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Isolation Interviews: Amy Crighton

Hello all. I hope that you and those around you are keeping well. During these difficult times where we're currently going through I've decided to start a new series of Isolation Interviews here on my blog. In the coming days and weeks, I'll be talking to some actors, directors, choreographers, theatregoers and bloggers about their love of theatre. Hopefully, it'll give you all a couple of minutes of escapism for your day!

First up I've the lovely Amy Crighton. Amy is studying acting at the University of Northampton. 

Q - What was the first show that you remember seeing?
A - I remember the first West End show I ever saw was Oliver, I went on a girl guides trip and I remember sitting so high up I was scared I’d fall down the stairs. I can’t actually remember if that was the first-ever show I saw but it’s my first memory of going to the theatre.

Q - What inspired you to get into theatre? 
A - My mum and sister have always been theatre goers, when I was little we’d go on trips to London and my mum and sister would go and see a show and I’d have to do the museums with my dad because ‘I couldn’t be trusted to sit still through a show’. I was always SO jealous! So when I was about 14 and my best friend asked if I wanted to go and see Les Miserables with her I was there like a shot. I think making a lot of friends that also enjoyed theatre kept me returning, and from going to see shows it made me want to be involved, which lead me to my training in acting. 

Q- Whose performance/s have had the biggest impact on you?
A - I think being a massive fan of Andy Coxon and Callum Train, had an impact on me. The great thing about theatre is you get to be there and see your favourite performers live. But overall I wouldn't say performers have a massive impact on my life it's more the characters and the stories that stay with me and keep me thinking long after the performance has finished.

Q - What is your favourite musical movie? 
A - The Last Five Years. I loved the music from this show and I’d never got to see it live, so when the film came out I was over the moon. Plus Jeremy Jordan is as dreamy as anything.



Q - What are your favourite show tunes? 
A - This is a tough one, they change so often. I’d say The Internet Is For Porn from Avenue Q has to be at the top. My sister went to see the show on Broadway when it first opened and brought the CD back with her. I learnt all the words dispute not knowing what half of them meant, and went around singing this song in particular. I got a lot of strange looks, which was justified as you don’t often see a 7-year-old singing about porn (I’d like to add I had no idea what porn was at the time, the song was just catchy). 

Q - What's the best piece of advice you've been given?
A -  I'm really bad at remembering advice but my acting teacher always tells us to work hard and we'll give good performances, which so far has been right for me.

Q - You, alongside some of your fellow Northampton University students, recently set up Flesh Eating Bananas, a new theatre company. Can you tell us some more about that? 
A - Yes! So we as a company want to make shows that get people thinking about the world they live in. With fake news becoming more and more common it’s hard to know what to believe. We want to tell stories that explore trust, lies and authority. Unfortunately, the company hasn’t got off to a great start as our first show was cancelled due to COVID-19 but we hope to return in the near future.

Q - I recently attended one of your University productions, The Winter of Discontent, how was the experience of writing and creating a show from scratch in such a short space of time? 
A - It was so daunting at first, I’d never devised anything that big before. We were so lucky that we had an amazing director to guide us through it all. I think finding the style of the piece really was the biggest challenge for us. When we started we all thought it would be a very serious story about the strikes and poverty of the time, once we realise we could make the show what we wanted it to be, we started putting our love into it. I think that’s why the show ended up good, because we all loved it. 

Q - If you had to pick, what would be your dream roles?
A - Elle from Legally Blonde - she's so strong and such a hard worker but also unapologetic. Also, we share the same favourite colour so I think it's meant to be.

Q - Away from the theatre what are your other favourite hobbies? 
A - I love cooking and baking, and I also love crafts. I’m such an old lady at heart.

I'd like to thank Amy for her time in answering these questions. You can follow her on Twitter by clicking here. You can also follow Flesh Eating Bananas over on Instagram by clicking here.

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