Hi, I’m Esther.

I started writing plays and staging them in my Gran’s garage when I was little — usually murder mysteries. I’d rope in the two kids from next door (brother and sister, always fighting) and then write, direct, make the programmes, star in the play, sing the theme tune… you get the gist… and provide the audience with a glass of Kia Ora and a Time Out bar during the interval. Tickets were 50p each.

Call me Del Boy.

When I was 11, I won a place at the BAFTA-winning ITV Workshop, also known as the Central Junior Television Workshop. All of us kids, aged 11-18, were a casting pool of young Midlands actors. We were taught by two legends, Colin Edwards and Ian Smith.

The alumni who have come out of the Workshop are incredible and include Alison Hammond, Vicky McClure, Jack O’Connell, and Oscar nominees and major award winners Felicity Jones and Samantha Morton… to name but a few.

Throughout my adult life, I have worked as an actress (from the RSC to the BBC), a screenwriter, filmmaker, producer, podcaster (Limited Time Only), drama coach, and drama school founder (Dramaworkshop, Stourbridge)… the list of creative roles goes on. I hate filling out forms that ask for my job title because I can’t really distil it into one word — I think a lot of us are like that, especially nowadays — so now I just say ‘Creative’.

I am an on-set acting coach; I run a monthly acting masterclass in Birmingham; do 1-on-1 sessions with actors; run bespoke workshops; build confidence; mentor; hold creative conversations through interviews on my Instagram page; and I also run a class at Louise Osbourne’s Acting for Screen.

I have 2 TV shows in development with major production companies and my first feature film.

And I think that’ll do with information about me for now

P.S - Yes, photo 2, I am Blue Steeling with Ian Smith’s BAFTA