Since 2011 my research has focussed on the lives and careers of leading female performers in early Australian theatre, in the 1830s and 40s in Sydney and Van Diemen’s Land. Theatre is one of the most ephemeral art forms, and in the early nineteenth century, before the invention of photography, there was little visual record of performers or theatrical sets and costumes. We rely on descriptions in theatrical reviews, and of course these are inflected by the prejudices or allegiances of the critic. I am like a fossicker – I rummage in the archives, in newspapers and acting editions of plays, and lay out all the fragments I have found side by side, to build a speculative picture of how a performer might have appeared on stage.

My earlier work as a writer/director explored the lives of medieval women.