Hi Belinda and Hannah, thank you so much for answering our questions today. Why not start by telling us a little bit about yourselves?
Hi – thank you for having us!
[Belinda Clarke – Artistic Director] I studied BA Acting at Bath Spa University, I’m now doing an MA in Creative Producing at Mountview Academy. As Artistic Director of Leading Light Collective; I have acted, written, directed and produced! After writing Memories We Lost in the Fire (2017-18) I received the award for Best New Writing at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. Since then I have mainly focused on my love for directing and facilitation at venues such as Arcola and The Pleasance Theatre. Next, I will be individually producing events such as Hollablack Girl and Posters by Tanya Loretta Dee and finally will be directing Leading Light Collective’s 4 (2020).
[Hannah Blair – Lead Producer] I studied BA Theatre Production and MA Creative Producing at Bath Spa University. I am the Lead Producer for the company on work such as Network and Chill (2020) and Memories We Lost in the Fire (2017-18). Alongside Leading Light Collective, I have produced Purely Platonic (2019), which was performed in Bath’s SparkFest. My other theatre credits include; Stage Manager for Commotion in the Ocean (2018/19), and Dresser for This House (2019), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2017/18) and North by Northwest (2017).
When did you form Leading Light and what made you want to start a theatre collective together?
[Belinda] We formed the collective during our third year at Bath Spa University, February 2017. Wanting to create a platform bigger than ourselves as individuals, which connected a range of communities together through theatre. We repeatedly asked ourselves – why wait for opportunities, when we can create them?
Belinda, you initially trained as an actor at Bath Spa University but you’ve since focused more on writing, directing, and producing. What made you move away from acting, and was that a difficult transition?
[Belinda] When we begin our careers as creatives, the majority of us can only see it as an acting career. We never really understand what the hell writing, directing and producing can bring for us internally, until we are thrown into them. Our industry is built up into so many amazing sectors – why not explore them all before deciding? The only difficulty I had within this transition was knowing that I loved being behind the scenes more than in them.
Despite the two of you being the creative forces of Leading Light, you’ve spent a lot of time since graduating three years ago living in different cities. Has that been a challenge in operating the collective as effectively as you’d like?
[Hannah] Definitely not. As much as we would have loved living close straight after uni, other things like expenses and routine come into play, which gave us more time to evaluate Leading Light. We pretty much got a healthy work routine down whilst still saving productively, which gave us time to create an amazing tour for our first production, Memories We Lost in the Fire. FaceTime and Google Docs became a big part of our Leading Light family.
Last year, you formed a sister company, Excellence. What was the purpose of this, and what differentiates it from Leading Light?
[Belinda] We connected with the incredible Aaliyah Deanne last year who wanted to create more opportunities for new black creatives entering the industry. Excellence has given us an amazing scratch night, DEAR BLACK PEOPLE, specifically tailored to the black community in association with Pleasance Theatre Futures. We’ve focused a lot more on black writers during our first year active, supporting them to get their idea from page to stage. In the words of Stormzy: ‘that’s not anti white it’s pro black’, ha!
What kind of challenges does managing two companies at once present?
[Hannah] The biggest challenge I think anyone in our industry can relate to is time management. Making sure that your side hustle allows time for the art, while maintaining confidence within the work you are creating. Luckily with strong partners we are able to do them both, but it never comes without a clash. But hey ho, why have one when you can have both?
What were you up to before the theatre shutdown?
[Belinda] I don’t think we should say shutdown, theatre has been transformed to be accessed through different mediums. But unfortunately this did come with setbacks to some of our other projects. We had just introduced our new program ILLUMINATE YOUR CONFIDENCE with schools within Hounslow Borough with the support of the council. As well as other workshops designed to create our upcoming production, 4 which will be now coming later on in the year – depending on the pandemic that is…
Excellence also had setbacks with our next DEAR BLACK PEOPLE scratch night in May at The Pleasance Theatre being postponed, EMPHASIS ON POSTPONED!
How have you been coping with this new existence of social distancing and staying indoors?
[Hannah] Routine, routine, routine! Belinda is completing her MA and I am using this time back in York to spend with family before getting back to London. It has not been easy so far for anyone but all we can do is evaluate, look after ourselves and wait!
What’s your top tip for other creatives struggling with quarantine life?
[Hannah] Use this time to do the things you didn’t ever have time for. As creatives we all have ideas of plays we want to write or projects we want to do but never have the time. So now is the time to do the research – get writing!
[Belinda] Get talking to creatives. Expand your contact list. And check in with yourself on the regular.
What’s the first thing you’re going to do once the lockdown is lifted and we’re allowed outdoors again?
[Belinda] See each other! We’re having withdrawals already.
What’s next for Leading Light and Excellence? What are you hoping to achieve with both companies over the next year or so (assuming the world is moving again by then)?
[Hannah] A whole new business model for both companies that we cannot wait for you all to see! 2020 was and still is our year to develop our company and individual skills.
Finally, this year marks three years since you finished at Bath Spa – what advice would you give to yourself three years ago?
[Hannah] Keep going and keep communicating. It is important to keep persevering because the hard work always pays off.
[Belinda] Trust that time has no limit and there will be moments when it feels hard, but this is what we love. Confidence is a journey, not an overnight mindset.
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions – stay safe and keep washing your hands!
Interviewed by Ryan Mellish
Photography (other than isolation selfies) by Xanthus Peters
Hi Emma, thank you so much for answering our questions today. Why not start by telling us a little bit about yourself?
Well hello everyone. I’m Emma and I am an actress and performer currently based in my family home in Cornwall during isolation. I am 23 so still learning tricks of the trade and working on my craft.
