Books

I was recently awarded professional recognition from the GTCS for my work in humanitarian education (holocaust), so a lot of my reading in the past year has been about the Holocaust. The further I read, the more questions I have. Obviously, as a drama teacher, I read a lot of plays and my favourites are Antigone by Sophocles, The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman and the stage version of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

TV

My obsession at the moment is Glee. Although completely cheesy, it has a deep meaning behind it: acceptance of who you are, which I think is really important for the target audience. They have dealt with homophobic bullying really well and I think the way they have used music to tell the story is great. I’m catching up with the old BBC classic Tenko on the Yesterday channel and find the storylines, acting and production values incredible for an early eighties drama. My final TV fix is Desperate Housewives, a female ensemble that mixes comedy with drama to create some great TV moments. I was a huge fan of V as a child and as an adult loved the modern re-make. sadly ABC axed it after two series.

Film

I have an unlimited card for Cineworld, so I’m constantly at the cinema. I am a great horror film fan and enjoy being scared. Classics such as The Birds, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween always get a repeat showing but more recent films like Eden Lake and Hostel have made my stomach churn. I love a good superhero movie too and am really looking forward to Captain America. I saw Bridesmaids and have never laughed so much in a long time. Also, give me an alien invasion with an earthquake or volcano erupting and I’m happy.