Emma is an alumni of Mrs C’s Collective’s 12-month writers programme, The Writers’ Collective, and has an impressive career behind her. Emma has worked with companies including the BBC, Theatr Clwyd, Les Enfants Terribles, Mountview Academy and Actors of Dionysus. Her publications include Fridge (Renard Press) and In The Moss (Renard Press). She’s also been shortlisted for the Tony Craze Award (Soho Theatre) and the ETPEP Award (Finborough Theatre).

It goes without saying, we’re chuffed to be getting some of her pro tips!

I was always interested in art and drama at school, but I always saw them as completely different disciplines. It was only when I went to Leeds College of Art that I realised that Theatre Design was a career, and it suddenly all made sense to me that that was what I wanted to do. Once I knew it was a possibility, I suddenly couldn’t get enough of discovering amazing designers like Es Devlin, Rae Smith, Michael Vale – to name just a few of my first eye-openers. And I would just get this feeling in my stomach that I wanted to make people feel the way that I was feeling at that moment. I am very lucky that I had family who advised and guided me in the right direction, I would like to make sure more young people know the expanse of roles available to them in the industry, not just those ‘in the know’.

On a clear day, we can see the North African coast, with Morocco only a short hop across the water, and our famous Rock diligently watches over the entrance to the Mediterranean. I have a British passport, I can speak Spanish, my surname is Italian, and my wife is Maltese, so I feel very much a mix of European unity. I spent my summers at the beach, I am a voracious consumer of fresh fish, and I have always enjoyed having a close-knit family to hand. In all honesty, there are worse places in which to grow up.