My research explores the structures, values, and conditions that shape how theatre is made, supported, and sustained in Scotland. I am particularly interested in feminist cultural leadership praxis and the ways institutional frameworks influence creative practice.
I completed my MA in Arts, Festival and Cultural Management (with distinction) at Queen Margaret University. My dissertation, “Cultivating Playwrights and Plays: Exploring the role of arts managers in supporting playwrights and new writing within Scottish Theatre”, examined the often-invisible labour of arts managers in supporting new writing and playwrights. This research highlighted how relational work, advocacy, and care underpin the creation of new theatrical work, even when such contributions are undervalued within traditional measures of cultural success.
Building on this foundation, my PhD at the University of the West of Scotland - in partnership with Stellar Quines Theatre Company - is titled “Relocating Power: Stellar Quines, Feminist Praxis, and the Question of (De)Professionalisation”. The project investigates intersectional feminist arts praxis and strategies for arts provision in Scotland’s regions. It asks how feminist values can inform leadership, legitimacy, and cultural value, particularly in relation to decentralised models of theatre-making. Stellar Quines’ recent relocation to Kirkcaldy provides a timely and compelling case study to explore how place, policy, and feminist practice intersect in shaping organisational futures.
Across my research, I am motivated by questions of value, care, and power:
Who decides what counts as legitimate cultural work?
How do feminist organisations navigate systems shaped by funding cycles and precarity?
What can models of collaborative, care-driven leadership teach us about sustaining the arts?
This work combines academic rigour with professional practice. Alongside my doctoral research, I continue my role at the National Theatre of Scotland, which allows me to keep my inquiry grounded in the evolving realities of the sector. I am committed to producing research that is not only critical but also useful to practitioners, policymakers, and cultural leaders navigating change in Scotland and internationally.
If you are interested in learning more about my research or reading my research, you can contact me via amymckenzieprojects@outlook.com.