Final Year Production

As part of the Takeover Festival 24, my fellow third-year musical theatre students and I have written, produced, and directed a new musical, ‘The Women of Whitechapel.’

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This was performed at York Theatre Royal in front of a live audience in May 2024.

The festival exists to give young people the opportunity to gain valuable real-life work experience with mentoring and support from industry professionals.

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Our journey began with a collective effort, as we formed our own theatre company, Misery Loves24.

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Takeover allowed us the freedom to develop our performance and has allowed us to inspire and cultivate young people through creative arts.

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The festival recognises emerging young talent by creating an innovative and diverse arts programme.

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The experience has been invaluable for me and my fellow students. It offers real professional industry experience while developing relationships between the community of York, the arts sector, and York Theatre Royal.

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As a group of students, we were allowed to develop skills as Producers, general managers of the week's activities, and creative engagement (the area I was involved in). We provided a wide range of opportunities for the local York community, such as running workshops and offering the public the opportunity to perform.

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My company, Misery Loves, has created a performance called ‘The Women of Whitechapel’. This newly devised musical is retelling the stories of Jack the Ripper’s victims, the canonical five, and how these women still impact today's society. The most common perception of life after death is that one goes to heaven, but what if that’s not exactly the case? Throughout the musical, we find out who these women were outside of their association with their infamous killer.

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I play Catherine Bellowes, the fourth victim of the Ripper. To understand this character, I studied her backstory and gained an understanding of her life. My other main role was devising the choreography to match the musical numbers. I have a lengthy background of dance training. This experience has allowed me to utilise and further develop my dance and choreography skills.