On Thursday evening last week, the CGA kindly hosted another online talk for current girls, Alumnae, Staff and Parents, introduced by Louisa Spicer. 

Vicky Graham and and Elinor Cook, both 2000 leavers, and great friends, gave a fascinating insight into the worlds of Film and Theatre. They have worked together many times and their collaborative talk and shared experiences gave the audience a brilliant insight and guide to their fascinating worlds and invited many questions from those watching.

Vicky is an independent theatre producer, consultant and coach. It was during her year off that she had her first introduction to directing and went on to self-direct many of her own scripts. Following a successful time as an assistant producer at The Old Vic, she received a grant to set up her own company in 2012 to commission and direct new plays and musicals. Pre-Covid, she had successfully raised funds for a portfolio of new work but sadly everything stopped with the spread of the pandemic and Theatres closing. Whilst Theatres have remained closed, she has trained as a performing arts coach and added this to her impressive range of skills and expertise. Commissions and world premieres with Vicky Graham Productions include: ‘Flowers for Mrs Harris’ (Sheffield Theatres, Chichester Festival Theatre); ‘Pilgrims’ (Theatr Clwyd, HighTide, Yard Theatre) and ‘Breeders’ (One Stage Season). She has eleven projects in development including ‘This Is A Love Story’– an original pop musical about the climate emergency. Vicky was an Associate Producer on ‘The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13¾ : The Musical’ in the West End. She is Vice Chair of Arts at the Old Fire Station in Oxford.

Elinor is a playwright and screenwriter and has very fond memories of her time at Calne. The buzz of performing in the Delscey Burns Theatre under the direction of Miss Leadbetter started her deep interest in the magical world of theatre and storytelling. Following a post-grad in Speech and Drama, Elinor noticed how few good parts there were for women. She successfully completed a Young Writers Course at the Royal Court Theatre and wrote her first play from start to finish in 2006. It took until 2014 before she had one produced and since then has gone to write for both TV and Theatre. She won the George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright in 2013 and has had her work produced at the Royal Court, the National, The Orange Tree, and at the Donmar Warehouse, where she wrote an adaptation of Ibsen's ‘The Lady From The Sea’.
For television, she has written episodes of ‘Killing Eve’ (AMC) and ‘The Essex Serpent’ (Apple TV) starring Claire Danes. She is currently developing a series with Netflix, is working on a musical of a major children's book for the stage, as well as developing several original ideas for television and theatre.