Elin Schofield: 'I'm a theatre director and this is the one play I think you should go and see'
Elin studied at Sheffield University, and co-founded and directed both the Footprint Theatre and the Young Company at Sheffield Theatres.
Elin, 29, won the Best Director Award in the UK Theatre Awards for her direction of Rock, Paper, Scissors at the Crucible.
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Hide AdShe was Associate Director for the multi-award-winning Standing at the Sky’s Edge, and she is the director for the Crucible’s new production of A Doll’s House, in the main auditorium.


I’m currently reading
Scripts, a lot of scripts – but that’s what every director does, or hopes to do, and reading solely for pleasure rather gets put aside, and becomes something of a luxury.
I was always encouraged to read as a child, both my parents were teachers, and saw it as a highly important stage of development. I loved it back then, and I love it even more today.
I was, I remember, particularly fond of the Jacqueline Wilson books and also those by Louise Rennison – remember her Angus, Thongs and Full-frontal Snogging? They both have an appeal for youngsters of a certain age.
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Hide AdI also wrote a lot. I went on to read English and Theatre at Sheffield University – a course which is now, tragically defunct. I came to Ibsen’s classic The Doll’s House afresh, and it is enriched by Chris Bush’s brilliant adaptation.
I’ve been listening to
I can work when there’s music on in the background, but perhaps it is a little manipulative, in that it might sway your mood?
I do like background noise when I’m somewhere like a good café, and my influences are so wide-raising, and a bit of Beyonce always cheers me up.
I do like a lot of podcasts. One is Off the Menu (yes, I am a bit of a ‘foodie’) which is hosted by Ed Gamble and James Acaster, and it’s where they have a special guest into their fictional restaurant, and they discuss their food choices.
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Hide AdAnother is The News Agents, which is presented by Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall, which discusses events of the day. It’s always fascinating, a new ‘take’ on what’s happening.
On TV, I’ve been watching
It tends to be anything that’s on when I get in late at night, and which is brainlessly easy – things like First Dates and Gogglebox. Mindless stuff that is here one second, and gone the next.
Rain Dogs is very different, remarkable drama and a depiction of reality that is brutal, with flashes of humour. A depiction of a really toxic relationship, and perfectly acted.
Oh, and I’ll happily watch any of the cooking shows until the cows come home, as well as Strictly Come Dancing, because I was a ballroom dancer myself at one point.
The live performance I’d recommend is
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Hide AdThe amazing Dear England, written by James Graham, the play about manager Gareth Southgate, and the pressures of top-flight sport, and the English team in particular.
Rupert Gould directed it at the National, in London and it was an instant success. It’s a brilliant example of a piece that totally touches you, speaks to you, even if your interest in football hovers around zero.
My next boxed set or streamed series will be (or was….)
The Dectorists, which I can watch time after time. It’s just magic telly, beautifully done, and a perfect picture of a rural community.
My mum was pretty ill recently, and it was about the only thing that she could watch, and which made her days a lot happier, and I can see why – it gently mirrors a community.
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Hide AdThe pompous bloke who wants to be in charge of everything, people having relationship problems, people who are obsessed with their hobbies, they are all there, and all in a very subtle and kind, beautifully observed, sort of way.
The App I couldn’t be without is
Duolingo. Their French course. I always struggled with languages, and it wasn’t because I had bad teachers, it was because my brain isn’t wired in a certain way – people are good at them, and they come naturally, others have to work at them, and I am one of the latter.
I realised that I had to do something about it when I was working with a French/English company, and I realised that I could do things like collecting tickets at a box office, or checking in to an hotel, but beyond that, when it came to leading a rehearsal, it wasn’t my heart doing it, I was directing by numbers.
Not good. So now, I learn a little every day, and my competence is, I think, finally growing.
What is right at the top of your “To do” Bucket list?
To visit Japan. I’ve never really travelled that far, and I want to see the place and find out about its culture, its theatre practices, the landscape and the customs, and, of course, their food.
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