Actor Peter Mullan joined graduates at the Royal Conservatoire to receive his honorary degree in drama yesterday.
The award-winning Scottish star, who was born in Peterhead and raised in Glasgow, was awarded a Doctor of Drama along with two other leading lights.
Author and broadcaster Bonnie Greer OBE also received a Doctor of Drama while mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill was awarded a Doctor of Music at the performing art school based in Glasgow.
The principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, professor Jeffrey Sharkey, said: “We are incredibly proud to celebrate the achievements of Karen Cargill, Bonnie Greer OBE and Peter Mullan along with our class of 2018.
“They are being honoured for their distinctive contributions to the arts internationally – each has created a rich body of work which has entertained, engaged and, on occasion, provoked audiences across the globe.”
The day also saw ten trailblazing students made history after graduating from the UK’s only performance degree for deaf actors.
Several of the history-making students of the BA Performance in British Sign Language and English programme have already taken up professional roles.
Bea Webster will perform in Red Ladder’s Mother Courage and her Children at the Albion Electric Warehouse this September and Petre Dobre has been appointed trainee director/producer at the Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling.
Professor Sharkey added: “Graduation is a highlight and it’s always a pleasure and a privilege to watch each of our students grow as artists during their time with us.
“We wish them all the very best as they embark on this new and exciting chapter of their lives.
“There will be extra cause for celebration with the graduation of our groundbreaking BA Performance in British Sign Language and English students as it’s the first dedicated conservatoire degree programme for D/deaf performers in the UK.
“For three years we have shared their journey and felt their impact in such a profound and positive way across the entire conservatoire.
“Our community and the work we now create have changed for the better because of them and there is no doubt that as individuals and professionals they will now go on to enrich and transform the industry.
“We are looking forward to seeing the positive change they’ll have on the arts and the legacy they’ll create in an industry that continues to search for representation and diversity on its stages and screens.”
The three-year BA performance in British Sign Language and English undergraduate programme was established in 2015 and teaches students to be both actors and makers of work through British Sign Language and English.
Nearly 300 students will graduate across the disciplines of music, drama, dance, production, film and education at Scotland’s national conservatoire – one of the world’s top five performing arts education institutions.
