What shows or projects have you done with ETT?
The Funeral Director
Finish the sentence: Touring is important because…
Theatre is often most needed outside of metropolitan centres.
Where is home for you?
Margate
Where is your home away from home?
California
How did you bring home with you on tour?
I like to stay somewhere with a kitchen so I can always cook the food I eat at home.
What are your touring essentials?
Running shoes, and all the ingredients for a breakfast smoothie.
What’s your go-to recipe whilst on tour?
Aubergine curry
Theatre is often most needed outside of metropolitan centres.
It is so important make work for, and bring work to people outside of the main metropolitan hubs. Theatre can be very alienating to a lot of people, but once they feel included and spoken to, it can be a very powerful tool.
Which artist(s) do you most admire and why?
Alexander McQueen, because he changed everything. In fashion, in art and in my own creative life. He is the reason I do what I do.
What music inspires you?
Too much to narrow down, but when working I listen to Max Richter (modern classical that is great for focus).
What image or video inspires you?
The McQueen ‘Savage Beauty’ fashion show
What piece of writing or quote inspires you?
Basically anything Dolly Parton says
What, for you, makes a good piece of art?
Something that taps into our core emotions and doesn’t try and be too clever. People should never feel alienated by art.
What have been your career highlights so far?
‘Jellyfish’ at The National Theatre
If you were cast away on a desert island, which 5 plays would you take with you and why?
I don’t really enjoy reading plays alone. I know that sounds bad, but I just feel they only really come alive in room with other people.
Please can you tell us what you would say to emerging artists to encourage them to take their work on the road or join an ETT tour?
It is so important make work for, and bring work to people outside of the main metropolitan hubs. Theatre can be very alienating to a lot of people, but once they feel included and spoken to, it can be a very powerful tool.
Window or aisle seat?
Window.
Favourite way to travel?
Boat!
If you could have any superpower, which would you choose?
Memory! My memory is so terrible. I would love to be able to remember every fact I have ever learnt.
Our industry is currently experiencing an incredibly challenging time. Do you have any recommendations for others of how to stay hopeful and creative during this time?
Scene Change is a new collective of Theatre Designers working together to progress the profession as a whole: www.scene-change.com
People should never feel alienated by art.
Amy Cook’s biog:
Amy Jane Cook is a Performance Designer who trained on The Motley course.
She won the Wales Theatre Award for Best Design in 2017 for Constellation Street at The Other Room. She was nominated for three Off West End Best Set Design Awards in 2018 for Jellyfish (Bush Theatre), The Funeral Director (Southwark Playhouse) and Not Talking (Arcola).
Recent theatre credits include: Jellyfish (National Theatre/Bush Theatre); The Season (Royal & Derngate); The Importance of Being Earnest (Watermill Theatre); You Stupid Darkness (Plymouth Drum/Paines Plough); The Funeral Director (Southwark Playhouse/ETT UK Tour); Absurd Person Singular (Watford Palace Theatre); Wave Me Goodbye, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Insignificance, St Nicholas (Theatr Clwyd); Not Talking (Arcola Theatre); Thor & Loki (Edinburgh/Assembly); Lava (Nottingham Playhouse/UK Tour); Our Blue Heaven (New Wolsey Theatre).
Further reading:
Website: www.amyjanecook.com
