THEATRE WORK (2012 - 2018)

Having graduated with a theatre-based degree, I wanted my career to span both theatre and film. What I didn’t realise then was how deeply I would become drawn to the spaces in between; stories that are cross-platform, experiential and interactive.

In 2012, I co-created O Brave New World - an ambitious, six-month adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest staged episodically in a single East London shop. Every month, audiences would return for the next chapter to find the space utterly transformed, the walls and furniture remade into something unrecognisable from the last visit. By day, it was a functioning coffee shop; if you knew where to look, you could uncover hidden fragments of the story between sips of your latte. Commissioned for Create Festival with support from Hackney Council and Arts Council England, it taught me the thrill of building a story that unfolded across time and space in an unconventional way.

Sophie Steer in O Brave New World (2012)

I began working as an assistant director on large-scale productions, including with the Old Vic’s former outreach arm, New Voices. It was there I learned the transformative power of community-led work - where public engagement wasn’t just a side note, but was the foundations of a production. This realisation shaped the next phase of my theatre career - creating live projects that centred community while trying to creatively innovate through technology and form. These projects often incorporated interactive treasure hunts, linked short films, and outdoor performance. I worked closely with a wide range of community groups - holding workshops with council estate residents, students, refugees, and retirees - and collaborated with them throughout the storytelling process.

An ambitious early project was The Van Dyck Vanishments (2015) written by Joseph Wilde, a real-life video-game adventure for families that blended theatre, puzzle-solving, and art history. Audiences travelled through narrative scenes into the worlds of historic paintings, while students from Canterbury Christ Church University joined the team to train in stage management and earn part of their degree. It was commissioned by Marine Studios for the GEEK Festival, made in partnership with Turner Contemporary, The National Portrait Gallery, and Canterbury Christ Church University, with design by Emma Tompkins and support from Arts Council England.

Emma and I went on to collaborate as co-producers on further projects. Virtually Blackfriars (2017) by Berri George, invited audiences into a world of pixelated people, puppetry, and playfulness, viewed through a pair of ‘high-tech’ goggles. We ran community puppetry workshops, culminating in an outdoor tour of Southwark accompanied by an interactive audio soundscape. Reflected (2018) by Myra Appannah, was a journey through London’s secret history which blended augmented reality with escape-room style puzzle-solving. The project included community workshops, free portrait sessions, and a live outdoor tour guided by a bespoke AR app that I designed and built. This linked to points of local significance - and bought secular stained glass windows to life. Both pieces were commissioned by Southwark Council and supported by Arts Council England.

I don’t really have aspirations to make this kind of work anymore, but that time in my career taught me a lot: the best projects grow from genuine collaboration, remain open to all, and create moments that spark connection and reflection.