WHEN teenager Dawn Sievewright went to drama school in London, her tutors told her to lose her Glasgow accent.
Now, she’s starring in the country’s most prestigious theatre, in one of Disney’s most famous stories – and speaking in the broadest of Glaswegian tones.
The 30-year-old has a key part in an acclaimed new production of Walt Disney classic Pinocchio, staged by former National Theatre of Scotland director John Tiffany.
Bishopbriggs-raised Dawn plays the ne’er-do-well Lampy in a magical retelling of the 1940 animated classic, which is being staged in London with the original Disney music for the first time.
Fans of the movie will recall Lampwick – or Lampy – as a red-haired, buck-toothed bad boy who was transformed into a jackass and almost led Pinocchio to the same long-eared downfall. But, on stage, he’s a Glasgow tomboy – defiantly so.
Dawn said: “In rehearsal, John Tiffany told me he wanted Lampy to be a proper, feisty Glaswegian lassie. And I thought, ‘Perfect, that’s what I am.’
“It’s also amazing to walk into the National Theatre to do a classical piece of theatre and be told that I don’t have to speak in a non-Scottish accent.
“But I thought if I’m doing Glaswegian then I might as well go full-pelt, so people know what I represent.”
Dawn studied dance at Knightswood‘s Dance School of Scotland before heading to London as a teenager to study at the Guildford School of Acting.
It was there that she first encountered resistance to her uncompromising style.
She said: “Years ago, actors with regional accents, even thick Cockney ones, were trained not to speak that way.
“I said absolutely not. If anyone’s going to give me a job, it’s because of my accent. And I’m a trained actor – so I can do other accents if I need to.
“It shouldn’t be about where someone is born and bred.
“People can just open their ears and listen to you, because there are thousands of accents around the world, and I won’t dial mine down, that’s one thing I stand by.
“I feel really strongly about that. I’ll never try to be something that I’m not, because my accent, and my Scottishness, are getting me parts.”
Before Pinocchio, Dawn was a standout in the touring production of the National Theatre of Scotland’s boisterous musical Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, which won acclaim in the UK and travelled to the US.
It won Best New Comedy at this year’s Olivier Awards, the theatre world’s equivalent of the BAFTAs at a star-studded ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall.
Dawn said: “I’ve never been to such a massive thing in my life, surrounded by some of the most talented actors, directors and producers, people I’ve been watching for years and years.
“I was sitting there in my big fancy dress thinking, ‘What am I doing here?’.”
Dawn and her co-stars were nominated collectively for a Best Actress in a Supporting Role gong at the awards, but lost out to Noma Dumezweni, star of the stage production of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child.
“It’s something to be proud of though, and I can only dream one day I might be back there holding the award for best actress.”
Since moving to London as a teen, Dawn has appeared in West End productions including Legally Blonde and Quadrophenia.
But it was returning to Scotland, where she landed a role in the hard-hitting Glasgow Girls musical, based on the true story of a group of Glasgow schoolgirls protesting over the deportation of their asylum-seeking classmate, that set Dawn’s career on its current upward trajectory.
She said: “It was when I did Glasgow Girls I met John Tiffany, and that has led to me getting a part in Pinocchio.”
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Tiffany was invited to meet Disney chief Thomas Schumacher in New York, which led to him directing the landmark production running until April in London.
Having won major plaudits Dawn knew Pinocchio was in safe hands with the director.
Tiffany’s re-imagining of the story of a marionette who wants to be a real boy, marks the first time Disney has allowed the songs from the film to be used in such a production.
Dawn said: “They’ve changed some of the characters in the story. Jiminy Cricket is now a woman and Lampy is a girl.
“When you think about it, the only girl in the story is the Blue Fairy, which is in keeping with that classically Disney way of looking at a fairytale, girls as sparkly princesses and guys being the saviour of the day.
“John is very like that. He thinks about things in the context of the modern day and ensures things are all equal.
“Some people might be expecting to see a sparkly Disney production, like a panto, but it’s not. It’s a really beautiful true story about family and love.
“My character is one of the lighter characters, but Lampy goes through a major transformation that’s really dark. It’s great to be able to play that in a Disney production, where the comedy is there but you get to do the dark bits, too.
“I’m so lucky to be a part of it, and to play my part in helping tell a story that is so well known putting our own stamp on it.”
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