Profile
I grew up involved in community youth theatre in Bristol, taking our devised shows on tours of village halls in Devon and Somerset in the school holidays. Age 15, I swapped fully to stage management, going onto be involved community youth projects and productions.
I quickly gained a place at LAMDA on their stage-management and technical theatre course.
For the next 20/30 years my work has all been mostly in the lighting side of the theatre industry.
I started as Assistant Electrician in repertory theatres in Scarborough and Cheltenham and a good stint of national touring with Northern Ballet Theatre, which was a great training ground.
I was able to return to study 3 years in, undertaking a City and Guilds 181 qualification in Theatre & Entertainment Electrics whilst show crewing in the West End.
I subsequently took up a full-time position within the lighting department of the Old Vic.
I went onto to be Vari*lite operator for the last few months of ‘Joseph’ at the London Palladium and ‘Copacabana’ on tour and in the West End, when the Vari*lite world was still a closed shop. (1990’s)
I have looked after the touring version of ‘Phantom of the Opera’.
I have worked within a 30 strong lighting department at the Sydney Opera House for a season, along with working for Sydney theatre company – both of which have the nicest green room views in the world!
I have been Deputy Chief Electrician at both the Duke of York’s Theatre and the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End.
I returned to the Old Vic for a busy Peter Hall repertory season as a Lighting Show Chief and have done a further stint with Northern Ballet Theatre as Deputy Chief Electrician.
I worked on ‘Mamma Mia’ from its outset, first at the Prince Edward Theatre and then as Lighting Programmer for more than 10 European franchise productions. I was Assistant Lighting Designer for the original set up of its International tour. I still maintain links with the team today.
Along the way there have been various festivals (Edinburgh and Buxton), pantomimes (Cheltenham, Guildford and Richmond) and a smattering of corporate work.
I have been supporting students at Central since 2017, first as a mentor to production lighting students and now as a permanent (part time) member of the Theatre Practice teaching team.
Areas of Expertise
- Theatre production lighting
- Lighting programming
- Production/tech supervision
- Collaborative team working
- Show Running
- Touring, Rep and West End working practices
- Flexible and Inclusive working practices in theatre
Register of Interest
Nothing to declare