Directing and Producing:

What got you interested in directing and producing? Do you think you will take on any acting roles?
Although I enjoy acting and have thought about going for a couple of auditions next term, I don’t really see myself as an actor. Directing and producing allow me to bring together other people’s writing and acting talent to create something new, and I love that. I have to confess that producing is not really my thing as I miss the creative dimension that you get with directing, but I’ve enjoyed trying it out. 

Having finished a production and moving to a new one, do you transfer any processes or do you try and start fresh?
I'm just beginning as a director, so I don’t think I can claim to have a well-honed process. There are certainly some core techniques that are transferable but I think it’s very important to remain flexible in your approach, adapting to the actors you are working with and incorporating processes that work for them.What would be your dream play to direct?
The great thing about Cambridge drama is that you get the chance to put on plays you've always dreamed of staging. So your dream play is sort of whatever your next project is. My friend Matt and I have applied to put on Jerusalem next term at the ADC which is really exciting, but we’re still at application stage, so fingers crossed! Other plays that I’d like to direct include The Winter’s Tale and to direct a play in French at the ADC with surtitles. I’ve also been thinking about Tamburlaine lately, particularly in context of the Boston bombings and that the Marlowe Society is celebrating Marlowe this year.

Troubled Sleep received a great deal of attention for being set in the ADC’s toilets. Do you think this attention was helpful for the play and does the attention towards setting mark anything new or interesting for Cambridge theatre?
I definitely think the attention was helpful and the toilet humour that it inspired promoted the play without detracting from the seriousness of its content. I would love to see more formal experimentation but also to see more international drama in Cambridge. There are so many great European playwrights that we aren’t staging.

Personality:
What is your most noticeable personality trait?
Adaptability.

What is your idea of happiness?
A good pub chat.

What virtue do you appreciate in others?
Playfulness.

What do you most deplore in others? 
Non-communication.

If you had a motto to sum up your ethic, what would it be?
Leave it all to the last minute and then do it in a stressy, panicky blitz?


Interests:

Favourite film?
Probably Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love, but of the non-subtitled kind I’m going to go for The Draughtsman’s Contract.Favourite novel? 
C.S Lewis' Till We Have Faces.

Favourite poem?
Andrew Marvell's ‘The Garden’.If you were on a desert island and could only have access to the works of one writer, who would it be? Borges.


Either / Or:

Nicki Minaj or Rihanna?
Of the two I’d say Rihanna, but I’d happily trade in Pop/R&B/Dance music for Folk/Indie/Electronic.

Reading the book or seeing the film first?
Reading the book and then not seeing the film.

Luck or Money?
Luck. Maybe if you’re lucky you‘ll find some cash on the street.

Sweet or Savoury?
Savoury!

Summer or Winter?
Summer (although really I’m an Autumn girl).

E-Book or Physical Book?
A book in the hand is worth two in the Kindle.