Bella Finlayson

Bella Finlayson (she/ they) is a multidisciplinary artist, director and producer working at the intersection of performance and social justice. Their practice often centres on socially engaged projects with a particular focus on queerness, protest, and climate justice.

Bella holds a BA in Drama from the University of Exeter and has trained with National Youth Theatre and the Queer School of Live Art. They were part of Made In Bristol at the Bristol Old Vic, a theatre-making traineeship, and Elevate at acta Community Theatre, a scheme for theatre practitioners working in participatory and socially-engaged theatre.

Current projects include BOUND, a short film responding to Amnesty International’s report Under Protected and Over Restricted, to provide a feminist exploration of restricted bodies and protest through movement and dance. This was created in collaboration with the University of York and Arts Rights Truth and premiered in 2025 at Artivism Futures: Reimagining Human Rights Activism. Bella is also a theatre-maker and performer for Swashbuckling through Muck with Shiverme Theatre, a family show exploring the transformative power of imagination and the importance of dreaming of alternative futures. This premiered at Barnstaple Fringe TheatreFest in June 2026.

Bella is Co-Artistic Director of Muddled Muse, a sapphic-led theatre company and creative community focused on authentic storytelling for queer audiences. They have recently secured funding from Arts Council England to direct a Research and Development phase of the new play, Sappho Could’ve Bathed Here, written by Nelly Weston, this September. Bella also co-host the company’s podcast Sappho Could’ve Yapped Here and their monthly sell-out Sober Sapphic Pub Quiz at Cafe Kino.

Alongside their artistic practice, Bella works as a freelance Producer for Super Culture, delivering festivals and large-scale public engagement projects including Whirligig, Arts and Health Festival, and Summer Circus Daze.

They also have worked as Drama Facilitator for 9 years, working with Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol Old Vic, Super Culture, Creative Youth Network, Unique Voices, Drama With Hannah Rose, Bristol Academy of Drama, Pauline Quirke Academy and Threefold Theatre.