Laura Valerie Walker

Theatre director & producer

Producing

Performers acting with scripts in hand as daughter, son, and father. The son sits at the table with his head in his hands, behind him the daughter and father argue, gesturing angrily.
Photography by Joe Osborn. How to Train Your Dad to Be a Feminist R&D 2023. Jenny Baron, TJ Cameron, Paul Beeson.

My producing practice is built around supporting early-career artists, and those from north and rural Scotland. I am particularly interested in stories which talk to my interest in feminist theatre, and stories from northern and rural artists which exist beyond the context of rurality.

A large portion of my producing work is as CEO and Producer of Vivid Roots Collective.

I produce productions through my company Change the Ending.

Projects

How to Train Your Dad to Be a Feminist by Sophie Wink is a new play in development. The play explores the deep rooted misogyny in our family relationships as one family’s celebratory dinner unravels around their kitchen table. Through the play’s characters, we experience the tension between a generation yearning for change, parents fighting against the attitudes of the generations before, and a family holding on to love. 

The sharing, free to a public audience at Aberdeen Arts Centre on 24th October 2025, was performed to 40 attendees. 

The project is led by an early-career team of theatre-makers based in the North and North East Scotland.

A woman actor sits at a dining table set with for a meal with a bottle of wine. Her script is in front of her and she looks out of the frame with an exasperated expression.
Photography by Graeme Read. How to Train Your Dad to Be a Feminist R&D 2025. Lucy Beth as Penny.
Playwright

Sophie is based in Inverness and writes with an interest in autobiographical performance, using her personal experiences to fuel her writing and contextualise wider social issues. Growing up in Elgin, Sophie’s experience as a young woman in a working class north-east household is the basis of the play’s relationships.

Sophie is a UHI Inverness Drama and Performance BA(Hons) graduate. The degree has instilled her with a desire to work in and from the Highlands and was the launchpad to her work as a co-founder of Vivid Roots Collective. Find out more here.

R&D 2025

Director | Sophie Bender
Set & Costume Designer | Claire MacDonald
Lighting Designer | Jack Read
Dramaturg | Hannah Low
Mentor Director | Eve Nicol

As Penny | Lucy Beth
As Alfie | Ronan Doyle
As Joanne | Joanne Randle
As Tony | James Peake

Funded by National Lottery via Creative Scotland

With support from Aberdeen Arts Centre

R&D 2023

Director | Sophie Bender
Mentor Director | Jack Nurse from Wonderfools

As Penny | Jenny Baron
As Alfie | TJ Cameron
As Joanne | Debora Whyte
As Tony | Paul Beeson

Funded by National Lottery via Creative Scotland

With support from Eden Court Theatre

Lead Artist / Performer | Rachel Haston
Dramaturg | Anna Whealing

This devised performance will be a Scottish adaptation of the Greek myth through a contemporary feminist lens. Rachel, Ellen and I undertook an R&D in 2025 (funded by National Lottery via Creative Scotland) to develop a narrative and idealogical framework for future devising. We attended productions, read a lot, and talked about what was important to us in adaptation, what was important to us in feminist work, and what this all ment for this story. 

We will be developing the performance further by exploring the devising process in 2026.