Annie McIlwaine

Annie McIlwaine is a 22-year-old actor born in Scotland and raised in Belfast. Annie inherited her love of the theatre from her mother who was a dancer and choreographer and her uncle who has been a professional actor for just under 30 years. She started her professional training at Rose Bruford on the foundation acting course at their Belfast Campus, in 2019. With the skills she learned on this course, Annie earned a place at the Institute for Contemporary Theatre in Brighton, on their BA Acting for the 21st Century pathway. Annie will be graduating after three years from the Institute in June 2023. Within Annie’s time at ICTheatre Brighton, she was selected to take part in the early development stages of a theatre adaptation of Ray Shell’s novel ICED, this was directed by Ray himself. Annie also played a vital role in the research and development and subsequent full production of ‘The Tight Squeeze’ an original immersive production about the stock market set during the eve of New Year’s 1999. In her final months at drama school, Annie auditioned and was cast as the lead role of Lisa in Anthony Neilson’s ‘The Wonderful World of Dissocia, which was directed by Gary Sefton. Annie is looking forward to being a part of the development of ‘Float’ as it showcases the lives of young women from Belfast, their struggles and their closeness through hard times.