Final farewell to talented theatre director Amanda
Express: “Amanda was an extremely talented theatre practitioner with a huge heart, irrepressible spirit and endless passion for creating new work and I am proud to have called her my friend.
“We know that over the many years she worked at PACE, she will have had an incalculable impact on the lives of so many young people.
“She will be terribly missed by everyone at PACE and our thoughts are with her partner and family.”
Playwright Martin Travers added: “Amanda was a rare and precious talent. A Scottish female director that could deliver big plays onto main stages but was also brilliant when developing new writing – she could cut a new play like a jeweller cuts stones.
“We’ll miss her laugh and we’ll miss her smile and her energy and passion for life and theatremaking.
“She was a really important person.”
Amanda joined PACE in 1993 and was a member for eight years, taking part in many workshops, events and performances, including at the Millenium Dome in 2000.
She went on to study Contemporary Theatre Practice at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. After she graduated, Amanda went back to PACE to work as a fulltime member of the artistic team, running drama workshops with young people, touring schools and directing performances.
In 2010, she left to complete an MA in directing at the Royal Conservatoire and, from there, she went to work with some of Scotland’s best- known theatres, including the Citizens in Glasgow, The Lyceum in Edinburgh and the National Theatre for Scotland.
Amanda was a freelance director and worked with many different theatre companies.
Her colleagues in the Scottish theatre industry paid tribute to her as news spread of her untimely death.
She directed an acclaimed version of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler and Conor McPherson’s The Weir at The Lyceum Theatre, in Edinburgh.
A spokesperson there said: “We were deeply saddened to learn of the sudden death of talented young Scottish theatre director Amanda Gaughan.
“She was a fresh, lively new voice on the Scottish stage, an energising colleague, a good friend and much loved by The Lyceum team.
“She will be sadly missed across Scottish theatre and our thoughts are very much with her family at this difficult time.”
The National Theatre Scotland tweeted: “We are shocked and saddened to hear of the death of wonderful director Amanda Gaughan.
“We were fortunate to work with Amanda on many projects, including the James Plays.
“Her passing is a huge loss to the industry and she will be deeply missed. Our thoughts are with her loved ones.”
The Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland, where Amanda worked since she was studying her MA, said: “Since her days at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Amanda was a great friend to Playwrights’ Studio, from her involvement in projects like Born To Write, to her work with individual writers.
“Amanda was a passionate advocate for new writing and she supported many of Scotland’s playwrights over the years. Her incredible spirit, boundless energy and unwavering belief that theatre can effect real change will be sadly missed. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time.”
Amanda’s funeral mass will take place tomorrow at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, in Bishopton, at 10am, then on to Bishopton Cemetery.