Getting to know Eleanor Manners, our new AD

To get to know our new Artistic Director better, we asked a group of young people what they most wanted to know. Watch or read below for their questions and Eleanor’s answers!

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello I'm Eleanor and I'm the new Artistic Director at Theatre Centre.

What got you into theatre?

Yeah what got me into theatre? I was always really interested in dancing, actually, and when I was younger I really enjoyed telling all the adults in my life that I wanted  to be a choreographer and I loved the old school musicals: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Fame, Sound of Music, all of those, watched them on repeat. And one summer my stepdad got me to go to a performing arts school, we did Fame, and from then on in I was just absolutely hooked.

It actually wasn't until I went to drama school that I was really into plays, but yeah originally it was musicals.

Favourite type of baked good???

Ooh favorite type of baked good. You know when you're hungry you're just like, I'll have all of them? But right now just like a really well cooked chewy cookie, you know where they're like a little bit soft with white chocolate bits in it, and probably just a little sprinkling of like gold leaf just for some pizzazz.

What made you want to work with Theatre Centre?

What made me want to work with Theatre Centre? I think it's about the fact that it's a long-standing company that I've worked with young people for such a long time. And really the entire time it's been about putting young people at the very centre which is really important to me. If I'm going to make art I want it to make the world better. And I think Theatre Centre believes in that as well.

Also when I was in the pandemic - when we were all in the pandemic - I watched Birds and Bees and I just thought that was such a brilliant show, and just really remembered that so when the application process came up that's the thing that struck me. And then also just the values of the company feel like we really align, so I'm excited to be here.

If you could go back to an ancient civilisation…where would you go?

If I could go back to an ancient civilisation...Probably the Egyptians. I just think of many of the ancient civilizations, it's one of the more glamorous ones, like all of the eye makeup and the gold and the jewellery. Yeah and the glamour of it - I'd have to be in the palace though, obviously.

Oh and the beads  and the hair and the braids - yeah I think I could get on in the ancient Egyptian times.

What are you most excited about in your new role as Artistic Director?

What am I most excited about... It sounds silly but the opportunity to be creative in my role. So far it has been about being creative but it's also been a lot about enabling creativity for other people and making sure that they can do their best work and I think this role is about that as well it's about getting the best out of young people, it's about the writers, the designers the creative team, but as Artistic Director it's also about the creativity of the whole organization and me being able to lead that and come up with a vision for it.

If you were a mythical being, what would you be?

If I was a mythical being? Oh like if I had like a mythical power or something is that - Oh no if I was a being... I think I'd be like a fairy.

I love fairies. Glitter. I'm seeing myself with glitter. Wings so you can get about. Cute little dresses, often one colour theme, and also you can just like be a bit cheeky when you're a fairy can't you - be there but disappear quite easily, yeah go for fairy.

Any advice for a young(er) person who wants to get into theatre?

Yeah my advice for young people want to get into theatre is to try everything. I think the more of us who work in theatre who know about all areas of it the better. So that's back of house, front of house, on stage, offstage. The more you can learn the better.

And then also I think when you're really first starting out in theatre actually, the more skills that you've got the more opportunities you're going to get. Whether that's you know being able to do lighting or tech or to act or to write or to direct, and I think actually all of the areas of theatre all feed into each other, so it actually only makes you better at your job when you have some kind of knowledge of each area so yeah. Try everything.

What would be your superpower?

What would be my superpower? The one where you can just appear in different places at different times - teleporting. Yeah I'd teleport. It would mean that I'm never late for meetings because I could just pop up, and also just be able to get out as well, you know at the end of a day

just being like "Off to Spain, see you later." Yeah to be able to go on holiday easily without having to fly - be better for the environment as well so, why not yeah. Teleporting.