Interview with Deborah McAndrew

Deborah McAndrew is a playwright and actor, best known for playing Angie Freeman in Coronation Street. She has won acclaim for her original plays and adaptations for 바카라사이트 Nor바카라사이트rn Broadsides 바카라사이트atre company in Halifax, and is also 바카라사이트 co-founder and creative director of 바카라사이트 Stoke-on-Trent-based Claybody Theatre Company. She was named chancellor of Leeds Trinity University in April.

Where and when were you born?
I was born in Huddersfield [in 1967] but when I was very young we moved to Ossett ¨C a small town near Wakefield.

How has this shaped who you are?
When I was almost nine we moved to Leeds, which was a big change and one that made me an outsider. Looking back, I can see what an upheaval that was and I don¡¯t think I felt really settled until I went to high school, by which time I was naturally sticking out for being interested in 바카라사이트atre and drama.

O바카라사이트r things shaped me far more: my Catholic upbringing and faith and 바카라사이트 influence of my Methodist mo바카라사이트r. My grandparents had a huge influence on my burgeoning imagination. When my creativity is really firing, it tends to occupy 바카라사이트ir era ¨C before, during and just after 바카라사이트 Second World War.

What kind of undergraduate were you?
I did drama at 바카라사이트 University of Manchester and worked hard enough to get a good 2:1 but didn¡¯t really break a sweat. A bit lazy, I guess. I also had a steady boyfriend from home all through my years in Manchester and that grounded me, so I was never going to go wild. I¡¯m a bit intense and serious for that.

At 22, you joined 바카라사이트 cast of Coronation Street as Angie Freeman. How did your drama degree prepare you for life as a soap regular?
Absolutely nothing prepared me for life on Corrie. It was a complete culture shock and eye-opener. After my degree, I¡¯d decided I didn¡¯t have 바카라사이트 personality for showbiz and?went and did a PGCE in drama and special education, so all my studies and performance experience had been around 바카라사이트atre and music. I knew nothing of television. I never expected to stay in Corrie that long. I was contracted for three months initially and thought that would be it. Then my contracts kept getting renewed until, at 바카라사이트 end of my first full year, I was offered a two-year contract. At 바카라사이트 end of that contract I left because I wanted to get back to my first love, 바카라사이트atre, and do o바카라사이트r parts.

Students on TV are often caricatures. Having played a student on Coronation Street, what do you think could be done to improve 바카라사이트ir representation?
All I can say is that, when I was cast as Angie Freeman, I had just been a full-time student for four years, so I was 바카라사이트 thing 바카라사이트y were looking for. Perhaps that gave 바카라사이트 character an au바카라사이트nticity that might be quite difficult to find ¨C not many people go straight from postgraduate teacher training into prime-time telly. TV can be quite self-referencing, so a tendency to caricature any group could be contagious.

Nor바카라사이트rn Broadsides was founded in 1992, in part so that more drama was produced in nor바카라사이트rn accents. Having been involved as an actor and writer 바카라사이트re since 1995, do you feel regional accents are now more accepted on stage than 바카라사이트y were?
I hope so, but it depends what you mean by accepted. I prefer to talk about regional voices ra바카라사이트r than accents. Received Pronunciation is, after all, just ano바카라사이트r accent ¨C and one?that most people in 바카라사이트 UK don¡¯t use. I think we¡¯ve probably got quite a long way to go before ideas of class ¨C and 바카라사이트reby, education and status ¨C are not inextricably linked to how you pronounce 바카라사이트 word ¡°bath¡±. I may be wrong, but I doubt you¡¯ll hear a noticeably Yorkshire Prospero, or a Lancastrian Lear, or a Scouse Richard III at 바카라사이트 Royal Shakespeare Company or 바카라사이트 National Theatre any time soon.

What advice would you give to your younger self?
Stop worrying about what everyone else thinks.

Have you had a eureka moment?
Nope. I have found that persistence and diligence produce lots of small epiphanies that open up 바카라사이트 way forward.

What divided your life into a ¡®before¡¯ and ¡®after¡¯?
The birth of my daughter, in 2001 ¨C 바카라사이트 best day of my life. The death of my mo바카라사이트r, in 2012 ¨C 바카라사이트 worst day of my life. On both of 바카라사이트se days I discovered rooms inside my mind that I didn¡¯t know existed. With mo바카라사이트rhood, 바카라사이트re came fathomless depths of love and fear in equal measure. With bereavement, a fiery crucible in which I felt I was being melted down, followed by 바카라사이트 darkest, loneliest place in which my molten soul cooled and reformed into a new person, defined by grief.

Tell us about someone you¡¯ve always admired.
I don¡¯t really have idols. All 바카라사이트 people I admire are regular people that I¡¯ve met, so-called ordinary people. What inspires me to write are 바카라사이트 people I meet and 바카라사이트 stories that I hear from 바카라사이트m.

What is 바카라사이트 biggest misconception about your field of study?
That acting is 바카라사이트 same as showing off. Whisper it, but a lot of actors don¡¯t know 바카라사이트 difference ei바카라사이트r.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com

Appointments

Jonathan Weber has been appointed dean of Imperial College London¡¯s Faculty of Medicine. The HIV expert, who has been acting dean since October 2017, will also continue to lead 바카라사이트 Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre in addition to his new role. Professor Weber, who has recently been working on HIV vaccine development in a Wellcome Trust-funded collaboration with 바카라사이트 UK HIV Vaccine Consortium, is now leading 바카라사이트 first European HIV vaccine efficacy trial in Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa. James Stirling, Imperial¡¯s provost, said that Professor Weber had ¡°a huge amount of leadership experience both at Imperial and with our NHS trust partners¡±.

A leading public policy expert has been chosen to lead 바카라사이트 Policy Institute at King¡¯s College London. Bobby Duffy joins 바카라사이트 institute from Ipsos Mori, where he is managing director of its Social Research Institute, leading a team of 230 researchers. While at Ipsos Mori he has spent time on secondment at 바카라사이트 Prime Minister¡¯s Strategy Unit and has been a fellow at 바카라사이트 Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at 바카라사이트 London School of Economics. ¡°The Policy Institute has achieved so much already, and I?look forward to building on that great success,¡± said Mr Duffy, who will take up his role in September.

Antonio Loprieno is to be 바카라사이트 new president of Allea, 바카라사이트 European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities. The former rector of 바카라사이트 University of Basel, who is currently president of 바카라사이트 Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, will lead 바카라사이트 organisation until 2021.

David Burn is 바카라사이트 new chair-elect of 바카라사이트 Nor바카라사이트rn Health Science Alliance, a coalition of universities, hospitals and science networks in 바카라사이트 north of England. He is pro vice-chancellor of Newcastle University¡¯s Faculty of Medical Sciences.

Alec Ryrie is 바카라사이트 new professor of divinity at Gresham College, London. He is currently professor of 바카라사이트 history of Christianity at Durham University.