Interview with Heather Milstead, actor, writer and facilitator

"We want to share these histories with as many people as possible, inviting audiences to embrace themselves fully (blood and all), let loose and have a BLOODY good time!"

Interview with Heather Milstead, actor, writer and facilitator

Could you first introduce yourself to the reader?

Hello! I’m Heather, I’m an actor, writer and facilitator. I initially studied History at Warwick, before drama school and the Soho Theatre Cabaret & Drag Lab. I’m probably best known by my friends as a clumsy and queer, history nerd and cat lover!

How would you describe your show?

Period Dramas is a genre-mixing, taboo-busting romp through the ages. Comedy, cabaret and tap (yes, tap) collide with the past, teaching the BLOODY history audiences never learnt in school, from Ancient Egypt right up until today. It tackles the menstrual taboo head on, challenging the way we think about bleeding and fighting to end period stigma for all who bleed!

We originally started working on this show back in 2019, where it was programmed for fringe 2020. Flashforward past a global pandemic and a traumatic brain injury in July 2020, we were due to put Period Dramas on at the cancelled VAULT Festival 2022, so we’re really excited to finally share this show with our audiences at Edinburgh Fringe 2022!

Why do you want to perform at Edinburgh Festival Fringe?

We’ve always wanted to bring Period Dramas to Edinburgh Fringe Festival because the all-embracing, celebratory and empowering atmosphere of the fringe fits perfectly with the ethos of our bold and taboo-busting show. We want to share these histories with as many people as possible, inviting audiences to embrace themselves fully (blood and all), let loose and have a BLOODY good time!

What differentiates it from other festivals?

Edinburgh was a huge part of what led me to theatre in the first place. I’d gone for several years with my family and friends before working Front of House there as a teenager - after I finished my A Levels. It was one of the most incredible (and challenging!) summers of my life and I fell in love with the Fringe and all the hopefulness and possibility it stood for!

It’s a bit of a bubble, in the best way possible - a bubble of atmosphere, energy, excitement, endless possibility and some utterly brilliant work!

What first motivated you to enter the industry? Who were your inspirations?

I’d always loved theatre and how its liveness just brought an energy to the space that you can’t get anywhere else. At school I’d loved drama, but I was really shy and not very confident at all, so it was only when I went to uni that I really found my feet and threw myself into all the drama societies and different shows going on. Inspiration wise, I’d definitely say Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are my two huge idols - I love everything they do!

How has your background, upbringing and education had an impact on your artistic career? 

I think it’s had a huge impact for a number of different reasons. I always loved theatre, but I’m not a musical theatre performer and as a child, that was one of the only options near where I lived, so it was moving away for uni and then London for drama school that really opened my eyes to all the different kinds of theatre out there. I fell in love with the cabaret scene in London and Soho Theatre’s Labs hugely impacted the way I make my work today and who I am as a person. I think also with this particular show, my upbringing and love of history have been strong throughout my whole life - as a child, I was always making my friends pretend to be evacuees or Victorians!

What is your earliest childhood art memory?

My earliest childhood art memory? Theatre wise, it would have to be Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I was in year one, so maybe about 6 years old and I’d been in hospital for quite a lot of procedures. My mum managed to get us tickets to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to celebrate leaving Great Ormond Street - years later I discovered there had been a mix up with the tickets, but the theatre took pity and gave us some incredible seats right by the front. I can’t remember much from the trip, apart from turning to my parents, utterly dumbstruck with awe, saying ‘But how is the car flying?!’

If you didn’t have your current job, what would you probably be doing?

If I didn’t have my current job, I would probably either be working as a teacher or a paramedic. 

Did Covid-19 change the way you create work? Do you approach shows with a different mentality now? 

It definitely changed my perspective on how I create work. With Period Dramas specifically, I actually started working on it way back at the start of 2019 and it’s changed a huge amount over the last few years. I’ve realised how much I love to make work with other people - I know this is a solo show, but it’s been so wonderful this last year to get in a room with my amazing director, Jessy Roberts and just play with the piece. So much more juicy stuff has come out of that play, than ever would have from me sat writing at my laptop!

Describe the last year in 5 words or less? 

A year of spinning plates!

Do you subscribe to the idea that art should be exempt from ‘cancel culture’? 

An interesting question! I think the problem with ‘cancel culture’ is that it doesn’t allow for discussion or debate or a multiplicity of opinions and tends to just shut down the conversation, rather than open it up. Personally, I think it’s quite dangerous when conversations are just shut down, rather than interrogated in more depth - it’s those conversations and debates that often lead to the best solutions and way forwards in society, and cause us to question what maybe had previously been accepted and why that might now be harmful. It also often ends up being the loudest voice that is heard over all others, so I tend to be quite nervous around ‘cancel culture’ and think shutting down conversation is not what theatre is about at all.

Having said that, I think art certainly shouldn’t be exempt from criticism or engagement - it’s designed to respond to the world around us and provoke thought on it and should be interrogated and if it’s designed to hurt others or perpetuate hurt, then that should definitely be questioned and not supported going forwards.

If you could work with anybody, from any point in history, who would you pick and why?

Ahh - such a hard question! I’m going to nerd out a bit and say Lena Ashwell. She was an actress, theatre manager and producer who lived across the 19th and 20th centuries and I just think she would be the most inspirational person to work with! She had a huge role in the suffrage movement and during WWI brought concert parties of drama, poetry and music to those fighting in the trenches - she did this against huge odds and many initial rejections. I think her determination would be just incredible to work with. Lena was also a founding member of the Actresses Franchise League who, as a group, forever changed the role of women in theatre and I think it would be amazing to get to know and work with somebody so inspiring!

What advice would you give to someone who wants to take a show up to the fringe?

I would say remember to rest, eat some vegetables and get some sleep! The Fringe is amazing, see as much as you can - take chances on the random shows you just stumble across, but remember to check in and look after yourself too!

When and where can people see your show?

Period Dramas will be at The Cellar, in the The Pleasance Courtyard at 14:10 every day from the 3rd to the 21st August except the 10th and 15th. 

And where can people find, follow and like you online?

I can be found @HeatherMilsted and @PeriodDramass on both Twitter and Instagram :)


Period Dramas will be at The Cellar, in the The Pleasance Courtyard at 14:10 every day from the 3rd to the 21st August except the 10th and 15th. For tickets and more information, visit edfringe.com

Author

Tom Inniss

Tom Inniss Voice Team

Tom is the Editor of Voice. He is a politics graduate and holds a masters in journalism, with particular interest in youth political engagement and technology. He is also a mentor to our Voice Contributors, and champions our festivals programme, including the reporter team at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

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