Since graduating from The Northern School of Art’s BA (Hons) Acting for Stage & Screen course, Connor Dorrian has developed a varied career as an actor, playwright and theatre facilitator, combining professional performance with creating new work and supporting young people through the arts.
Playwriting has become an important part of Connor’s developing practice. His play A Moving Still, a North East coming-of-age story, was originally written, directed and performed by Connor as part of his MA final major project. Following further development and redrafting, the play won Live Theatre’s Under-26 North East Playwriting Award in 2024. The award provided Connor with the opportunity to work with Live Theatre to develop both the play and his skills as a writer, with the longer-term ambition of bringing A Moving Still towards production.
The award marked an important step in Connor’s career, opening up new opportunities while giving him greater confidence to pursue his creative ambitions. Speaking about the experience, Connor said:
“Winning the Under 26 North East playwright award was a giant step in my career, opening many new doors while also giving me confidence to pursue my creative passion.”
Alongside developing A Moving Still, Connor has continued to create and collaborate on new projects, including BrainSoup Collective, a theatre company developed with fellow artists. His work demonstrates an interest in creating his own opportunities as well as working within established theatre organisations.
Connor’s career also extends into creative education and participation. He has worked as a theatre facilitator with Live Theatre’s Creative Young People’s Programme and Live Tales, supporting young people to explore performance, storytelling and theatre-making. He has continued this work with Sunderland Culture, using his experience as a performer and theatre-maker to engage young people through creative activity.
As an actor and facilitator, Connor has also toured professionally with Night-Light Theatre and the NSPCC’s It’s Not OK, performing and facilitating workshops for young audiences across the North East and North Yorkshire. This has allowed him to combine his performance experience with participatory theatre, working directly with young people and communities.
Connor’s writing has also extended beyond theatre, with his poetry selected for publication as part of New Writing North’s Scraps, a collection bringing together writing from young northern voices.
His career demonstrates the breadth of opportunities available through Acting for Stage & Screen, with Connor developing work across acting, playwriting, theatre-making, facilitation and poetry. Rather than following a single creative path, he has built a multidisciplinary practice that allows him to create his own work, collaborate with other artists and contribute to the wider creative community.
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