Award-winning actress makes great return to Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for prize launch

Scottish actor, comedian and pantomime legend Elaine C. Smith has entertained audiences for more than 40 years. Now, with a long and successful career to draw from, the actor hopes to pave-the-way for the next generation of comedy actors.

This week, Smith is creating a brand-new 10-year prize worth £500 that will be awarded annually to a final-year drama student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s BA Acting, BA Performance and BA Musical Theatre degree programmes.

The RCS, which just celebrated it 175th anniversary, consistently ranks in the top 10 learning destinations for performing arts worldwide, teaching more than 3000 student each year.

The trail of sweeties

Elaine is one of the nation’s most familiar faces, from starring in smash TV sitcoms including City Lights, Rab C Nesbitt and Two Doors Down to her reign as one of the UK’s best-loved and longest-running panto dames.

The actor particularly hopes to empower and recognise more working-class female voices, by providing financial support during a particularly difficult time for the creative arts industry.

Calling on the old fairytale of Hansel and Gretel, she says “the prize is me wanting to leave a trail of sweeties, saying to women, ‘here’s a route, come on.”

Born in Baillieston and growing up in a working-class household in Newarthill, the Scottish actor recognizes the importance of supporting the arts and helping them to thrive: “Making people laugh is such a joyous thing.” Elaine, who studied drama at RCS when it was the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, said: “In a time like this, when the creative arts are under attack, it’s a wee bit of money to help them along the way.”

Elaine graduated in 1978 with her Diploma in Speech and Drama.

Comedy acting is no joke

A Scottish actor with a storied career herself, Smith points out that comedic talents often go unrecognized, such as comedy legend Robin Williams, who only won an Oscar after taking on “a serious role” in Good Will Hunting.

“I want to put a wee bit of positivity into awards that isn’t all about dramatic acting, but actually the huge skills that are needed for comedy.”

Elaine says her industry has a great emphasis on dramatic acting, and that she wants to put aside ‘a wee bit of money’ to help female voices in comedy like herself, who struggled to find a route into the scene.

Smith, who taught drama in an Edinburgh school for 3 years reflected on her own experiences raising the next generation to love the theatre: “When I was a teacher, I took my kids to see stuff all the time and to make them realise that they shouldn’t be intimidated walking into a theatre. The theatre was theirs.”

She spoke about how the creative arts can be a difficult world for working class voices to get their big break: “I grew up believing that art belonged to other people, and posher people than me.”

However, Elaine remains determined not to be an exception and give other working-class women in the comedy and drama circuit the opportunity they need to give it a go: “The notion of art was defined by the middle to upper classes” she said.

“But art belongs to everyone.”