My name is Shona Mairi Masson. I was a student at Hymers from 2007-2017, right through from the Junior School until the end of Sixth Form. I am now an actress and Musical Theatre performer working across film and theatre internationally. Most recently, I played Patty Simcox in the European Tour of Grease the Musical. Whilst this isn’t necessarily the most common career path after an education at Hymers, my time at school helped to prepare me for the highs and lows of the industry I love.

At school, I learnt to play the piano and viola and enjoyed many years of singing lessons. My acting and dance training was at Skelton Hooper School of Dance & Theatre on Princes Avenue. I chose to use school as a place to focus on academia, as I was doing so much creative work externally. I remember my school years being incredibly busy, juggling the academic goals of being a Hymers student with training in all disciplines of Musical Theatre six days a week. I was rarely sitting still, and that was exactly how I liked it!

I auditioned for drama schools in Year 13. I particularly remember Dr Bennett, my A Level Maths tutor, being extremely supportive. The pair of us celebrated together in her classroom when I was accepted into Laine Theatre Arts, my dream school. I trained at Laine for three intensive years that tested me both physically and mentally. I am an extremely proud ‘Lainey’ who was chosen to be Head Girl of the school in my final year. Unfortunately, I graduated from Laine in 2020 into a non-existent industry, collapsed by the Covid-19 pandemic. I did my best to keep up my training with Zoom dance, singing and acting classes.

In 2021, following a highly competitive audition process, I was offered a place on the MA Musical Theatre course at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), London. I had seen various musicians from Hymers go to RAM and felt extremely proud to be following in their footsteps. I had an incredible year as a student at the Academy. The course was both exciting and challenging. We had some amazing tutors, including Imelda Staunton, Cynthia Erivo and Claude-Michel Schönberg (composer of Les Misérables). Twelve months on, I felt that I had more to gain from the Academy and ran a successful election campaign to become the first President of the Students’ Union with a Musical Theatre background.

I had a whirlwind 2022-2023 as President of the SU, an apolitical role. RAM was celebrating its bicentenary, so I had many opportunities to meet and work with members of the Royal Family, as well as some of the absolute greats of music, theatre and business. The year had its challenges, supporting more than 800 students with their social, academic and economic difficulties sometimes took its toll, but I am extremely proud to have helped them on their journey into a career in the arts.

Even after I left the Royal Academy of Music, the theatre industry was still suffering from the aftermath of the pandemic. This encouraged me to side-step slightly, and I found a new passion working in action and combat sequences in film and television. My dance training and love of adrenaline-filled physical challenges attracted me to this type of work. Every day is different on set, but it usually involves arriving around 4:30 am, spending a few hours getting into hair, make-up and costume, and then a long day of filming, ‘wrapping’ around 9 pm. Then repeat and repeat for days or weeks until the sequence is finished.

My favourite action job was the recently released film Blitz. I spent several weeks at Warner Bros. Studios filming on a hyper-realistic London Underground sound stage, built 20 feet in the air, where we would be washed away by 70 gallons of water every shot. The most impressive thing was the turnaround time with only 20 minutes between each take to dry off over 150 actors and our costumes, redo our hair and make-up and dry the entire set before shooting again. It was thrilling and exhausting in equal measure.

Whilst I enjoy my film work, I feel that my creative home has been, and will always be, the theatre, so I was thrilled to be offered the role of Patty Simcox in Grease. Performing such an iconic musical was fantastic fun; you could feel the excitement grow in the audience every night as the opening to ‘Summer Nights’ or ‘Greased Lightnin’ began to play. Being on the road for 7 months wasn’t easy. The show was very physically demanding, and I was often battling through injuries and fatigue, but I loved it. We travelled across Germany, Austria and Switzerland and performed 150+ shows. I relished the challenge of bringing Patty to life 8 times a week and was constantly seeking to find more detail and complexity in her character. The opportunity to explore the stunning architecture and scenery of Europe was a huge bonus.

I love being a performer because it is a career where you are constantly learning, facing new challenges and pushing yourself. I work in an industry where you experience extreme highs and lows. I have learnt to accept, and even thrive on, the uncertainty of what is to come – there may be something bigger just around the corner.

Shona Masson, OH 2007-17