Education

I started my working life as a theatre lighting technician and designer, initially working in regional theatres and later freelancing across the UK. During that time I created over seventy professional lighting designs for theatre, dance and corporate events.

I started working in higher education at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, in London, teaching on the then-new and unique BA Lighting Design degree. I went on to be the programme director for lighting design, and later Head of the School of Design, Management and Technical Arts. I am now the College's Digital Research and Innovation Fellow.

As well as my work teaching and in academic management at Rose Bruford College, I have acted as External Examiner for degree courses in theatre design and technical theatre in the UK and Singapore. I have also been a consultant and external panel member for courses in the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore.

I have examined PhD, MPhil and MA theses in the UK and Australia, and I supervise PhDs in subjects related to my research interests.

Throughout my career I have engaged both with the theatre and live events industry, including editing Focus, the journal of the Association of Lighting Designers - now the Association for Lighting Production and Design - from 1993 until 2000. I have also been active in supporting my discipline within academia, as a working group convenor, peer reviewer and journal editor:

• I am leading Rose Bruford College's contribution to the CANON project, which is developing online teaching and learning resources for the history of technical theatre. The project brings together eight partner institutions from across Europe, and is funded by the EU Erasmus+ programme.
• I review book proposals and manuscripts for publishers in the UK and USA, including Routledge, Focal Press, Macmillan and the Wesleyan University Press. Topics have included lighting design, performance design and stage props.
• I have been invited to peer review for journals such as Theatre and Performance Design.
• I have been an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media since 2010 (published by Routledge).
• I was a Co-convenor of the Scenography Working Group of the Theatre and Performance Research Association 2009-2013, and co-convenor of the Scenography Working Group of the International Federation for Theatre Research 2015-2021.