Home > About > The Quines Story

The Quines Story

Black and white promotional image for Night Sky showing a planet on the left with a person silhouetted against it and the face of a woman with her eyes closed on the right
Image by Murdo MacLeod

1993 – 2000

Stellar Quines was established in 1993 by Gerda Stevenson and a group of theatre practitioners to address the lack of opportunities for women in theatre. The creation of Stellar Quines was a direct response to Gerda’s experiences working with celebrated British feminist theatre company Monstrous Regiment and her vision for Scotland to have a theatre company that would consciously create opportunities for women in all areas of production. 

The company’s first production was Night Sky by Susan Yankowitz, directed by Lynn Bains. It toured to Aberdeen, Ayr, Glasgow, St Andrews and Edinburgh during the spring of 1994. A full list of all our past productions can be found on the Shows section of the website.

Image: Promotional image for Night Sky by Murdo MacLeod

2000-2016

In 2000, Muriel Romanes became Artistic Director. As one of the original co-founders of the company, she had an outstanding reputation as a force in Scottish theatre, supporting new writers and providing opportunities for women in theatre to develop in other creative areas. This included our Rehearsal Room programme to develop new plays. She nurtured a special relationship with Quebec notably presenting the triple Fringe First winning Jennifer Tremblay Trilogy.

In 2016, Muriel stepped down after working for the company for 22 years. She was awarded a CATS Award for exceptional contribution to Scottish Theatre and was also awarded an MBE for services to theatre. 

Image: The Jennifer Tremblay Trilogy Poster

Tremblay Trilogy poster showing an illustration of a woman on top of a heart with a dagger through it and a tree of thorns
Fibres Film production image of Suzanne Magowan sitting surrounded by black bin bags with Jonathan Watson sitting on an armchair in the background
Image by Tim Morozzo

2016-2021

Jemima Levick joined the company as Artistic Director in 2016. With a particular commitment to equalities and diversity, she broadened the organisation’s reach in sector development and community engagement by establishing new programmes of work.

Jemima produced and directed an extraordinary breadth of work through a culture of collaboration, co-producing shows with National Theatre Scotland, The Lyceum, Citizens Theatre, Imaginate, Pearlfisher, Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre.

During this period, Stellar Quines built relationships with a range of community engagement partners such as Glasgow Women’s Library, YWCA Scotland – The Young Women’s Movement, SHE Scotland and Stepping Stones. Jemima left Stellar Quines to join Play Pie and a Pint in 2021 as their Artistic Director. 

Image: Fibres Film production image of Suzanne Magowan

2021-

Stellar Quines welcomed Caitlin Skinner as the new Artistic Director/CEO in July 2021. Caitlin’s vision is for an intersectional feminist theatre company which invites action through a collaborative programme of work that includes touring shows, engaging communities, supporting creatives and campaigns all with the aim of achieving greater equality.

Stellar Quines is the sum of the brilliant people who have worked together over the years.

We would like to thank all the exceptional performers, creatives and crew we have worked with on our shows since 1993. Their work is recorded in the shows section.

We’d like to thank the following brilliant people who have worked at Stellar Quines since 1993 for their contribution to the Quines.

Headshot of Caitlin Skinner
Caitlin Skinner
Decorative image showing two teal circles overlapping two purple circles overlapping an orange circle

General Managers and Producers: Morag Ballantyne, Iain Carmichael, Alexandra Stampler-Brown, Jaine Lumsden, Mary Paulson Ellis, Lesley Anne Rose, Claire Dow, Jen White, Rebecca Doggett, Rhea Lewis

Operations/Marketing/Development: Jane Ridings, Rosie Wildwood, Persephone Nichol-Bose, Gillian Shaw, Shirley Monteith, Rosie Bans, Vivanne Hullin, Hannah Forsyth  

Engagement: Catherine Grosvenor, Rosie Priest, Gemma Nicol and Lisa Williamson of hidden route 

We are also indebted to work of all those who have volunteered their time as Board Members:
Nicola Axford, Graeme Bailie, Lynn Bains, Morag Ballantyne, Katherine Bowling, Jackie Brock, Kris Bryce, Ruth Butterworth, Iain Carmichael, Elaine Carmichael, Jo Clifford, Andrew Coulton, Jackie Crichton, William Dawson, Stephen Ewing, Vivian French, Jane Hogg, Marilyn Imrie, John Irvine, Angela Jackson, Lisa Kapur, Maggie Kinloch, Elspeth Macarthur, Irene Macdougall, Gordon Macpherson, Joan Matthew, Sadie McKinlay, Caroline Middleton, Sue Moody, Karen Niven, Clarissa Notley, Mary Paulson-Ellis, Lesley Quirk, John Ramage, Caroline Ramsay, Jane Ridings, Michael Ridings, David Rutherford, Lisa Sangster, Fiona Semple, Elizabeth Smith