He has appeared in several Red Ladder productions, including Promised Land (2012), The Thing About Psychopaths (2013), Rabbitskin (2015), and Connected (2020).  

When did you first work with Red Ladder? It was a community production called Promised Land, a play about Leeds United written by Anthony Clavane. I auditioned and got one of the main parts, so I was over the moon. Getting that initial job was a big deal for me because I’d only done little bits of work professionally up to that point.

Did you know about Red Ladder before you worked with them? I came into acting later on, when I was in my mid-20s, but I’d always fancied having a go, and they were on my radar a couple of years before I actually worked with them. I saw them as a company really worth getting involved with.

What are your favourite memories of working with Red Ladder? Working on Promised Land was a wonderful experience. The next project was The Thing About Psychopaths, written by Ben Tagoe who I didn’t know at the time. They had an audition day, but unfortunately I was booked to work on Coronation Street so I couldn’t take part in the audition. I’d gone over to Manchester and on this particular day Bill Tarmey, who played Jack Duckworth, sadly passed away so the day’s filming was cancelled. I called Rod Dixon and asked if I could still come down and he said ‘yes’. So I got the train back to Leeds and ended up getting the part. This was a full-on proper professional production that went on tour and it felt like another step up for me. I’ve done four projects with Red Ladder and I have nothing but great memories of working with them.

What makes Red Ladder and its work special? No one makes theatre to become a millionaire. People do it because they love it and because they want to tell stories, and the good thing about Red Ladder is not only the nature of the work they produce but what they stand for. For someone who’s not come through one of the traditional routes of going to drama school, trying to break into theatre can be very daunting and seem kind of impenetrable. But what Red Ladder does is they push that door open and say ‘theatre’s for everyone’. They also do a lot in the wider community, like making theatre accessible. So they’re important because of the stories they tell, the way they tell them and the way they want to include other people. If you speak to certain sections of society, and certainly a lot of working class people, they often feel theatre’s not for them, and Red Ladder works really hard to try and change that view.

How crucial are theatre organisations in giving opportunities to new talent in the North? I was one of those people who always felt like there was an itch to scratch but thought I’d missed my opportunity because I was 25 and had a young family, and then Red Ladder gave me a chance. It’s so important that organisations like them exist because they provide these opportunities. They bridge that gap. They used to run a programme called Red Grit where you could do a six or eight-week course and you could learn all these fantastic techniques as an actor. Then there’s great writers like Ben Tagoe, Alice Nutter and Boff Whalley, who’ve come through those kinds of programmes. If you take theatre companies like Red Ladder away then so many people would never get these opportunities.

What impact has Red Ladder had on your career? It’s been huge, from the point of view of being an actor and writer, the opportunities they’ve given me and the people I’ve met. If you took Red Ladder out of my journey then god knows what it would look like, because I’ve gone on to do so many things and work with so many people as a result of that first play. A lot of creatives talk about that imposter syndrome, especially if they’ve not come through drama school. It’s easy to feel a little bit inferior because you didn’t study this particular writer, or that particular theatre-maker, but working with Red Ladder gave me that self-confidence.

What does Red Ladder mean to you now? It means a lot, even though I haven’t worked with them for a little while. I feel very lucky and proud to be a little part of their history.

How would you describe Red Ladder to a friend? A really exciting theatre company that tells important stories.

Main picture credit: Yellowbelly Photo