Before I was even a student, I got involved in the Summer Shakespeare and in 1983 ended up costuming and being a witch in Macbeth. In those days the Quad was still open to the sky and made a most dramatic setting.

The post-apocalyptic-meets-1980s fashion aesthetic meant that my waist-length hair was teased and sprayed into a massive knotty mess, including little plaits with bones and feathers attached. It was my job, among others, to swing a real flaming torch around in the air dramatically before running off the stage with it. I think it is a miracle that a spark never set my hair on fire!