Welcome to my chat with Welsh theatre director and acting tutor Helen Parry. After many years living in Manchester, Helen is considered by many to be the grand dame of the Manchester Fringe theatre scene. Legendary as a director as well as a dedicated audience member. In this conversation, where we sit down to eat Helen's signature leek and potato soup, we talk about Helen's post-war childhood in Wales, her first food memory from when she started teething, how Helen's teachings at drama school have shaped my entire creative life, the juggle of working in theatre as a single mother and why she chooses the seat near the fridge in her kitchen. It was a joy to talk to Helen, nearly 20 years after I first met her as my acting tutor at drama school in Manchester.

I present to you my dear friend Helen Parry.

This episode contains mild expletives.

My debut book Your Space, Your Story: a Creative Guide to Personal Interiors is published by Batsford Books in February 2027 and now available for pre-order. You can order at your local bookshop or at the usual online retailers!

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Welcome to this episode where I talk to my partner and great love, Jon Tipler. Audio engineer, artist, paper mache wizard and wonderful cook, he is a man who loves a chat around a kitchen table, preferably with a cheese board.

We talk about growing up in the East Midlands of England, becoming a vegetarian at a young age, the Greek friend who shaped his whole approach to food and eating as an adult and the way sharing food has always been a central part of our life together. John is the main cook in our house and one of my favourite things is to walk through the front door straight into the kitchen and see John at the cooker with a wooden spoon in his hand and a glint in his eye. He bakes cakes for my workshops, makes his famous tortilla de patatas for any friend who asks and will go above and beyond to make your every meal a special occasion.

I hope you enjoy listening to this as much as I enjoyed setting aside a morning to cook, eat and talk with my partner in life and at The Kitchen Table, Jon Tipler.

This episode contains expletives.

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In this episode I talk with autoethnographic artist Hannah Turlington.

We talk about growing up as a people pleaser,

training as a teacher despite wanting to study textiles,

eventually becoming a textile designer and realising it was no longer what she wanted,

grieving the person that she thought she would one day be,

Coming to terms with not being able to bear children and her experience of the adoption process.

We also talk about her work with a creative mentor and later, Hannah was kind enough to share some of her pieces of writing with me.

Welcome to my conversation with the no longer people pleasing Hannah Turlington

A gentle warning, this episode contains swearing.

You can find Hannah online at hannahturlington.co.uk and on instagram @hannahturlingtonart


Post production and jingle composition: Jon Tipler

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