Gregor McMillan | Drama

 GREGOR MCMILLAN 

Drama | BA Musical Theatre

Person standing in field, hands in pockets smiling at camera. Skinhead with hoop earrings and trench coat.
📸 Robbie Mcfadzean

How did you find out about Transitions? 

I found out about Transitions through a Widening Access to the Creative Industries summer school that I participated in.

When did you get involved with Transitions? 

I auditioned for the bespoke Acting pathway back in 2016.

What was the most useful thing you learned about your artform and yourself? 

The most important thing I’ve learned about my artform, about any artform, is that no matter what you do there will be multi-disciplinary work where you will cross paths with people from different parts of the industry. Not everyone has the same experience or training as you do but you’ve ended up in the same place working on the same project and the mutual respect for each other’s skills, thoughts and ideas should be held in high regard. I’ve learned to take any opportunity given to me so that my options are always open, to be bold and that the rules are meant to be broken. Work that challenges the norm, and that could be in structure or genre, is always the most difficult to carry out, but never shy away from the task because you’ll be able to discover more about your artform and yourself through it.

Why should someone think about joining Transitions?

If you’re thinking about joining Transitions and are eligible, I definitely think you should! If it wasn’t for the programme and giving me the opportunity to take part in many RCS short courses, then I can confidently say that I wouldn’t be in the position that I am now. The team at Transitions are so helpful in accommodating to what you want out of your time with them and will do such an incredible job at helping to eliminate any sort of barrier in your way to getting to what you want to achieve. I just turned sixteen when I joined Transitions and now I’m 20 and heading off to study at RCS. When I was sixteen I would never have thought that possible and thanks to Transitions, it is.

What is one piece of advice would you give to any current student on Transitions? 

A piece of advice I would give to any current Transitions student is to grab up any opportunity that is offered to you. Transitions run so many helpful workshops, Q&A’s and trips that may seem overwhelming when dealing with them all and sometimes even tedious or feel unnecessary to attend, but I promise, every single thing you put your name down for will better you as a performer, a maker or just as a person. A lot of the events run by Transitions have a massive social aspect to them between other students and also the staff. The connections that you can make through these are insane and this aspect of the industry is just as important than any other.

If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently within your time with Transitions? 

Because I was so young when joining Transitions and had absolutely no experience in the arts, sometimes I would see myself as less than others in my classes and not put across my ideas or thoughts and maybe wasn’t in contact with the Transitions team as much as could have been. If I were to go back now and repeat my time with Transitions, I would hope to be more assertive and confident in myself and my developing abilities. I was there for a reason, everyone was, and we were all equals, I just wish I knew that a couple of years ago when I started my courses. As I grew it didn’t take too long to come into my own and understand my own potential and this was partly due to the Transitions team not giving up on me! Everyone’s journey is different, comparing yourself to others is never healthy. You must understand that your pathway to achievement is an internal process, and you have to put the work in to reach your goals.


If you’d like to find out more about how to apply for Transitions, visit our pages on ‘How to Apply’ here.