"I come from Shropshire and I came to just expand my horizons and keep on learning. I did a degree at Loughborough University: Drama with English, and I thought, why not just keep on learning? I've done some work with theatres before, but I thought: "It's the RSC, why not take the opportunity and just learn?" And it's a great opportunity. 

It's not just basic, simple exercises and rehearsal techniques that normally you think are so complex, but also we've analysed the text in so many new ways that it's really made me challenge Shakespeare's words in a new light and away from the normal academic box that you would have at school or even at university. 

I think it’s not just the rehearsal techniques - from just the emphasizing the personal pronouns or messing around with it as if it's just a game - but also even when I go back to the hotel and rehearse it, I see Shakespeare's verse in a whole new light. I see it in a new and open way from scratch rather than just with all the notes that I've written on the scripts beforehand.

I feel like it's really developed me in the sense of being a more all-rounded performer, but especially with Shakespeare. I think I will take skills from this and apply it in normal text, in modern text or in devised or comedy. These are skills that are transferrable, and that I'll use for the rest of my career, hopefully. 

It's really kind of shaped my perception of Shakespeare in a new way. It’s really challenged me, challenged the ingrained interpretations that we have about Shakespeare and even on a syllable basis, we've challenged that and that's really shaped my perception of it.”