Rubie, Nina Scott and Polly Rowley-Sams as The Musical Spores / Photo by Tegid Cartwright
Photo by Tegid Cartwright
Nina (they/them) is a political theatre maker and educator based in London. Their work is celebratory, immersive and collaborative, exploring different creative tools for social change.
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Nina is Producer, Director and Co-Writer of 'Be More Mushroom', a raucous, educational musical for kids and grown ups exploring what fungi can teach us about identity, power and society. Be More Mushroom was developed as part of a residency at St. Margaret's House with Dan de la Motte and a group of queer performers, musicians and mycologists. It was recently performed at Queer Nature: After Hours at Kew Gardens and will be developed further in 2024. Alongside the show is multiple workshops for all ages creatively engaging with Queer Theory and Fungi.
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Nina is an experienced educator and facilitator. They currently lecture on the BA Theatre for Social Change course at Rose Bruford Drama School, teaching Creative Campaigning and Producing in Practice. Nina regularly works in Catalonia with ULEX, co-designing and delivering courses for activists across Europe including: 'Theatre of the Oppressed' (Nov 2023) 'Integral Activist Training' (Oct 2023 & 2022) and 'Creative Tools for Social Change' (April 2022).
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Alongside Emer Mary Morris, Nina was Artistic Director of You Should see the Other Guy Theatre (2014-2022), a London based grassroots collective made up of queer and women artists which worked on and off stage to tackle housing injustice. Nina has Co-produced, written and directed YSSTOG's Land of the Three Towers (Camden People's Theatre 2015-2019), a series of verbatim musicals which were performed on London housing estates. The plays share different methods of resisting gentrification and regeneration. The script of Land of the Three Towers: Vol I has been published in Radical Housing: Art Struggle and Care (ed, Ana Valencia, 2021) which can be downloaded and ordered here.
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Nina's baby (pun intended) is Womb with a View (WINNER Best Festival Venue, IAF 2017, WINNER Shambala micro-venues competition 2016), an immersive venue which gives birth to new ideas and an interactive performance which gives birth to YOU. The womb sets out to queer narratives of wombs, childbirth and parenthood. In 2021 Nina received Developing Your Creative Practice Funding to develop Womb with a View, exploring queering trans healthcare and telling the story of birth through cabaret, song and silliness.
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Nina has designed celebrated costumes for award winning companies including Kill the Beast's He Had Hairy Hands (WINNER Peter Brook Festival Award, WINNER Manchester Theatre Awards, BBC Top Pick of the Fringe) and The Boy Who kicked Pigs.
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A core part of Nina's practice is singing and song-making and they are a long standing member of queer choral collective F*Choir.
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LAND OF THE THREE TOWERS: VOL II (2018)
YOU SHOULD SEE THE OTHER GUY
Directors and Writers: Nina Scott and Emer Morris
Devised and Performed by: Jennifer Joseph, Johanna Allitt, Chisara Agor, Ifrah Ismail, Redd Roche, Clare Joseph
Musical Direction: Nina Scott and Ben Osborn
Producer: Ailbhe Treacy
Company Manager: Kiri Grant
Dramaturg: Carley-Jayne Hutchinson
Puppeteer: Ajjaz Awad-Ibrahim
Poster/ Flyer Layout: Greg Hartley
Poster/ Flyer Artwork: Nina Scott
Website Design: Greg Hartley
Workshop Facilitators: Andy Plant and Emer Mary Morris (Campaign Toolkit), Kiri Grant and Emer Morris (Art as Resistance) and Nina Scott (Political Songwriting).
With special thanks to: Arts Council England, Network for Social Change, The Edge Fund, Camden Peoples Theatre, Silchester Estate, The Village, Cressingham Gardens, Exeter Street Hall, Focus E15 Campaign, Radical Housing Network and Eviction Resistance Network.
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”These women are talented: the music, songs, poetry and puppet (sock, yes, sock) performances are high quality, excellently performed. There are powerful and poignant messages, yes. But it’s also fun – so much fun.” **** Broadway Baby
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”Inclusive, rousing, practical […] ambitious, loving and timely. This will go long way to maintaining vital conversations about London’s housing crisis.” ****The Reviews Hub
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”The audience reflects the age and ethnic diversity of the area, and that suits the performers who are travelling with stories of how other housing estates have battled the so-called regeneration that threatens to purge London of the poor. The show is a fast-paced mix of verbatim interview material, poetry, songs, dance and a good deal of upbeat humour.” ****British Theatre Guide