The Next Chapter

So the time has come to wave goodbye to the Edinburgh Playhouse. If you don't already know then I should probably tell you that I've been the Press Officer there since 2014. The theatre, which happens to be the largest in the UK, has been an amazing place to work. However I need a new challenge and I could not be happier to have been offered a job as a Campaigner at OneKind. Animal welfare is something I'm really passionate about, and this job is pretty much perfect for me.

That doesn't mean that I'm not going to miss the Playhouse. The best way to describe the past two and a half years is a rollercoaster ride. I think it's safe to say there's been some pretty major dips in the journey, but there's also been some amazing highs. I've been completely overwhelmed by the messages I've received since word got out that I was leaving. I know I get along well with the majority of the press, but I've been really taken aback by the lovely messages I received and how highly people thought of me and the work I did. I guess sometimes you don't know what people really think of you until you say goodbye.

I'm leaving with lots of good memories, so here's a few from the highlight reel -

1. WICKED
I don't think anything will ever beat working on this show. It was the biggest show I worked on, and I was really proud of the coverage I got for it.

2. JASON DONOVAN

One of my highlights was definitely meeting Jason Donovan. I used to own ALL this records when I was younger, so I was beyond excited when I found out he was coming to the Playhouse in Annie Get Your Gun. I only got the chance to meet him briefly at a radio interview, but he returned in Priscilla the next year and I got to hold a rooftop press event for the show. If you'd told my 5 year old self that one day she'd be running his press day, then she would never have believed you in a million years.

3. SHREK PHOTOCALL

I used to get the worst anxiety over photocalls. You never know if any photographers are actually going to turn up, and it's one of the worst feelings in the world. Luckily that's never actually happened to me, but it's still an ongoing fear that will probably never go away. I've lost count of the number of photocalls I've done, but taking the cast of Shrek to Edinburgh Castle in their full costume was definitely my favourite one.

4. EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

You can only really see my shoe in this photo, but this was one of the funniest things that happened all year. We were so late to the opening gala of the Edinburgh International Film Festival that we don't notice we were sharing the red carpet with Kim Cattrall.

5. FRIENDS

I couldn't find a photo of everyone in my office, but I do love this photo of my best friends. I seriously would have been lost without Audrey and Catherine, especially since we got really close over the past 12 months. We went to early morning gym classes, work lunches out, late night trips to Ikea and had sleepovers. Audrey also very kindly treated us to food when it got to the end of the month and we'd run out of money. There's been a few times when they've really had to pick me up, and I can honestly say their friendship is the best thing to come out of my time working there.

So that's my short and sweet highlight reel. I could post photos all night and talk about everything good that happened, but I should probably save some stories for another day.