Making Your Dreams Come True

Shekira Johnson grew up in the Docks of Cardiff. Enjoying her drama lessons at Fitzalan High School, she often wondered about becoming an actress, but it’s not an easy journey.

It takes bravery to decide to become an actress. It’s not a real job. And you hear stories of the hundreds of actors and actresses who are waiting for that phone call, who are finding it very hard to survive while at the same time looking at the seemingly unattainable glamour of those few who make it into the movies. Or into X Factor. So it makes much more sense to be safe. To become a hairdresser. Or work in a shop. Or become a nurse. But Shekira’s dream was to work in theatre.

I enjoyed drama lessons but I didn’t think I could make a career out of it … I didn’t understand until a couple of years down the line when I was working in a nursery. I decided I wanted to change from the routine of it and I remembered how much fun drama was in school …

And the hard work begins. Acting is an exacting and demanding profession that requires skill, concentration and the endurance to carry on performance after performance. So Shekira studied dance at Rubicon in Cardiff and BTEC theatre arts in Swindon. Shekira was making her dream come true.

The hard worked paid off. Shekira has just finished her training at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. And quick on the heels of leaving RWCMD, her first professional job here at Theatr Iolo is working with internationally acclaimed director Sarah Argent and award-winning Welsh playwright Gary Owen, who is currently writing for the National Theatre of Wales.

The tour of “The Ugly Truth” has just begun, already receiving great responses from teenagers in Cardiff schools. The pinnacle for Shekira will also be returning to Fitzalan High School, where her interest in theatre was born with the help of Drama Teacher Simon Futty.

Gary Owen and Sarah Argent have been working with the two performers, Hannah McPake and Shekira Johnson, devising “The Ugly Truth” to explore themes around body image, and the importance of fitting in. Two friends tell it like it is... but realise that what happens on the inside is important too. The production is touring to high schools throughout Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan with a public performance in Cardiff at Chapter Arts Centre on 24 th February, 7.30pm.

The Ugly Truth will then go to the international festival Agor Drysau in Aberystwyth, giving two performances to delegates from around the world, alongside companies from Russia, Germany and France as well as Wales.