Eleanor Bishop

Meet Eleanor, a freelance theatre director and producer who studied a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Theatre.

“After school I decided to go to university to get a taste of all aspects of theatre. I learnt how to make productions—everything from devising, writing, working collaboratively, stage management, publicity, lighting and sound.”

Everything theatre

Growing up I had always loved performing and the stage, but in seventh form I directed a school production and got the directing bug.

A toolkit for success

Studying the critical theories of theatre helps me every day as I question in my own work—what do I want this to do for audience? Engage? Provoke? Delight? How can I make my work do that? I was equipped with the drive and courage to forge and create my own career path, and to carve a new spot for myself in the history of New Zealand theatre.

Putting what I learnt into practice

Whilst studying, my friends and I started a theatre company (The PlayGround Collective). Once I finished my Honours, I directed The Intricate Art of Actually Caring, a play performed in Eli’s bedroom, employing all that I’d learnt at university. It won Best Theatre in the Fringe, Most Original Production at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards, and three years later was still touring around New Zealand.

Keep learning

It’s been uphill from there. The main advice I would give to students wanting to study theatre is to absorb everything. Study other things alongside your Theatre—History, Philosophy, English. Soak up everything that Theatre has to offer. And then use it in your own work.

Eleanor went on to become a Fullbright recipient and earned a MFA from Carnegie Mellon. Find out more about Eleanor Bishop