PACE Theatre Company is a registered charity and non-profit making

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

based in Paisley,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Formed in 1988 by David Wallace, PACE has four main components: a professional theatre production and theatre-in-education (TIE) company; PACE Youth Theatre, PACE Casting, a

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...

agency which represents Youth Theatre members; and PACE Media Productions, a media production company specialising in educational and dramatic video productions. In September 2017, Wallace was sacked from the company after a financial investigation. His wife Mhairi Wallace was suspended on full pay. On 23 February 2018 Jenni Mason was appointed to Artistic Director with Grant Mason as Chief Executive. On 8 August 2018 PACE changed their branding followed by a total revamp of their youth theatre classes. Various famous entertainers attended PACE as children, including

Richard Madden Richard Madden (born 18 June 1986) is a Scottish actor. He was cast in his first role at age 11 and made his screen acting debut in 2000. He later began performing on stage whilst a student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In 2007, he ...

Paolo Nutini Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician from Paisley. Nutini's debut album, '' These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-up, '' Sunny Side Up'' (2009), de ...

James McAvoy James McAvoy (; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in '' The Near Room'' (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his feature film career began. His notable television work includes ...

James McArdle James John McArdle (born 3 April 1989) is a Scottish actor from Glasgow. He won the Ian Charleson Award for his role as Mikhail Platonov in '' Platonov'' and was nominated for an Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for p ...

, and

David Sneddon David Sneddon (born 15 September 1978) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and music producer of contemporary pop music. He began his career performing on stage and television, singing lead roles in stage musicals in Glasgow. In 2002, h ...

Pantomime

PACE Theatre Company has produced the

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

at Paisley Arts Centre since 1988. The panto was written and directed by David Wallace, who also costarred in it with Alan Orr. In 2016, Wallace left the annual pantomime after 29 years. The older members of PACE Youth Theatre continue to play the part of the chorus. In 2020, due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

pandemic, PACE took their pantomime online and produced a show over YouTube and Zoom called ''Lost in Pantoland'', starring Chris Alexander, Alan Orr, Darren Brownlee and Dani Heron.

PACE Youth Theatre

PACE Youth Theatre is one part of PACE Theatre Company, and has been running since 1988. It was founded by David Wallace. It is currently based in Spires Drama Studios, Paisley. It was previously known as Paisley Youth Theatre when based in Paisley Arts Centre. Currently PACE has just under 3000 members.

Fest!

''Fest!'' is a group of events run by PACE during various school holidays, in which children and young people (3-21) spend a week creating a show based on popular movies, plays and musical theatre productions (previous shows include ''Encanto'' and ''High School Musical''). At the end of the week, family members are invited to watch the children perform on a professional stage. PACE also provide concessionary places with a partial or full grant to let children within a disadvantaged financial situation take part in workshops.

Sma Shot

Every year PACE performs a show based on the political battle between the weavers of Paisley and their employers, the manufacturers - known as Corks - in the 19th century. The show is performed by members of PACE Youth Theatre on the first Saturday of July.

Notable former students

*Amy Conachan *

Kevin Guthrie Kevin Guthrie (born 21 March 1988) was a Scottish actor. His best known roles are Ally in '' Sunshine on Leith'' (2013), Ewan Tavendale in Terence Davies's '' Sunset Song'' (2015), and Abernathy in the first 2 Fantastic Beast films - ''Fanta ...

, actor * Shauna Macdonald, actress *

, actor *

, musician *Scott Reid *

Mark Rowley Sir Mark Peter Rowley (born November 1964) is a British senior police officer who has been the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis since September 2022. He was the Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis for Specialist Operati ...

, actor *

, singer-songwriter

References

External links

PACE Theatre
{{authority control Theatre companies in Scotland Charities based in Scotland Performing groups established in 1988 Paisley, Renfrewshire Drama schools in Scotland