Carran Waterfield

Awards

• Scotsman Fringe First Award Winner/Independent Theatre Award shortlist
• Museums and Heritage Award (Best Educational Initiative)
• Independent Theatre Award Shortlist
• Roots and Wings Award
• Birmingham Film Festival Selection

Details

I am an independent theatre and performance maker, teacher and published writer with several young people’s stories published along with devised playscripts and poetry. I am currently based in Southport, UK.

I was born in Coventry, UK where I  founded and led the international Coventry-based touring company Triangle Theatre (UK) est. 1988, Bare Essentials Youth Theatre and The Little Herberts performance art group.

I am a qualified teacher (B.ED) and  taught in primary and secondary schools prior to and after establishing my theatre company.  In relation to my touring work I conceived and facilitated numerous educational and community projects some or which won international acclaim.

I use movement, walking, creative play and innovative approaches to self-expression as well as read aloud sessions from my books. I am a highly experienced creative practitioner.

My particular interests include place based stories, ancestral stories, fairy tale, myth and personal story.

I also have extensive experience working in the Higher Education sector working on devised projects with undergraduates, giving talks and workshops for post graduates and assisting creative and performance research for universities such as Warwick, Salford and Manchester. 

I am seeking ways of sharing my practice with interested groups and am happy to form tailor made projects that are of mutual interest.

Below is more information about my experience:

In 2010, after twenty years practising in the West Midlands and extensive international touring, I moved from the West Midlands to Southport, Merseyside. I navigated a new direction collaborating with the universities of Salford and Manchester. I specialised in teaching movement at ALRA North (2010-2016), developed an extensive residency at Heron Corn Mill in Cumbria (2014-2017) and worked on a major research project on Performance and Poverty for the University of Manchester (2013-2017). I became an honorary research fellow whilst working there.

In 2018 I worked at Edge Hill University between whilst making contributions to Southport Constituency Labour Party as Women’s Officer. In 2019 I became an elected Labour Councillor for Sefton Borough Council where I led the development of a cultural strategy for the borough. I stood down from my councillor position in 2024.
​
Currently I am launching my new book Pink Granite a young adult historical fantasy about quarrying communities, drawing on my paternal family history. I am also developing A Walking Companion documenting my creative walks along the Sefton coastline. I am an associate artist at the University of Salford. 

Performance repertoire includes:
Omega and the Golden Water (1989) Edinburgh fringe and national tour. Married Blitz (1990) Best Actress Volgograd Festival of Experimental Theatre; Sticks and Stones(1990) Lloyds Bank Theatre Challenge Olivier Stage London; The Dig (1992) Fringe First, Independent Theatre Award Short List; Tributaries (1994) Japan/India/Scotland collaboration; Godiva (1995) UK Denmark tour; My Sister, My Angel (1996) UK Denmark Tour; Looking for the Tallyman (1998) Edinburgh Fringe/UK Denmark Tour; Whissell and Williams Home Front Training Camp/Coventry Kids in the Blitz (2004) Museums and Heritage Award/Roots and Wings Award, UK, France, Australia; Dugout! (2002) Screen West Midlands Selection; Nina and Frederick (2002) UK/Denmark/France tour, feature film; The Pollard Trail (2006) UK/Australia/Belfast feature in Performing Heritage; The Last Women (2009) commissioned by Wellcome Trust, Belgrade Theatre, The Herbert Museum, Warwick University Centre for the History of Medicine; Birnam Wood (2010-2016) RSC Stratford, Universities of Salford, Manchester and Melton College; The House (2015) AHRC funded with University of Manchester.

Performance art work includes:
Little Blue Man; (2015) with Universities of Northampton, Manchester, Salford and Move into Life Follow the Stone (2021) visual poem Southport coastline, Move into Life; Disrupted Meadow (2022) visual poem Move into Life, Castlefield Gallery, University of Sheffield, Dartington Hall.

Publications include:
Redhair and Daffodil Friend (1988, 2001, 2022, 2024) installation, children’s book, stage adaptation with The Herbert Museum Coventry, University of Salford; The Brinepoint Colouring Book (2024) Pink Granite (2025) A Walking Companion (forthcoming).

Training and influences:
Theatre and performance training is drawn from mainly European/UK based practitioners and teachers including Peter Slade (Demmery and Slade); Odin Teatret (Barba, Wethal, Carreri, Fowler); Pantheatre (Wise, Pardo); Roy Hart Theatre (Manley, Pikes, Lucca); Jerzy Grotowski (Barba, Cynkutis); Ian Cameron (Gaulier, Lecoq, Pagneux,  and Desmond Jones); Sandra Reeve (Move into Life, Suprapto Suryodarmo).

Photos and videos

Keywords