At Perth Autism Support we are are always keen to introduce our young people to autistic adults to hear their life experiences and we are delighted to announce that as part of our Easter Online Programme, our Drama Workshop Session on Wednesday 7th April will have a very special guest!
Briony Monroe is a Scottish, autistic actor who has appeared in a number of stage and television productions and is a friend of one of our Autism Practitioners, Emma.
Anna, caught up with Briony recently to hear a little more about her background, Briony told us:
“I decided to go in to acting from the young age of 8, I watched the movie musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ (I was only ever allowed to watch the first half) and in the song ‘Gethsemane’ there is a look that the actor Glenn Carter gives that sent chills down me, not long afterwards, I watched the film ‘Titanic’ and found myself really questioning exactly what actors do and decided the only way to find out was to become one. We lived overseas at this point and so I joined an afterschool drama club and found that it built my confidence as I was quite withdrawn. I really enjoyed acting and when I returned to Scotland with my family, when I was 11 I joined a local youth theatre, I loved it so much that I decided I wanted to act as much as possible. At the age of 14 I started to go to UK Theatre School where I continued to learn, sat my LAMDA exams and, of course, met Emma!
During my time at Theatre School I was still in high school and I was given the opportunity to be a supporting artist (an extra) on Waterloo Road, this allowed me to get on to a set and actually observe how everything works.
After school I studied drama at Glasgow Kelvin College, during one of the productions there was a producer in the audience who asked me to audition for a short film called ‘Eggshells’, the character was 14, however, I was a very young looking 18 year old. Thankfully, I got the role and the film was quite successful and from there I continued to finish my time in college and just kept auditioning. I went on to gain roles in several short and feature films, I absolutely love it when I get work and it is cathartic and fun for me to delve in to different characters from all different backgrounds.”
For more information on Briony’s work check out:
If you would like to see a little more then I recently did this interview with director, Lawrie Brewster.
My show reel can be viewed here:
Facebook page www.facebook.com/brionymonroeactress
Twitter www.twitter.com/BrionyMonroe
Instagram www.instagram.com/brionymonroe
