NIDA would love to congratulate alumni Duncan Ragg and Nicole Shostak who are among the 23 recipients of the 2015 Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship. This year’s winners will each receive $20,000 and are from a range of artistic disciplines including acting, painting, sculpture and singing.
These scholarships are a result of the vision, foresight and leadership of John Chisholm Marten (1908-1966) who established the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarships over 40 years ago through his estate. Providing essential financial support, the scholarships offer talented young Australian artists the chance to explore, study and develop their artistic gifts through travelling overseas or interstate.
NIDA Acting graduate Duncan Ragg intends to use his scholarship to travel across the world to further his studies and enhance various elements of his craft. First stop will be Paris to study Clowning at L’Ecole Philippe. He will then visit New York City to attend a devising workshop with TEAM, a Brooklyn-based ensemble dedicated to creating new work about the experience of living in America, and to make further connections in the theatre industry. His final stop is the Summer Intensive at the Steppenwolf Theatre School in Chicago before returning to Australia to develop new work with his theatre company, The Corinthian Food Store.
Having only finished his NIDA studies last year, Duncan said that this scholarship could not have come at a better time.
“I’m thrilled to be one of the recipients of the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarships. Fresh out of NIDA, I’m eager to further my studies abroad. This generous scholarship has provided me the unique opportunity to explore my craft on an international level, gain valuable insights into the development of new work with incredible companies and bring all of this knowledge back to Australia,” commented Ragg.
Nicole Shostak, a graduate of the NIDA Singer Dancer Actor course, will travel to the United States and Russia to expand her skills in comedy, writing and voice. In the US she will study improvisational comedy, and writing for comedy at The Upright Citizens Brigade and Second City, both improvisational enterprises, in Chicago as well as complete a voice course in New York City with acclaimed voice coach, Patsy Rodenburg. In Russia, she’ll participate in courses at the St Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy and take a residency at Lev Dodin’s Maly Drama Theatre of Europe.
NIDA wishes both graduates the best of luck!
