Esther Fearn
Ester studied for her BA in English Literature and her MA at Newcastle. After graduating in 2015, Ester started working and volunteering at Alphabetti Theatre and is currently employed as a Venue Producer.
About Esther's career
Describe your current role:
I am the Venue Producer for Alphabetti Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne, a small independent producing house and charity. My job involves something different every day, which is one of the things I like about it! My job focuses on four key areas: artist liaison, fundraising, administration and finance, and producing our in-house shows. On any given day, I might be writing funding applications, sitting in a readthrough or rehearsal for an upcoming show, talking with artists about shows they want to create with us, or writing contracts. I get to work with a wonderful, passionate team who all love this place as much as I do, and we work to keep it available for our community, making great art accessible for everyone.
Studying Literature has been a great asset to working in theatre, as it helps you see everything from a range of perspectives. It helps me work with artists on their scripts, and evaluate what ideas might work well on the stage.
How did you get into this field after studying Literature at Newcastle?
After I left university, I started volunteering at Alphabetti Theatre at the box office, so I could learn about the industry and fill my time, as I was so used to being busy! Over the next few years, I squeezed as much training and teaching as I could out of the staff there, which led to me first opening a small second-hand bookshop in the venue as a fundraiser and then making my way through various front-facing and admin roles in the organisation – eventually I’d gotten to the level where I’d gathered enough experience and knowledge to apply for my current role.
Studying Literature at Newcastle University
How has studying Literature at Newcastle helped you in your career?
Studying Literature has been a great asset to working in theatre, as it helps you see everything from a range of perspectives. As well as the obvious things like it giving me a good eye for editing our play scripts, it helps me work with artists on their scripts, evaluate what ideas might work well on the stage, and work collaboratively with lots of different people – which is one of the best parts.
What advice would you give to a student interested in studying Literature?
I think the advice I’d give is to stay consciously open-minded. We all have certain genres, stories, ideas that we find most interesting, and of course, you’ll go into studying Literature with those favourites. But if you can keep yourself open to all the other things, take that module that’s really different to your comfort zone, you can learn so much that you didn’t expect, and you’ll grow not just as a student but as a person too. And that’s such a valuable thing.
What was the best thing about studying Literature at Newcastle?
This is a really difficult question! I really loved studying surrounded by people who wanted to be there as much as I did, and the incredible and lifelong friends I made. But I think the best thing was having the opportunity to explore so many different worlds and having the space to look at stories, their history and their writers so thoughtfully. You’ll never look at anything in black and white again.
