BTT co-chair and senior lecturer at the Guildford School of Acting Mig Burgess Walsh: 'I’m still at my happiest when working with lights on a show or event'

What courses are you currently teaching?

With the ABTT, I teach on the bronze award course, delivering the electrics module. 
I am also a qualified mental health first-aid instructor and deliver the adult two-day course. At Guildford School of Acting, I teach lighting and production skills on the BA Theatre Production course and the MA Stage and Production Management course.

How did you start off in theatre?

My mum dragged me to our local amateur group because she wanted to perform. I hated it. The leader of the group took pity on me and saved me by putting me on the lighting desk, which is where I stayed for all future shows. I got some work experience at my local theatre, the Marlowe in Canterbury, and applied to the Central School of Speech and Drama. The rest is history and I can report that I am still at my happiest when working with lights on a show or event.

What led you into teaching?

I think of myself as a lighting technician that does some teaching. The reality is that I’ve been teaching now for seven years and I’m probably a teacher that does some lighting technician work. Whichever way around you view me, I’ve always advocated the need to bridge the gap between industry and education. In moving into teaching, I’ve been passionate about not leaving the industry behind. It is vital in my role to stay in touch with the production vocation for my students.

What would you change about the industry?

I would love to see the theatre and live events sector make mental health and well-being in the workplace a bigger priority. 

Who are the arts practitioners you admire/ students should find out more about? 

Jessica Hung Han Yung is the designer behind some of the shows that have stuck with me visually. Blindness was an innovative show staged at the Donmar at the height of the pandemic, during big restrictions, and the entire show was devised and created with social distancing in mind. It was visually and technically amazing and really stood out for me.

Mig Burgess Walsh, senior lecturer at Guildford School of Acting, University of Surrey, was talking to John Byrne