How long have you been acting and what made you want to pursue it as a career?
I suppose in professional terms, I have been acting for three years as I graduated in 2017, but I really started while I was in the penultimate year of primary school. My passion for performance began with singing in Year Five, when my school put on an outdoor concert where each class had a different part to play. I particularly remember trying to convince my teachers to let me sing one of the solos that they’d already cast a boy in the year above me for. I eventually subsided. After that, singing lead me to drama in secondary school and from then I joined drama club and performed in the school shows, studied drama, joined a youth group and finally trained in Acting.
You trained as an actor at Bath Spa University – what was that experience like and would you recommend aspiring actors try universities instead of drama schools?
In a nutshell, I adored it! I had the best classmates, which are now life-long friends, and the tutors were simply incredible. They have a priceless knowledge and have all experienced the industry so the training we received from them was invaluable.
And I would absolutely recommend aspiring actors to consider university courses alongside drama schools. It is so important that students look at both because there are so many benefits to a university that most drama schools do not offer. With my university course, we were given time to work on our own. We had our brief and we had our deadline, and the rest was up to us, so we learnt how to work on our craft independently. When we did work independently, we could contact tutors when we needed direction or assistance to make our work better. They were always on hand when we needed it. It prepared us for the outside world where you’re not in constant work and you have to promote yourself. Surprisingly, very helpful skills during a lockdown!
While drama schools can offer an agent showcase and usually have an appealing location, the contact hours we had from staff differed by three or four hours to that of the drama school and we did have a little more free time to be students. I adored that aspect because it did mean that we could explore all the benefits of student life, while still having a full week of training.
What were you up to before the theatre shutdown?
I have been performing since the start of the year with The Market Theatre in Hitchin in their comedy farce Peter Panties, an adult panto based on the beloved children’s story. I was performing that each week and returning to my base in Bath to work on my craft before getting a part time job working at a cafe in the city. I had received work to return to the theatre in April in a second comedy, but unfortunately the director closed its doors for the foreseeable future. I’m sure everyone will come back bigger and better when the lockdown is raised but we must keep everyone distanced until it is safe to do otherwise.
How have you been coping with this new existence of social distancing and staying indoors?
Quite well! I am very lucky to have grown up in Cornwall and that I arrived at my family home a good week before the lockdown. It has meant I’ve had some safe outdoor space to explore and access to my music. It has been a real breath of fresh air being here (literally and figuratively) and the space has helped keep my mindset free and uncluttered. I do miss my flatmates in Bath, though.
What’s your top tip for other creatives struggling with quarantine life?
Exercise! I absolutely love to get myself moving and grooving in one way or another. I cannot stay still for too long and I have found so many online outlets that will shake up a very sedentary day. Joe Wicks’ home workouts are a life saver for anyone looking for a quick workout and he has an option for every ability and age. CBS Dance have started putting up dance classes on Instagram Live and I am loving those. They also have a selection for different abilities but make it easy for beginners to follow. And finally, my fellow trainee from university and wonderful friend Charlotte Gray, a qualified personal trainer, has also started to put workouts up on YouTube to follow along to.
Your agent was recently caught in a controversy after they asked their clients to film a self-tape on a tight deadline, only for it to be an April Fool’s joke – how did you feel about the prank?
I haven’t been with my agent very long, two weeks at most, and this was the first self tape I’d received from them so I jumped at the chance to record it. I did think there were some things strange about it. The breakdown was a bit vague and the fee was quite small for a commercial on prime television channels, but I thought it sounded fun and so I gave it a go. Before I even submitted it I had been making myself laugh with it so I was more than happy to submit. When I found out, I did feel a little down hearted for a moment, but I looked at the positives of it. I had had so much fun recording it, my family found it entertaining and once my agents explained what their intention was, I could see there was no malicious intent behind it. They apologised several times to all clients.
I can understand the hardships others felt and during a time like this, a prank was not ideal, but I have shared my creation to the internet and friends and family have had a few giggles from it, which is the whole reason it was done in the first place.
Overall, future work will still come, we should all support each other and continue to be kind, even when feeling low.
What’s the first thing you’re going to do once the lockdown is lifted and we’re allowed outdoors again?
A good question! There are three things I’d like to do; go to the beach, see my partner and go to work, ha!
I miss exploring with friends and family and I’ve definitely missed my partner. I’ve been envious of everyone isolating with their other half and, simply put, I would just love to go back to work.
What shows are you looking forward to seeing once theatres re-open?
I have been wanting to see Magic Goes Wrong for a while, so I think that’ll be top of my list once we can go back to the West End. I love what Mischief Theatre do and have watched each of their shows aside from this one. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (both parts) and &Juliet are also high on my list of shows. If Jason Robert Brown’s Last Five Years returns, that will also be one I have to try and see.
What would be your dream role and why?
Johanna from Sweeney Todd. Sondheim’s work continues to excite me and Sweeney Todd was always a favourite. I performed a youth production of Sweeney Todd as Johanna and that show made me fall in love with the role and with the production. I played her to be very timid and impressionable, but I think she has a lot more to her that can be played with and I’d love to have that chance again.
What was the best show you saw last year and why?
The best show I saw last year was Waitress. The set, the songs and the performances were wonderful and the show had a wonderful feel-good manner to it. There was a lovely journey for each character and I left feeling light and entertained.
Finally, this year marks three years since you finished your actor training – what advice would you give to yourself three years ago?
Trust in yourself and listen to feedback. It’s not a bad thing and will help so much in your development. Oh, and the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet is not an old woman!
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions – stay safe and keep washing your hands!
