Bexhill College Alumnus Teigan Banks recently debuted her original play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in a prime spot at the Royal Mile.
The play entitled ‘Seven Steps to Feel Completely Happy Again’ derives from personal experience in Teigan’s life and puts into perspective the confusing and challenging journey of life and the grieving process. The play was a huge success and gathered many honourable reviews including a four-star review from an online Scottish arts and culture magazine, The Wee Review. Richard Stamp, a journalist for the magazine, wrote “This is a cleverly conceived and heartfelt script from Teigan Banks, done full justice by a talented, tightly-knit cast”.
At 11 years old, Teigan lost her mum to cancer and received support through Winston’s Wish, a charity that helps children, teens, and young adults with bereavement. Subsequently, she has also worked as an ambassador for Winston’s Wish as well as a number of other grief charities and hopes to extend her work into schools to help other young people with similar experiences.
Teigan has taken the time to give back to her local community by visiting Bexhill College, where she studied English Literature, Drama and Theatre Studies, and History A Levels from 2019 to 202. She has contributed to the College’s enrichment programme by delivering presentations to the sixth form students on the topic of higher education.
Teigan visiting Bexhill College to talk about her University Experience
Following her Level 3 studies, she progressed to higher education and enrolled at Queen Mary’s University in London specialising in English and Drama. It was via her course at university that she wrote and directed an original play and won the opportunity to take it to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with the Queen Mary Theatre Company.
Teigan commented: “The experience of writing and putting on this play at Edinburgh Fringe, has been such an amazing experience. Being able to share my story of grief in a beautiful, funny, and moving way at such a monumental theatre festival was surreal, and I’m lucky to have worked with such a talented cast and crew that care so much about the play’s message and how much it means to me. The intention was that this play would resonate with those who are grieving as well as highlight that, whatever your grief looks like right now is enough”.
If you would like to follow in Teigan’s footsteps and study at Bexhill College, you can apply now for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years via our website by clicking the button below.
