"You do not need to be based in London!"

Hometown

Originally from Belfast, currently live in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

What do you do?

Artistic director for Chol Theatre, based at the Lawrence Batley theatre in Huddersfield and other freelance theatre work

What was your first role in theatre?

Well, discounting my first foray on to the stage in a primary school production of Cinderella (I was an Ugly Sister!), my first main professional job was as a workshop tutor and project director for West Lothian Youth Theatre back in 1994. Previously I’d run my own projects and done various part-time jobs in theatre whilst a student.

What else have you done in theatre?

I was Youth Theatre Director for the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff (now called Sherman Cymru) from 1996-1999. I then moved to West Yorkshire where I was appointed as the University of Bradford’s Fellow in Theatre – which sounds very grand!

What it actually means is that I was Artistic Director of a venue specialising in new work and emerging artists – Theatre in the Mill – for four years from 1999-2003.

Subsequently I was Artistic Director of the National Student Drama Festival from 2003-2006, which leads to my present job as Artistic Director of Theatre Projects for Chol Theatre – a pioneering intercultural theatre company based at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield.

Outside of Chol, I also work in a freelance capacity as a director and facilitator – most recently as lead artist for Arts Council England’s Young People’s Participatory Theatre Project (the project that this very website sprung from) youth councils from their recruitment in June 2006 right up to the delivery of their action-research projects in March 2008.

Have you got qualifications?

I studied for four years at University of Glasgow and graduated with a MA Joint Honours in Film & Television Studies / Theatre Studies. This was a mostly academic course, so most of my practical theatre learning happened through projects I directed with friends around the city and through working part-time at the Tramway Theatre and seeing some fantastic international work from artists such as Peter Brook, Wooster Group and Robert Le Page.

I then spent two terms at the Welsh College of Music and Drama as a postgraduate director before being offered a job back in Scotland with West Lothian Youth Theatre.

Training never stops – I’m always on the lookout for the opportunity to learn new skills. Although I’ve gained loads of experience over the past 15 years, each new project feels a little like starting over again.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I was originally much more interested in television than theatre. But theatre somehow managed to take over! At my school (in Holywood, Northern Ireland) participation in the arts, at that time, wasn’t viewed as prestigious as taking part in sports (even though our school was at that time more successful at music and theatre than in any sports competitions!).

I also remember at careers advice sessions, when choosing my ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level subjects, that I was told by the careers advisor it was unlikely I’d find much work in television or the arts… well, all I can say to that is that I didn’t listen to that advice, stuck to my guns, and I’ve worked in theatre full-time ever since graduating!

What do you do all day?

No two days are the same – thank goodness. I couldn’t do a job that stuck to a constant routine and timetable. I tend to view my job as being divided into three sections:

Organisational Leadership – this is everything practical that is involved with running a company or venue and includes managing staff, attending meetings, lots of emails and paperwork, funding applications, communications, report-writing, general administration etc.

Artistic Leadership – this is about having an artistic vision for the company that will lead and define how other people engage with the company’s work. It’s about thinking big ideas and then how to set these ideas within a realistic and artistically coherent delivery framework for the next five years or so. It’s also about facilitating other artists’ ambitions and ideas.

Artistic Delivery – this is the actual hands-on directing of rehearsals, staging shows, writing plays, leading workshops etc where I get to be a practising artist in my own right.

There are lots of other associated things I do, but the balance of the above shifts throughout the year depending on the delivery timetables of our various projects. So, for example I might be focused more on the organisational leadership when I’m not directing a show – and vice versa.

What’s the best thing about your job?

Being able to explore all facets of human behaviour – good and bad – and to aim to make a difference to society at some level.

And the worst?

Report-writing and funding applications – a necessary evil!

What’s your dream job in theatre?

I don’t know – I’ve never been one of these people who can say with clarity what my ten-year plan is. I do know that I want to continue to develop as an artist, to stay positive despite the cynicism from others that can exist within certain sections of the industry, and to make exciting and relevant theatre that hopefully challenges how we view the world we live in.

Got any wise words for someone who wants to be where you are now?

Don’t let anyone tell you that there are fixed routes into theatre directing – you do not need to be based in London!

Also, don’t regard directing youth theatre or community-focused work as a second-rate option – you do not have to compromise on artistic quality or ambition; I hope that the work of Chol Theatre shows this. And you’ll be making work that is genuinely contemporary, relevant to people’s lives and that will make change.

The other thing I would say to anyone who wants to go into directing is that the best experience you’ll ever get is by simply doing it and learning on the job – far better than sitting in a rehearsal room and watching someone else run the show!

If you have a great idea, then get people on board who can help you make that idea happen – but you’ll have to convince them that your idea is great in the first place – go on, be brave, no-one else will do it for you!

And make sure you go and see as much theatre and live performance work as possible – including things you think you might not like…