About

I am a design historian, author, and artist based in Hereford, England.

My academic career began at the University of Warwick, where I completed a degree in Theatre and Performance Studies. I pursued my MA and PhD at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham. My research interests have always centred on Shakespeare in performance, broadening in recent years to include costume design, dress history, material culture, and musical theatre. I am now Senior Lecturer in Research and Innovation (Drama) at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

I share my fascination with design by collaborating with arts and heritage organisations, and by creating edible art inspired by historical textiles, objects, and costumes. I have worked with the British Library, Milton’s Cottage, David Parr House, The MERL, Reading Museum, Crawford Art Gallery, and Leighton House on various biscuit art projects. Between October and December 2021, I was Artist in Residence at Jane Austen’s House. I speak about my work regularly: in addition to radio interviews and YouTube videos, I give public talks and lectures on a range of subjects.

My book, Shakespeare in Elizabethan Costume: ‘Period Dress’ in Twenty-First-Century Performance, was published by Bloomsbury in June 2022. It is available here.

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Top-left photograph by Rebecca Knowles.