Biography

I am a professional actor/director with more than twenty years experience on the stage, in television, and on the radio. I have worked mentoring and guiding many groups of aspiring actors, both disabled and non-disabled.

I am the founder and Artistic Director of Burmese Theater Workshop.

I have devised and directed several shows with BTW (Let Me Out Of Hell), Beyond Nargis, Kisa Gotami, Lady Of Burma)

I have always been interested in physical theatre using stylized performing skills such as (Boal, on’Let Me Out Of Hell’) movement/dance ( Beyond Nargis, Kisa Gotami) or mask work on 'Lady Of Burma'

As a teacher I have run workshops for children and adults, abroad and in the UK.

To gain my training I joined Uplift Inclusive Theatre Company, a group of professional Disabled and Non-Disabled Actors. With Uplift he devised and performed: The Witch Of Edmonton and Young Carers.

Using this valuable experience I set up PANAMA Inclusive Theatre Company with a group of Disabled and Non-disabled Actors. We devised Remembrance, a play about the First World War Poets, which the company subsequently took to the Edinburgh Festival where it was awarded Three Stars from the Scotsman.

I was then invited by Graeae, possibly the premiere disabled theatre company in Europe, to join the first Missing Piece course, a nine month drama training course for disabled performers.

To expand my theatrical skills further I joined CandoCo, an inclusive Dance company, and toured internationally for eighteen months. During this period I was lucky enough to work with two internationally recognised choreographers: Javier De Frutos and Doug Elkins.

Upon my departure from CandoCo the Philippine British Council invited him to work in the Philippines on a two month tour with a play called: The Sacraments of the Dead.

I have now performed with numerous theatre companies including New Breed T.C, Fittings T.C, Graeae T.C, Theatre Resource and Edinburgh Theatre Workshop

My UK television credits include Dangerfield (BBC1), The Unknown Soldier (ITV), The Bill (ITV), Desperados (BBC1) and most recently Holby City (BBC1).

I have written for the stage and for Radio. My BBC Radio 3 play, WATCH THE SPIDER, in which I played the lead, was nominated in 2006 for a Pia Europa award for best European radio play. This was adapted from my one man stage play of the same name.

2010 - present

Critic’s comments:

‘Brilliant performance from Mclay’ (Financial Times, Watch The Spider)

‘This was an admirably unflinching piece of writing with a rare conviction of voice’

(The Guardian, Watch The spider)

‘Andrew Mclay gave a fantastic perfromance’ (The Stage, Flesh and Steel)

I have directed in the Czech Republic and the Uk.