Hometown
I grew up Portsmouth and now live in London.

What do you do?
Freelance director

How long have you been at it?
I’ve been directing theatre full-time for two years and prior to this spent two years doing it part-time, some of it unpaid

What was your very first role in theatre?
Admin assistant at the Oval House Theatre

What else have you done in theatre?
* Production and diversity assistant, BBC Radio Drama
* Festival director, East@West Wing Arts Festival, Slough

Have you got qualifications?
I’m got a diploma in production operations in theatre, TV, film & radio from Arrts International Training Centre near York. Unfortunately it’s closed down now. It’s a shame. It was a very good course. I’ve also got a degree in physics.

What did you do before you worked in theatre?
I taught English in Japan for five years

How did you move into working in theatre?
I was involved with an amateur dramatics company in Japan and started working closely with the director. I realised that I really loved doing it and starting looking for a course I could do.

I chose a broad-based course because I wasn’t sure at that stage whether I wanted to be a production manager, director or something else.

I also took part in:

* ITC’s Fast Track programme. Fast Track aims to address the under-representation of black, Asian and other minority ethnic people in middle and senior management in theatre * Art Council’s Live and Direct programme. This is an initiative for 10 emerging black and Asian theatre directors, involving meeting professional actors, taking master classes and producing a short piece of theatre. * ITC’s Young Directors’ Scheme. This is a year-long mentoring scheme and I shadowed directors at Polka, Unicorn Theatre and Theatre Centre. * I also completed an Arts Council England Grants for the Arts fellowship with residencies at Polka Theatre, Soho Theatre, Yellow Earth and Nottingham Playhouse.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I had no idea. I was good at science and curious about the world.

What do you do all day?
On rehearsal days I warm up and then work with the actors. If there are any meetings, I do them at lunchtime and then catch up on admin at the end of the day once the actors have gone home.

On non-rehearsal days, I usually do some admin from home or from the theatre office. This involves anything from helping with promotion of a show to pitching treatments and writing funding applications.

I have a lot of meetings with writers, other theatres, funding bodies and marketing people.

I spend a lot of time seeing shows as well.

What’s the best thing about your job?
I love directing and being in a rehearsal room. A huge amount of effort goes into getting funding and making a performance happen, but actually being in the rehearsal room, playing around with ideas and exploring how to tell a story is what really matters to me.

Equal to this is seeing the reaction of audiences, especially children.

And the worst?
Two things: first is the uncertainty of working as a freelancer. You always have to plan ahead to keep afloat. There’s very little income in the theatre, except for a handful of big names.

The second thing is that there’s a lot of admin to be done. I was prepared for this and knew it would be part of the role of director. The better prepared you are and the more planning you do, the more likely a project will succeed.

What’s your dream job in theatre?
I’d love to be artistic director of a building-based theatre company. That would give me the opportunity to work really closely with local communities and would give me more scope as a director.

Got any wise words for someone who wants to be where you are now?
* You’ve got to be an entrepreneur and fully understand just how much hard work you will need to put in, often for very little return
* If you’re not organised and punctual and don’t get on with people, this life is not for you
* Make yourself aware of self-employment issues. I recommend going on the Inland Revenue course about self assessment
* Join the ITC and Equity and perhaps the Directors’ Guild, although I am not currently a member. Equity provides great legal backup if you need it and ITC has great help sheets and offers really useful courses, including one on how to start your own company.
* The only way to develop is just by doing it. Even if it’s unpaid or voluntary work just get out there and start doing it. In the two years before I started directing full time, some of my experience was gained through unpaid work in community theatre.
* See lots of shows; I saw nine last week alone, but usually go to between six and eight a month.
* Actively seek out mentors and role models. I go on courses run by people I admire and if I think we click, I will approach them as a mentor.
* Get a good degree in theatre. If your parents don’t like the idea, choose English as a compromise. I know directors who have English degrees and got involved in drama in their spare time. I also know directors with law degrees. I have a physics degree. It’s not, actually, the be all and end all.