From Worth to the big stage

Wed, Oct 11th, 2023

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Katharine Farmer is directing a new play. In our latest ‘Alumni in the News’ feature, we talk to Katharine about her time at Worth and her subsequent successful career in the theatre business …

From a young age Katharine Farmer’s family encouraged an appreciation of the arts and by 16 years old Drama was her favourite subject. Whilst at Worth Katharine studied the subject at A Level and was thrilled to have a part in the production of Master and Margarita whilst also attending acting classes at the Junior Guildhall School for Music and Drama every week.

But it was a teacher at Worth who influenced her career path. Katharine, who was in St Anne’s and left in 2011, said: “Mr Boughton, my Drama teacher, was a huge inspiration. The impression he left has shaped each decision I’ve made pursuing a career in theatre and he opened my eyes to the range of different roles within professional theatre.”

After Worth, Katharine read Theatre and Performance Studies at Warwick University and her career really started by taking a play to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival during her first summer holiday at university. She has subsequently gone on to direct various plays, including Pig Farm by Tony Award winning writer Greg Kotis in the West End.

Katharine is now directing The Least We Could Do by Kath Haling which will be at The Hope Theatre, Islington, from 10-28 October, a new play about toxic media and what can happen to individuals caught in the unforgiving gaze of the public eye. She said: “Directing this play has been a fascinating dive into the relationship between a primetime TV personality and a gossip columnist, and how their lives become inextricably intertwined, and working with the cast and creatives has been such a pleasure.”

Ticket are available here.

Worth likes to keep in touch and hear what former students are up to in their lives, and we run regular articles featuring alumni.