Actress
So… how did I end up here?
I suppose it all started when I was five and got cast as Guinevere in Arthur of Camelot. Quite the role for a five-year-old, although thankfully nobody expected me to understand the politics of Camelot.
I loved it.
And, rather unsurprisingly, I never really stopped.
I carried on performing through school, working my way through LAMDA exams and picking up Honours along the way. I loved creating characters, especially the big, bold, slightly bonkers ones, and discovered that I really enjoyed devising and making things up from scratch. I got involved in local pantomimes, took on lead roles, devised and directed children's theatre and eventually found my way into the local musical theatre scene.
Then life happened.
I had a few years away from acting, with the usual collection of ups, downs and a few plot twists I definitely hadn't auditioned for. In 2019, my Mum suggested I head to university and give acting a proper go professionally.
My immediate thought was that I was probably too old.
Apparently not.
Three years later, I graduated from the MGA Academy of Performing Arts with a First Class BA (Hons) in Acting and went straight into touring the UK with theatre in education. Since then, I've continued performing, presenting, creating and generally finding new and increasingly creative ways to put myself in front of an audience.
More recently, I decided that producing my own work seemed like a sensible thing to add to the list, so I co-founded Water Horse Productions with Tori Kay. We've just taken two brand-new pieces of writing to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - Just Blokes and It's A Mute Point - which I directed and performed in.
It was brilliant. It was exhausting. It was slightly chaotic. It was exactly the sort of thing I love.
I’m now turning my attention to something I’ve wanted to explore for a while - writing my first stand-up piece, because clearly I don’t have enough things going on already! I’ve always loved comedy and that wonderful connection you can create with an audience through a good story, a well-timed line or simply finding the funny in everyday life. I’m really enjoying the process of finding my own voice in stand-up and discovering what makes me laugh enough to hopefully make other people laugh too. I’m excited to see where it takes me - preferably somewhere involving a microphone and a very forgiving audience!
I'm excited to see where things go next - with acting, comedy, presenting, writing, devising and, of course, Water Horse. There are plenty of ideas bubbling away and I'd love to keep meeting interesting people, making interesting things and having a good laugh along the way.
So, if you're working on something, have an idea, fancy collaborating, or just want to have a chat about what you're up to, please get in touch. I'm always up for a conversation and you never know where it might lead.
Hope to make you smile soon,
Zoe. x
