Biography
I first came to the theatre after Eden Phillips Harrington helped me write my UCAS application and suggested I muck around at the NNT. We’d both done some theatre together before university and I reasoned it would be a good way to make some friends and enjoy myself while trying to get a degree.
I was lucky enough that my first show was such a good one. With West I found friends for life and had the chance to perform the play at NSDF, an experience which I recounted with pride ad nauseam for the four years I stayed at the NNT. I had always hoped that acting would be where I would end up after uni, so the NNT gave me the opportunity to have fun doing just that, while also providing a social life unlike anything I could have dreamed of.
Arguably the biggest change that occurred during my time at the NNT was growing a beard in my second year which helped me score some older roles. My first foray into fringe was with A Beautiful Thing and I fell in love with the more experimental world of theatre. Somewhat salty we didn’t score any big in-house roles, my friend George and I decided to take part in the very first Unscripted, Camp Macbeth. Due to the large amount of people wanting to act and the reasoning that as an English student I’d know something about play writing, I ended up writing a good chunk of the script and directing it. I soon discovered that writing and directing meant I didn’t have to learn any lines, so I made a promise to myself to do it more.
The following semester I wrote The Black Dog on My Sofa, and had such a good time putting on a fringe show that I decided to run for the role of Fringe Coordinator on committee. After a month as a pirate in Edinburgh, as coordinator I helped make Fresher’s Fringe bigger than ever, with a huge amount of freshers and extensive tech for the first time. While I wanted to write and direct again, the time commitments to being Fringe Coordinator meant that I was only able to act in shows. I enjoyed my time on committee and feel as if I did a good job as the Big Fringe, but the role did make me age five years from stress alone. This was catalysed by running StuFF where I existed only through the power of caffeine and some dogged determination to make sure no one died.
I decided to stay on another year at Nottingham to do an MA in English and it would be a lie to say that the theatre didn’t contribute to the decision. No longer Fringe Coordinator, I used my final, final, year to act in two in-houses and write and direct two fringe shows, Esse SA Essay and Vehement, both of which were well received.
The NNT has given me friends for life, stories to tell forever, and made me realise what I want to do with my self professionally. Without it I wouldn’t have learnt that creating art is something I’m good at and more importantly enjoy. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without it, and for that I will be forever grateful to that weird looking building on the hill.
Bio last updated 2019-04-02, submit updates.
