How did you start off in theatre?

I am an actor as well as a teacher. I went to drama school and then started working professionally. As an actor, I have found there aren’t many places to go to top up your skills and become ‘match fit’ in a safe and supportive environment, linked to a community, as would be the case in a drama school or training ground, where you have ongoing classes where someone oversees your progress. I was working with actors who were at all stages of their development and I wanted to create a hub, where they could be mentored, looked after and be in a room in which to play and be inspired.

What is the best piece of advice you have for students and graduates today?

Keep being creative. That doesn’t and won’t always mean it’s for a result or a job. Grab a play off the shelf and learn a monologue, watch a TV show you’d love to be in, type up a scene and learn it, book a rehearsal room and split the cost with your actor friends so you can all get up and try stuff. Keep doing what you love because you’re passionate about it. Keep acting and creating even when there’s no goal – just because you love it.

What would you change about the industry?

I’d make it easier for people to get in the door – I’d make it less about high-profile actors and more about casting the net wider so that a wider range of performers get more opportunities to try to get the work.

What is the best part of your job?

Seeing an actor who has lost their confidence, joy and drive just absolutely blossom in class – to reach a state of release and growth that even they didn’t realise was possible.

And your least favourite?

To watch actors work so hard in class to improve and reach such great heights yet to still struggle so much to even get in the room, when they deserve to.

Which practitioners do you admire and why?

Michael Chekhov. He’s changed my entire thinking about acting. Quick, physical ‘ins’ to unlock everything.

What is the one skill that every successful theatre professional should have?
Etiquette in this business is paramount. Be on time, professional, generous, positive and do the work. 

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Mary Doherty is artistic director of the Actors Class