"The industry is small and competitive and requires dedication, commitment and most of all, a true love of your work"

Hometown
London

What do you do?
Lighting designer (self-employed)

How long have you been at it?
Nine years

What was your very first role in theatre?
Casual technician

What have you done in theatre?
Over the past five years I have practiced extensively alongside the highly acclaimed designer Patrick Woodroffe and have worked in the role of associate lighting designer on a range of projects including:
Sarah Brightman’s Harem World Tour
Romeo and Juliet for the Vienna State Opera Simon and Garfunkel Old Friends Tour
The Rolling Stones World Tour
The Queen Mary 2 launch at Southampton
to name just a few.

More recently I worked as associate designer on the show Ducktastic! produced by David Pugh, which showed at Newcastle’s Theatre Royal and London’s Albery Theatre.

Besides performing arts, I have also worked on several long term architectural-based projects including the exterior lighting design for the Wynn Las Vegas resort and the Victoria & Albert Museum courtyard garden renovation in collaboration with the landscape architects Kim Wilkie Associates.

Have you got qualifications?
A theatre practice degree (specialising in lighting design) from Central School of Speech and Drama. Before that, an art foundation course.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I had various ideas – pilot, graphic designer, interior designer, architect

What do you do all day?
There’s never a typical day… Typical tasks could include meetings, travelling, rehearsals, programming sessions, mock-ups, tests, research, preparing paperwork for a project, booking or managing staff or sub-contractors, client presentations, presenting seminars or lectures and overseeing on-site installations.

What’s the best thing about your job?
Every job is different, there’s new challenges each time. I’m always learning and discovering new ideas or ways to achieve something, and finding the opportunity to collaborate with many other ideas and people from a vast array of disciplines and backgrounds.

And the worst?
Can be extremely stressful – time pressured, opinionated and subjective.
Often involves many weeks or months spent travelling abroad or working away from home.

What’s your dream job in theatre?
There is never just one dream job – every freelance job that I get where I can strive to produce excellence in theatre is a dream job.

Got any wise words for someone who wants to be where you are now?
There is no substitute for experience, and learning by doing. However, qualifications are increasingly essential and form a fantastic basis from which to build a career.

The industry is small and competitive and requires dedication, commitment and most of all, a true love of your work – better described as a full-time hobby!

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