Our Bursary

The 2026 Constellation Creatives Bursary has been awarded to Ashleigh Lai from Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Now in its fourteenth year, the Constellation Creatives Bursary aims to encourage and promote greater participation and representation of British East and South East Asian actors on stage and screen by supporting the pathway from graduating student to professional actor.

It provides: £1,000 towards additional expenses incurred in that transitional period; a FREE Standard Headshot Package provided by Jeremy Ang Photography; a set of casting workshops with The Acting Habit; as well as a FREE year’s subscription to Spotlight.

The Constellation Creatives Bursary is provided by Orion Lee and awarded by New Earth Theatre.

“Wow. Receiving the Constellations Creatives Bursary is a wonderful proud moment to honour the last three years of drama school. As I enter my next chapter, I feel grateful to join a community full of curiosity, presence and talent. New Earth Theatre, thank you for creating a space where we can celebrate our Asian heritage. I’m excited to join a new wave of voices and proud to be a part of something so special.”

Ashleigh Lai, 2026 Constellation Creatives Bursary Winner
"The Constellation Creatives Bursary is a highlight of my year and a great privilege to be on the panel. It’s amazing to see the brilliant new talent graduating in 2026 from the British South East and East Asian community. Ashleigh performed beautifully with two contrasting pieces. She had great instincts, a real playfulness and truth to her work. I look forward to following her career over the next few years."

Matthew Dewsbury, Casting Director, Royal Shakespeare Company
"The strength of the Constellation Creatives Bursary applicant pool grows with each successive year, mirroring the expanding talent of BESEAs in the UK's theatre industry. This makes our job of selecting just one winner increasingly harder, but that's a wonderful problem to have! Our bursary recipient Ashleigh Lai arrested us with the depth and poise of her performance. Wishing Ashleigh and all of our applicants and finalists a great start to their career."

Ailin Conant, Artistic Director, New Earth Theatre
“Thank you to New Earth Theatre for organising, the RSC for hosting and the panel for giving their time to watch and audition the latest BESEA graduates from UK's top drama schools. Ashleigh, I wish you all the best for your career.”

Orion Lee, Actor and Sponsor of the Bursary

How does it work?

The bursary is awarded to a drama school student of East Asian/Southeast Asian descent* who, in the opinion of the judging panel, has best demonstrated that they have the talent, skills and commitment to succeed as a professional actor.

The panel will include casting directors from the National Theatre, RSC and BBC.

*Eligible applicants must be able to work in the UK and have at least one parent of East or Southeast Asian descent. East or Southeast Asian descent includes: Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, North Korea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and their Diasporas.