Stellar Quines Theatre Company


Established in 1993, Stellar Quines is a women's Scottish theatre company and charity based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Stellar Quines was under the artistic direction of Muriel Romanes from 1996-2016 when Jemima Levick took over.
The company has worked predominantly with Scotland but has also toured shows nationally and internationally.

Origin of the Name

The name Stellar Quines is a combination of two old Scots words: Stellar meaning starry, and Quines meaning women.

Productions

Rehearsal Room

Stellar Quines' Rehearsal Room was created to uncover new plays and new voices in partnership with the audience, through rehearsed readings and workshops. The main aim of Rehearsal Room is to enable writers to be more proactive in the development of their text using audience feedback as a major element of the process. It provides a platform for showcasing new plays and developing audiences, while also existing as a showcase for potential co-producers and promoters.
Many of the productions that Stellar Quines have created have been through the Rehearsal Room process before becoming full-scale productions.

Commissions

Stellar Quines regularly commissions new work. Since its inception the company has commissioned the writing, adaptation or translation of following plays:
2013
2012
2011
2007
2003
1996
Knit 2 Together
Knit 2 Together is a Heritage lottery funded All Our Stories project aimed as championing the female stories and histories intertwined in the Scottish Borders' textiles industries, and combines events, new writing and oral history. Knit 2 Together involves a series of knitting circles/local history sessions hosted by Stellar Quines in partnership with Heart of Hawick.
Playwright Sylvia Dow will use the project as the inspiration for a new play which celebrates women, knitting and Scotland's social history. The play will be given a rehearsed reading in Hawick in October 2013, as part of the Luminate festival.
All Our Stories, a brand new small grant programme, was launched in support of BBC Two's The Great British Story and was designed as an opportunity for everyone to get involved in their heritage.

Research

Digital Development
Stellar Quines conducts research into the ways digital technology may be used to enhance the work of the company, with the three main areas of research development being artistic, audience and business. Artistic development focuses on the ways in which digital technology may be used to enhance the creation of live theatre; audience development explores how company can extend its reach and engagement with new and current audiences; business development exploring new business models, with the aim of extending the life of live performances and delivering work in new ways.
To date this work has involved a number of projects and experiments, including live streaming and 3D theatre.
Gender in Scottish Theatre
In 2010, Stellar Quines undertook a research project, funded by the Scottish Arts Council Equalities Department, to provide the basis for Stellar Quines to test its purpose as a company, and refocus its vision for the future.
Phase One of the project was a piece of desk-based research, reviewing secondary data related to gender in the performing arts, to build an opinion based picture of women in theatre. The output of a series of Scottish building-based and touring companies in 1993 and 2009 was assessed. The study of two Scottish theatre seasons 18 years apart explored to what extent women were represented as directors, writers, actors, lighting, set and costume designers, and composers/musical directors.
Phase Two involved consultations with, and a survey of, a wide range of individuals from the Scottish theatre world. Individuals, groups and organisations who had a relationship with the company, or were relevant to the company's work, were surveyed - as well as those who had no existing relationship with the company but showed an interest in the future development of women in Scottish theatre.
Stellar Quines then reviewed the results from both phases of research, before adding its own observations.

The Company

Artistic Director
Company Administrator