Everyone Has A Journey: A Masterclass with Nicola McCartney

This past week I met one of the bravest individuals in the theatre industry: Nicola McCartney. She is currently the head of the playwright masters program at the University of Edinburgh and produced the work of Heritage that Pepperdine performed a few years ago. Her main point of the masterclass was to consider the question ‘Why do you do theatre?”. She gave us great detail on why that was an important question with her personal testimony which touched my heart because it proved that we all have a breaking point. After being so invested with her work, Nicola realized that she hadn’t cried in ten years. This spoke to me because I can relate to being so busy that I don’t have a moment to check in with myself to see how I’m feeling. The moral of the story was, no matter how high we get up in this world, balance is necessary. Nicola also urged us to find some core values with our lives and our purpose. When talking to us about Heritage, she mentioned that the reason she changed the ending was due to an actor refusing to do the scene unless it was changed. Her response was remarkable, interacting respectfully with the actor and wanting her to feel comfortable. My English class also had the opportunity to read through more of her works which all line up with her faith background. She is a proud Christian and the only one in her family that holds those views. Nicola McCartney is a true warrior and is not afraid of standing alone when faced with opposition. After this masterclass, I left the room inspired and motivated to continue on my path to becoming a true artist. I will never forget this day with Nicola McCartney.

Picture by Nadine McBay