"I like to be up on my feet doing things"

Hometown
Lowestoft in Suffolk but I now live in West Bridgford, Nottingham. I grew up in a town where the only theatre was the local amateur dramatics group–it frustrates me that I missed out on years of good theatre.

What do you do?
Education officer, Nottingham Playhouse

How long have you been at it?
Two years

What was your very first role in theatre?
This one!

Have you got qualifications?
An English and drama degree and a PGCE (teacher training qualification) specialising in secondary English teaching

What did you do before you worked in theatre?
I taught drama and English in secondary schools for four years and spent a year as a primary teacher

I was also a freelance drama practitioner for a couple of years.

How did you make the move to theatre?
There are natural comparisons between the work that I was doing before as a freelancer and the type of projects I lead on now at the theatre. I didn’t know that education officers in theatres existed though, until I saw the post advertised.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
A vet. Or a drama teacher.

What do you do all day?
There is no typical day. I could be delivering a drama workshop in schools, running a pre-show workshop or post-show discussions, or all thee in one day! I could be running our youth theatre or in the office designing our education workpacks. I could be leading a session with our over 50s group, or putting up an art installation in the foyer. I could be running our Year 10 work experience programme, or sitting in on rehearsals and interviewing actors or the director. Every week something exciting happens.

What’s the best thing about your job?
Working with young people and passing on the drama skills to them that I’ve developed over the years. We took a group of young people to the National Association of Youth Theatre ’s Big Youth Theatre Festival this July, which was amazing.

And the worst?
A whole day in the office doing admin. I like to be up on my feet doing things.

What’s your dream job in theatre?
What I’m doing now. I just want to keep developing the current role so our youth theatres become even larger and take part in more events.

Got any wise words for someone who wants to be where you are now?
Teach in schools and do your own freelance projects first. It would be hard for me to do the job that I do now if I didn’t understand and empathise with teachers and freelancers. I need to have a current working knowledge of the national curriculum as well.