theatre's recent pantomimes Beauty and the Beast, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Peter Pan . Danielle was nominated for ‘Best Magical Being’ in the 2023 UK Pantomime Awards. Her screen credits include: Molly & Mack on CBBC, Scot Squad and Dash on BBC Scotland.
Morna Young is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter from Moray, named ‘Scots Writer of the Year’ at the inaugural Scots Language Awards. Most recently, she won the Peggy Ramsay/Film 4 Playwriting Bursary (Traverse), and received an SSP@50 Fellowship (Aberdeen Arts Centre). Lost at Sea , Morna’s debut full-length play in 2019 (Perth Theatre), won two Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS), and was a finalist in The Herald ’s Culture Awards. She also wrote the CATS-winning Runrig musical, The Stamping Ground (Eden Court / Raw Material). Most recently, she wrote the critically acclaimed and CATS-nominated adaptation of Sunset Song that toured in Spring 2024 (Dundee Rep / Lyceum). Other plays include Babs and Aye , Elvis (‘A Play, A Pie and A Pint’) and The Snow Queen (Lyceum). Morna was recipient of the Dr Gavin Wallace Fellowship hosted by Aberdeen City Council (2017), a New Playwrights Award (Playwrights' Studio, Scotland, 2014) and the ‘Tomorrow at Noon’ award for female playwrights (Jermyn Street Theatre, 2018). Her international work includes The Traverse’s ‘Scotland-in-Japan’ residency, playwright-in-residence for BATS Theatre in New Zealand, and a Rome residency as part of the Muriel Spark 100 awards.
In partnership with Aberdeen Art Galleries & Museums, The Cowdray Hall
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