The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Perth actress combines star turn on TV with passion for designing
Creative flair channelled into designing and selling jewellery
She is best known to audiences as one of the stars of hit television show Scot Squad.
But now Perth-born actress Sally Reid has returned to the theatre where she first performed as a dancer aged three to pursue her other passion – as a champion of Scottish artists and craftsmen and women.
With the latest series of the BBC1 documentary-style spoof about a fictional Scottish Police Force in the can, Sally has taken the helm of a pop-up shop in Perth Theatre, showcasing the work of independent designers.
The pilot project will run until the close of the Christmas pantomime Aladdin and she hopes to spend the time growing the idea so she can take it to other theatres, as well as showcasing items relating to the venue – such as plays and books.
Sally, who has starred on screen and stage for a number of years, was once a key part of the Perth Theatre ensemble.
During the down time between jobs she designs jewellery and indulges her passion for all things creative.
She has been running pop-up shops, featuring the work of Scottish artists, for five years.
In 2016 she ran a shop in Glasgow for six months, in partnership with Taggart star Blythe Duff, who starred alongside her in The James Plays with the National Theatre of Scotland.
Sally said: “Actors often have inbetween jobs and for me this has always been shop work, including independent and jewellery shops.
“I started to make my own jewellery as a hobby in between acting work.
“I started to do craft fairs and met other people like me. I used to do panto at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow and it was there that I first started a pop-up shop after getting in touch with some of the designers I’d met.”
She said the idea really took off when she paired up with Blythe Duff.
“We’d worked together and we share the same passion for design,” she said.
“The shop was really successful and I began to wonder how I could marry my two passions a little more closely.
“Being from Perth and knowing the theatre was reopening I pitched the idea to the team here and thankfully they were really up for it.”
I used to do panto at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow and it was there that I first started a pop-up shop after getting in touch with some of the designers I’d met