Class of 2020: Macadie Amoroso

Macadie Amoroso knew from the age of 12 that she wanted to act but she can also add writer to her CV as she leaves East 15 Acting School with an award-winning play heading for the London stage.

“East 15 teaches you not to become complacent and instils in you a hunger to keep searching for work yourself and, if you’re that way inclined, to make your own work,” said Macadie, who is graduating with a BA Acting and Contemporary Theatre.

“The contemporary theatre course encourages you to be bold, take risks, and create art that needs to be created in both innovative and engaging ways. It gives you the confidence to put yourself out there, not just as an actor, but as a creative.”

It’s her creativity that has landed Macadie a contract with top agency Curtis Brown.

Her play, Blue Beneath My Skin, was first performed at the This is Black festival at the Bunker Theatre in 2019. The spoken-word solo show later scooped the Stella Wilkie Award at East 15’s Debut Festival, the prize for which is a run at The King’s Head Theatre in Islington.

“I was honestly overjoyed! It felt like all my hard work had paid off,” said Macadie.

Blue Beneath My Skin tells the story of a 17-year-old mixed-race girl who was abandoned by a canal as a baby and adopted by a white family in a white neighbourhood. Dreaming of a career as a fashion designer, she uses clothes to define herself and hides behind a superhero alter ego, Canal Baby.

“I was tired of never seeing mixed-race stories onstage or screen,” explained Macadie. “I didn’t really see myself represented very much. I was intrigued by how not knowing where you come from would affect a person’s identity, and I wanted to explore that whilst channelling some of my own experiences.”

Macadie has already recorded an interview with The King’s Head Theatre, explaining her journey into the arts, and performed five scenes from her play at the Alchemist Theatre Company’s Writers on Hold Festival.

Macadie, who credits a two-year break before enrolling at East 15 with giving her invaluable life experience that has benefited her creatively, has one piece of advice for new students: “Never lose sight of why you wanted to go to drama school in the first place and what you were hoping to gain from it.

“It’s your degree for your career and only you can make the most of it, so squeeze out as many opportunities from it as possible.”