In Conversation with Lucie Dawkins, theatre director and podcaster

We caught up with Lucie Dawkins, the tutor who will be leading our Secrets of Stagecraft evening course in January 2025.

Lucie is a creative associate with Cheek by Jowl, Co-Lead of SCRUM Theatre, and has taught Shakespeare short courses at Guildhall School and Barbican. Lucie trained as a director at the Yale School of Drama. She hosts Not True, But Useful…, Cheek by Jowl’s podcast, and is working with Declan Donnellan on his new book on performing Shakespeare.
 

Tell us your biography in one sentence.

A theatre director (and sometimes museum curator and podcaster), who has adventured through theatres in multiple countries, and now runs her own venue in London with her collective of theatre makers.

In January/February 2025 you’ll be leading the Secrets of Stagecraft evening course. What can people look forward to getting out of this course?

This is a course where you get to step behind the curtain, and find out all about how directors, actors and designers actually create. I really hope people come out of this course feeling like they’re empowered to think like an artist, and that they get a thrilling behind-the-scenes glimpse of the creative process. We’ll have some brilliant visitors, with professional actors and a designer joining us to show you how we make shows come to life. And in each session, there will be a chance to take part in creative exercises yourself. Last year’s course was filled with laughter, gasps, and loads of brilliant ideas straight from the brains of participants.

Who is this course for?

Anyone who loves theatre and wants to find out more about how it is made. And anyone who wants to have a go at the creative thought processes professional theatre makers go through to make a play happen. I want participants to feel empowered in their own instincts and opinions about what they see on a stage.

Why do you think it can be rewarding for theatre fans to understand more about the stagecraft behind their favourite pieces of theatre?

There is an odd alchemy, a wonderful magic to making a play - but it involves weeks and often months of creative work that the audience never gets to see! I think it’s a fascinating moment to step behind the scenes and see all of the invisible work that goes into theatre. I also feel so sad when I hear people say, ‘I’m not an expert in theatre’ when responding to how they feel about a show. The audience is the expert in what they are seeing, and through this course, I hope participants come out feeling confident to talk about stagecraft.

What’s one of the most exciting/inspiring piece of stagecraft you’ve witnessed recently?

Such a juicy question! I think it was in fact an adaptation of Chekhov's Seagull - Kostik, by the visionary Russian director-in-exile, Dmitry Krymov, who I am excited to be working with this year. There is a moment in the play where one of the characters has their back to the audience (which was revolutionary in 1896, when it was first performed). Krymov had the character trying to perform a play to the rest of the characters on stage, while desperately trying to zip up her broken dress with the arm hidden behind her back - which only we in the audience could see. As you watch it, you realise that the audience of characters on stage and we in the ‘real’ audience are, literally, seeing two different sides to the same character in the same moment - one in control, the other falling apart. Magic.

Oh, and the production had a massive dog in it, who somehow knew exactly what to do on cue in every scene. I still don’t know how they managed that!
 

Secrets of Stagecraft will run on Wednesday evenings from 22 January – 26 February 2025, at Guildhall School. Spaces on this course are limited, so book now to avoid disappointment.