Scot Greenan has double the reason to celebrate this summer.

The day before he graduated from the BA Acting degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, he clinched a top industry award for emerging actors.

Scot, from Hamilton, won the Spotlight Prize for Stage, which celebrates outstanding new acting talent from top UK and Ireland drama schools.

Scot took home £2,000 and a year-long Spotlight membership after impressing judges with his performance of Moorcroft by Eilidh Loan, along with fellow RCS graduate and judge Maureen Beattie.

Scot said it feels ‘surreal’ to have won: “It feels like I’m in a fever dream and I’m still waiting to wake up!

“It has been such a wonderful experience meeting all these people. I think this has been the final nail in the coffin of like, ‘right, okay, I’m ready.’

“This is a new stage in my life, I’m ready to see whatever comes for me and just tackle it head on.”

Sixty-five drama schools and universities nominated a student from their graduating class to submit a self-tape audition for the Spotlight Prize. The self-tapes were watched by an expert, independent panel, who narrowed the entries down to 19 finalists.

The finalists were invited to perform in a showcase for stage and screen professionals ahead of the prizegiving, held at Kings Place in London.

Judges included director Matthew Dunster, casting director Selma Nicholls, actor Jimmy Akingbola and actor Mathew Horne.

Polly Graves of the University of Central Lancashire won the screen award for a performance of Island Town by Simon Longman.

Spotlight has been at the forefront of connecting performers with the world’s most successful casting professionals across film, television, and theatre since 1927.

Read a Q&A with Scot on Spotlight.

Main image © Joanna Nicole Photography