Ali trained in theatre design in Edinburgh and Croydon before spending the 1980s in London designing shows for fringe theatres such as Battersea Arts Centre, Hull Truck and the Albany Empire, Deptford. She was a founder member of the acclaimed touring company, the Shadow Syndicate, a four times fringe first winner, and she began working with Teresa Early’s Theatre Peckham (then New Peckham Varieties) to which she originally had a five minute bike ride and finally had an overnight train journey. Since then she has designed, devised, made, facilitated and taught all over the country.
In the 1990s Ali was resident designer with the Belgrade Theatre in Education Company and designed several community plays in venues from East End
derelict churches to Scottish border stately homes.
She designed for TAG, Scottish Opera for All, the Duke’s, Lancaster and Theatre Venture among others before the birth of her son in 1995 necessitated sensible hours (and money!) and she began her lecturing career.
In 2004 Ali returned to Scotland to set up the Costume Design and Construction degree at Queen Margaret University before moving on to a part-time teaching post at Fife College so she could continue her freelance career. Since then, she has designed a wide variety of work from the fringe first winning show, ‘The Tailor of Inverness’ for Dogstar Theatre, to 3 operas for under-5s for Scottish Opera, work at the Traverse, Edinburgh and a unique interactive voice installation for Winchester Science Centre.
Ali is particularly interested in musical and physical theatre and in working collaboratively to create new work. She loves to play with texture and is a keen knitter and embroiderer. When off duty, she plays the bass ukulele and practices yoga. She lives by the sea in Kinghorn with her husband, her dog and 120 teapots.
You can download a CV herecv_2022.docx
Ali trained in theatre design in Edinburgh and Croydon before spending the 1980s in London designing shows for fringe theatres such as Battersea Arts Centre, Hull Truck and the Albany Empire, Deptford. She was a founder member of the acclaimed touring company, the Shadow Syndicate, a four times fringe first winner, and she began working with Teresa Early’s Theatre Peckham (then New Peckham Varieties) to which she originally had a five minute bike ride and finally had an overnight train journey. Since then she has designed, devised, made, facilitated and taught all over the country.
In the 1990s Ali was resident designer with the Belgrade Theatre in Education Company and designed several community plays in venues from East End
derelict churches to Scottish border stately homes.
She designed for TAG, Scottish Opera for All, the Duke’s, Lancaster and Theatre Venture among others before the birth of her son in 1995 necessitated sensible hours (and money!) and she began her lecturing career.
In 2004 Ali returned to Scotland to set up the Costume Design and Construction degree at Queen Margaret University before moving on to a part-time teaching post at Fife College so she could continue her freelance career. Since then, she has designed a wide variety of work from the fringe first winning show, ‘The Tailor of Inverness’ for Dogstar Theatre, to 3 operas for under-5s for Scottish Opera, work at the Traverse, Edinburgh and a unique interactive voice installation for Winchester Science Centre.
Ali is particularly interested in musical and physical theatre and in working collaboratively to create new work. She loves to play with texture and is a keen knitter and embroiderer. When off duty, she plays the bass ukulele and practices yoga. She lives by the sea in Kinghorn with her husband, her dog and 120 teapots.
You can download a CV herecv_2022.docx