Homecoming for dancer whose career sprang from being bored
HE started dancing because he was bored hanging around his older sister’s classes. Now Jamie Duncan-Campbell is the only Scottish dancer in the revival of the acclaimed stage adaptation of Edward Scissorhands.
Having left the country to train in London when he was just 17, Duncan-Campbell will return next week for his first professional role in Scotland when the show opens in Edinburgh before moving to Glasgow. “I’m very excited and I think my family organised every single person I’ve ever met in my life to go,” said the now 21-year-old. “Everyone is very proud and they always say Scotland has really good crowds so I can’t wait.”
The show is a contemporary dance adaptation of the 1990 hit movie starring Johnny Depp and is told entirely through music and dance. Created by Matthew Bourne, it first played to sell-out audiences in 2005 in the UK, the US and Asia.
Duncan-Campbell plays the role of Kevin Boggs, the brother of Kim, who was portrayed by Winona Ryder in the film. “It’s a really good part,” he said. “It’s a tough show to get through as it is very physical but I feel privileged to play it as there is a massive pool of dancers to choose from in London.”
A product of the Dance School of Scotland, Duncan-Campbell began dance classes in Perth after growing bored watching his sister, Caitlin, take part. “I was just hanging around when she was there so I suppose boredom attracted me to it,” he said.
However, Duncan-Campbell then “threw himself’ at it and enjoyed it so much he applied for the Dance School of Scotland when he was 11. Winning a place meant moving to Glasgow and into the halls of residence, but although he was a little homesick at the start he thrived on the intense dance training.
“It is the best thing I ever did,” he said. “If you want to really pursue a career in dance you have to take it seriously and make the sacrifices. I did get a little homesick but you become used to it and you are doing what you love so that makes it a lot easier. You also get really good support.”
On leaving the dance school, Duncan-Campbell was accepted for the three-year drama course at Laine Theatre Arts in London. “It’s one of the best musical theatre drama schools in the UK and I feel very lucky to have been accepted as their training is world class,” he said. “It is amazing and that is when things really took off for me.”
Unfortunately some of his training coincided with the pandemic. which meant online lessons. “I was dancing through the living room, but on the plus side it meant I learnt to zone in on my skills in any environment,” Duncan-Campbell said.
On graduating, he won a place in a West End musical called Muses which won an Olivier award. “It was quite a big deal and a big learning experience,” Duncan-Campbell said. “I was a swing in that show which is someone who learns multiple parts so they can fill in if someone is unable to perform.”
He also won a part in Blitz, the new Steve McQueen film starring Saoirse Ronan before winning the part in Edward Scissorhands. This opened at Sadler’s Wells in London in November before touring England. After Scotland it will move to Amsterdam.
“Audiences seem to love it and the higher north we get the audience seems to be a lot more gregarious and more fun which is great,” Duncan-Campbell said. “I am very lucky to do this as a career. I don’t know what I would be doing otherwise or what I would even want to do. It feels very rewarding and very interesting to be a part of.”
Edward Scissorhands is at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre from May 14-18 before moving to the Theatre Royal in Glasgow from May 21-25