Matthew Zajac
Actor / Writer / Director
Who Am I ?
One of the fundamental questions of human existence, alongside "Why am I here?" and "What is the meaning of life?" As I find these two questions impossible to answer, beyond the simple and sublime goal of giving and receiving love, I've ended up spending quite a lot of my time on earth to date focussed on the first question.
I'm an actor, and have been since my first paid acting job in 1982. I've done lots of work stage, on TV & film and on the radio. I've also produced and directed many new plays and, more recently, I've become a writer. I'm dedicated to the development of professional theatre in the place I was raised, the Highlands of Scotland. I'm the Artistic Director of Dogstar Theatre Company - www.dogstartheatre.co.uk - which has been producing and touring new plays in the Highlands and internationally for over 20 years.
Being an actor for over 40 years, I've pretended to be a lot of different people. This has not been to escape myself, even though I think my father felt compelled to do that in a partial way due to the trauma he experienced in World War 2 (see the upcoming section on The Tailor of Inverness). No, I was raised to be hyper-conscious of how I present myself to the world. Dad was a tailor and mum was quite obsessed with appearances. She loved to dress me up and dad provided a lot of beautifully-made clothes for that. So that's a root cause for why I became an actor. It's funny, having been dressed up a lot as a child for everyday life, with school uniform and Sunday best for church, I became bit of a scruff as an adult when I had to dress up for work.
I'm an actor, and have been since my first paid acting job in 1982. I've done lots of work stage, on TV & film and on the radio. I've also produced and directed many new plays and, more recently, I've become a writer. I'm dedicated to the development of professional theatre in the place I was raised, the Highlands of Scotland. I'm the Artistic Director of Dogstar Theatre Company - www.dogstartheatre.co.uk - which has been producing and touring new plays in the Highlands and internationally for over 20 years.
Being an actor for over 40 years, I've pretended to be a lot of different people. This has not been to escape myself, even though I think my father felt compelled to do that in a partial way due to the trauma he experienced in World War 2 (see the upcoming section on The Tailor of Inverness). No, I was raised to be hyper-conscious of how I present myself to the world. Dad was a tailor and mum was quite obsessed with appearances. She loved to dress me up and dad provided a lot of beautifully-made clothes for that. So that's a root cause for why I became an actor. It's funny, having been dressed up a lot as a child for everyday life, with school uniform and Sunday best for church, I became bit of a scruff as an adult when I had to dress up for work.
Awards & Nominations
Best Actor The Tailor of Inverness
Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland 2009
Best Solo Performer The Tailor of Inverness
The Stage Edinburgh Festival Awards 2008
Scotsman Fringe First
The Tailor of Inverness (playwright) 2008
Best Performer (Nomination) The Tailor of Inverness
Adelaide Fringe Festival 2009
Lustrum Award Mungo Park - Travels in the Interior of Africa
Summerhall Edinburgh Festival 2016 (actor & producer)
Lustrum Award The Sky Is Safe (playwright, actor & producer)
Summerhall Edinburgh Festival 2017
Lustrum Award Nightlands (actor & producer)
Summerhall Edinburgh Festival 2022
Some more for Directing and Producing
Winner Best Film Palm Springs Short film Festival 1997 for The Beauty of the Common Tool * Winner Royal Court George Devine Award Best New Play for Blue Night in the Heart of the West * Nominated Best Production London Fringe Awards 1991 for A Prick-Song for the New Leviathan * Nominated Best Production Manchester Evening News Awards 1992 for Blue Night in the Heart of the West * Over 50 awards for new play production from Creative Scotland, Scottish Arts Council, Arts Council England, London Arts Board and others.
Get In Touch
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